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Geek Culture / Trying a Chromebook out

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Airslide
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Joined: 18th Oct 2004
Location: California
Posted: 2nd Feb 2014 07:10
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Specifically, the HP Chromebook 11.

Does anybody else here use a Chromebook (semi-)regularly?

For me, it fills a very specific niche as a cheap, don't-have-to-worry-about-it-so-much laptop (as opposed to my MacBook, which is my primary computer and livelihood). I can take it anywhere without worrying so much about damage or theft, and it has desktop class web browser (which is useful for sites like [href]koding.com[/href], which doesn't work so great in mobile browsers).

So honestly, it is sort of a toy, and I just like having gadgets.

I'm still iffy about the performance of this particular one (the HP Chromebook 14, with an Intel [vs ARM] processor, was my alternative and I still may take this one back for that one) but the screen seems much nicer on this one than the others and the design is fairly appealing. I just noticed a minute ago there's something loose and flying around inside though, and that has me a little concerned.


(For the record, not a huge Google fan, so I probably can't get as much out of this as someone totally entwined in their ecosystem)
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Phaelax
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Joined: 16th Apr 2003
Location: Metropia
Posted: 2nd Feb 2014 09:55
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I like the price, but I honestly just can't find a need for it. Same reason why I've never bought a tablet, seems useless to me.

How's the screen look?

http://zimnox.com
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Quik
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Location: Equestria!
Posted: 2nd Feb 2014 22:52
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Quote: "Same reason why I've never bought a tablet, seems useless to me."


Tablets are great - if you don't enjoy carrying around a stonky heavy laptop all day in your backpack/bag

I must question though - say I have a tablet, would there be any need at all for me to get one of these mini-laptop thingies?



Whose eyes are those eyes?
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Airslide
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Joined: 18th Oct 2004
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Posted: 2nd Feb 2014 23:12
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Quote: "How's the screen look?"


On this one, pretty good. About the same as the 11-inch MacBook Air, although I haven't looked side-by-side, so I don't know if the colors would hold up.

It is the main reason I picked this one over the HP Chromebook 14, which stretches this same resolution (1366x768) over a few extra inches on a less-bright, lower-quality panel (but does have considerably smoother performance, which I suspect is due to poor ARM optimization in Chrome OS).

Quote: "I must question though - say I have a tablet, would there be any need at all for me to get one of these mini-laptop thingies?"


Generally, no. Like I said, it fills a pretty specific niche for me. I have an iPad and an external Apple Wireless Keyboard that works fine for paper writing, and the clamshell form factor could be had with the right sort of case (although the good ones are expensive and a Chromebook wouldn't be much more).

But if you make use of a web service that doesn't respond well to mobile browsers and don't want a full-blown laptop wherever you are, the Chromebook offers a decent option as a secondary laptop.
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Phaelax
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Posted: 3rd Feb 2014 00:30
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Quote: "if you don't enjoy carrying around a stonky heavy laptop all day in your backpack/bag"

If I want to just browse the internet or check email, I have a phone that does that. Anything else a tablet simply isn't going to do anyway.

http://zimnox.com
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Airslide
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Posted: 3rd Feb 2014 01:15
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For me, a tablet is about the form factor more than anything else. I use it for a lot of reading, and I can condense an awful lot of (very large) books into it. And the larger screen makes certain apps feasible that aren't feasible on a smartphone.

But they aren't for everyone, I imagine. Though I do use it for more than I originally thought I would.
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Indicium
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Posted: 3rd Feb 2014 13:28
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Quote: "I use it for a lot of reading"


Don't you think something like a kindle would be better for reading? A tablet has never appealed to me.


They see me coding, they hating. http://indi-indicium.blogspot.co.uk/
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Airslide
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Posted: 3rd Feb 2014 18:33
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Kindle is pretty well a no-go for color textbooks (the Kindle Fire can do it, but now we are back to tablets). I understand the appeal of a Kindle, but I do use the iPad for a lot more than reading.

So nobody else around here uses a Chromebook for anything?
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zeroSlave
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Location: Springfield
Posted: 3rd Feb 2014 20:41
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My wife had a Chromebook for a while. She used it as a web portal and that's about it. Messing about with facebook, checking email, and entering grades for her classes. I didn't care for the seemingly limited capability of it, so I didn't used it much. The screen and resolution were nice, as well as the performance. Albeit, it wasn't doing that much processing. I suppose the Chromebook does fit a niche. If all you need is what it provides, then I don't see it as a bad investment.

I prefer my laptop. It does everything I can do on a Chromebook, plus everything else I do on a computer. I use my Note2 for phone/texting, and have the added benefit of being able to access most Android features.

As far as reading, I prefer a good old fashioned paper book. I like to keep a collection of the books I've read. I do see the benefit of a portable library, however. My sister-in-law was in Africa for a couple years with the Peace Corp. She wouldn't have been able to keep up on books if she didn't have a Kindle or something similar.

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
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