Sister Wants a Chromebook

[ScottAD]

Title says it all.

She wants new, 16GB is fine but it seems from what I've read that 2GB RAM tends to be a problem. I want to get her something ~$300 that comes with 4GB RAM or I can upgrade with little hassle.

She likes the HP Chromebook 11 because of it's design and color. FWIW, I am positive I can sway her for functionality over form.

 

[gar655]

My daughter has the Acer 720 and from what I can tell the 2gbs of ram work fine for what the intended use is.

 

[VirtualLarry]

www.scroogled.com/chromebook

watch that before you buy one. I'm personally not much of a fan of Chromebooks.

 

[Bateluer]

Title says it all.

She wants new, 16GB is fine but it seems from what I've read that 2GB RAM tends to be a problem. I want to get her something ~$300 that comes with 4GB RAM or I can upgrade with little hassle.

She likes the HP Chromebook 11 because of it's design and color. FWIW, I am positive I can sway her for functionality over form.

Does your sister know what a Chromebook is and how to work with it? I wouldn't look at the HP CB11 though, its using the same old Exynos 5250 ARM chip as the Samsung XE303. This was an already CPU when the XE303 launched, but highly dated today. Look at Chromebooks powered by the Intel Celeron 2955U instead, Haswell cased Celeron, substantially more powerful than the older Exynos ARM chips.

www.scroogled.com/chromebook

watch that before you buy one. I'm personally not much of a fan of Chromebooks.

I wasn't overly impressed with my Samsung XE303 either, but remember the 'Scroogled' campaign is a Microsoft advertisement to push their own, much more expensive, Windows 8 based notebooks. And some of the information posted there is also false. Actually, of the 5 Bubbles presented there, 4 are completely false with the 5th being irrelevant to the purpose of a Chromebook.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

Get one that is using the Intel Haswell chip, not one of the slower Arms.

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=chromebook_acer_c720_black_wifi_2gb

I use the HP 14, its fast, 4GB ram, battery lasts for almost 10 hours.

They're great for family members who you think might get viruses, as chromebooks can't get them.

 

[NTMBK]

They're great for family members who you think might get viruses, as chromebooks can't get them.

Famous last words. Remember the days when "Macs don't get viruses"? If Chromebooks get popular enough, you can be sure as hell that there'll be viruses for them. There's already malicious plugins in the Chrome store.

 

[frozentundra123456]

If you are willing pay 300.00, you can get a decent i3 windows laptop for around 50.00 more. I know she said she wanted a chrome book, but is she really aware of its limitations?

Personally, I wouldn't want to give up windows functionality, but each to his own I guess.

 

[s44]

She likes the HP Chromebook 11 because of it's design and color. FWIW, I am positive I can sway her for functionality over form.

Is she a casual browser or a power tabber?

If the former, 2GB is definitely enough and the two-year-old ARM in the HP11 may also be enough. (The HP *is* still the lightest, best-looking, has the best screen, and requires no extra charger beyond the phone one you probably already have in your bag.)

If the latter... 2GB may still be enough, but the C720 may be a better bet, and if you can get the 4GB it will be nice (depending on how "power" she gets).

As for the FUD in this thread... let's stay serious. The MS crap is not only nonsense, it shortchanges their own very legitimate webapp offerings.

 

[DanStp]

I bought my son a Chromebook, and he was able to infect it. You have to put it back to factory specs to clean it.

So yes they can be infected.

 

[Remobz]

If you are willing pay 300.00, you can get a decent i3 windows laptop for around 50.00 more. I know she said she wanted a chrome book, but is she really aware of its limitations?

Personally, I wouldn't want to give up windows functionality, but each to his own I guess.

Actually, some people like my Dad and girlfriend only use computers for minor web browsing and chatting online using skype mainly. Chromebook is actually overkill for them. Now, a Nexus 7 might be more to their liking.

 

[ScottAD]

To give some more information;

She already has a 17" HP and an ASUS tablet. Why she wants a Chromebook I'm not sure, maybe a fad? Her reasoning is that she wants something she can type on while at conferences that isn't going to be enormous or weight a lot. Her HP laptop replaced a desktop she did not use. She likes the tablet for games and things like that but not for full on word processing.

 

[NTMBK]

Sounds like a good option then, if she just wants a word processor with good battery life.

 

[Remobz]

Sounds like a good option then, if she just wants a word processor with good battery life.

Sounds good to me as well.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'm for it for those that really only need to browse, stream and use gmail.

I'm thinking about getting the new $179 chrome box for my mom, since she's managed to get Windows 7 messed up to the point where she can't update IE from version 8. We're in different states and tech support over the phone is challenging.

The box is better for her since she can use a big monitor and real keyboard.

 

[ScottAD]

Dave,

Same boat, I've had to solve numerous problems for her. I've considered setting her up with a Chromebook and a Chromecast try to keep it all simple for her.

I'm for it for those that really only need to browse, stream and use gmail.

I'm thinking about getting the new $179 chrome box for my mom, since she's managed to get Windows 7 messed up to the point where she can't update IE from version 8. We're in different states and tech support over the phone is challenging.

The box is better for her since she can use a big monitor and real keyboard.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

I bought my son a Chromebook, and he was able to infect it. You have to put it back to factory specs to clean it.

So yes they can be infected.

Not really infected, unless you install linux on there and messed that up, but can be messed up with extensions.

More easily set back to default than a windows/mac device.

 

[jlee1]

i'm writing this on an Acer C720 Chromebook. It has 2gigs of ram, 16gb SSD, and a Intel Haswell(architecture) Celeron and does everything i need it to flawlessly. i sold my desktop, thinkpad and ipad to buy an ultra cheap computer for school; i was looking at older thinkpads(x200,t400) but decided to buy a chromebook. it boots up FAST. it has a wise array of offline apps and has a a nice sized touch pad. the 2gb of ram is plenty for what i do(school work: word docs, spreadsheets, netflix, email, youtube..) and half of those stuff you can use offline now. the battery life is also ~8-9hrs. the only downsides are the screen size(11"), cheap material(what do you expect for $200?), the lack of games, and the screen quality(viewing angles are horrible lol.)
all in all, i don't regret my purchase and love this machine so far..

 

[ScottAD]

So I got her in front of several Chromebooks yesterday and now, she doesn't want one.

She is considering an ASUS, model is X551MA-RCLN03 but I can't find any reviews on it.

ASUS has made several versions of this laptop. This one has the Intel N2815 chip with 4GB RAM and 500 GB HDD for $279

 

[Fayd]

So I got her in front of several Chromebooks yesterday and now, she doesn't want one.

She is considering an ASUS, model is X551MA-RCLN03 but I can't find any reviews on it.

ASUS has made several versions of this laptop. This one has the Intel N2815 chip with 4GB RAM and 500 GB HDD for $279

wtf? so she did a complete 180 on the whole IDEA of a chromebook?

 

[ScottAD]

wtf? so she did a complete 180 on the whole IDEA of a chromebook?

Par for the course with her. Her fear is conversion and not getting what she normally has.

Which is fine I guess. She's always been finicky.

Just need to know if that's a good buy. BestBuy has it for $279.99 comes with sleeve and thumb drive and a mouse.

 

[VirtualLarry]

She is considering an ASUS, model is X551MA-RCLN03 but I can't find any reviews on it.

ASUS has made several versions of this laptop. This one has the Intel N2815 chip with 4GB RAM and 500 GB HDD for $279

Just so you know, that CPU is branded as Celeron, but it's really an Atom architecture.

 

[Fayd]

Par for the course with her. Her fear is conversion and not getting what she normally has.

Which is fine I guess. She's always been finicky.

Just need to know if that's a good buy. BestBuy has it for $279.99 comes with sleeve and thumb drive and a mouse.

fyi, that laptop is shitty.

really. all the 300~ laptops are.

if she wants a decent laptop, go for one of the entry level ultrabooks at 500-600. she's gonna hate lugging a full size 15.6 laptop around.

 

[Spicedaddy]

To give some more information;

She already has a 17" HP and an ASUS tablet. Why she wants a Chromebook I'm not sure, maybe a fad? Her reasoning is that she wants something she can type on while at conferences that isn't going to be enormous or weight a lot. Her HP laptop replaced a desktop she did not use. She likes the tablet for games and things like that but not for full on word processing.

How about a keyboard case/dock thing for her Asus tablet?

 

[pw257008]

Just so you know, that CPU is branded as Celeron, but it's really an Atom architecture.

Yep.

Best Buy does have an Asus Haswell Celeron 11.6" touch for 259.99 right now, if you want to stick to that price range and she's cool with going back to Chromebook size.

 

[ScottAD]

How about a keyboard case/dock thing for her Asus tablet?

Down ATM. It was one of the first tablets they did. Something with the power button. I haven't had a chance to pull it apart but I'd bet my life that the power switch has popped off the board and needs soldering.