Real world usability / speed of Chromebooks?

MarkDavis · 2 Nov 2013 at 19:55

Done a ton of reading on these and I'm well aware of the limitations of ChromeOS but am seriously thinking of buying one anyway as I simply need a light, portable device with keyboard for travelling, web browsing, emails, occasionally watching videos, and which isn't going to be the end of the world if its breaks, gets lost, stolen etc.

I like the Samsung Chromebook but am probably going to go for the HP Chromebook 11 as it has better screen (IPS rather than TN).

One thing I can't get a sense of from the reviews is how sluggish it is web browsing or doing basic tasks in say Google Docs. TechRadar say its fine with a few tabs open, whereas other reviews say that even basic tasks start slowing down with multiple tabs open particularly given that webpages seem to be heavily content rich these days.

Anyone able to shed some light on this?

Megahackerd · 2 Nov 2013 at 21:46

MarkDavis said:
Done a ton of reading on these and I'm well aware of the limitations of ChromeOS but am seriously thinking of buying one anyway as I simply need a light, portable device with keyboard for travelling, web browsing, emails, occasionally watching videos, and which isn't going to be the end of the world if its breaks, gets lost, stolen etc.

I like the Samsung Chromebook but am probably going to go for the HP Chromebook 11 as it has better screen (IPS rather than TN).

One thing I can't get a sense of from the reviews is how sluggish it is web browsing or doing basic tasks in say Google Docs. TechRadar say its fine with a few tabs open, whereas other reviews say that even basic tasks start slowing down with multiple tabs open particularly given that webpages seem to be heavily content rich these days.

Anyone able to shed some light on this?

Just get a windows tablet like acer iconia w3-810 64gb 8" for less than £300
It comes with office is touchscreen light(500gr) and portable
Just buy an cheap keyboard for normal tablet by bluetooth on ebay and will end up being chaper and more convenient
If you dont like it do go for an windows rt tablet like suface 2

Bigsy · 3 Nov 2013 at 22:18

I have the samsung arm chromebook, and as you would expect the browsing speed is that of a very high end mobile phone or tablet. On the whole perfectly expectable.

MarkDavis · 7 Nov 2013 at 20:11

Spent an hour playing around with these in PC World as rather usually they had the Chromebooks lined up next to each other - the Samsung, HP11, and the Acer.

Didn't notice any sluggishness in browsing or basic office apps even with mutiple tabs open and iPlayer running in one of the tabs.

It's still an immature platform (though much improve on the first generation of Chromebooks) and it's a slight shame that ChromeOS is such a 'locked down' OS but I'm still minded to get a Chromebook for use as a portable browser with usable keyboard. The next generation of these I think will be even better but can't be bothered to wait!

manic111 · 8 Nov 2013 at 00:14

MarkDavis said:
Spent an hour playing around with these in PC World as rather usually they had the Chromebooks lined up next to each other - the Samsung, HP11, and the Acer.

Didn't notice any sluggishness in browsing or basic office apps even with mutiple tabs open and iPlayer running in one of the tabs.

It's still an immature platform (though much improve on the first generation of Chromebooks) and it's a slight shame that ChromeOS is such a 'locked down' OS but I'm still minded to get a Chromebook for use as a portable browser with usable keyboard. The next generation of these I think will be even better but can't be bothered to wait!

I've seen a few videos of people who have installed Xubuntu on theirs, and it looks very very usable. I'm rather tempted to get one and do that.

MarkDavis · 8 Nov 2013 at 23:12

^ Might be worth waiting for Acer 720 if you don't mind the hundrum looks - Haswell processor and all that. Sub £200 too apparently.

bartledvd · 9 Nov 2013 at 01:00

misses has a hp11 she loves it no issues for her use facebook iplayer and some flash games she loves the battery life and how light and easy it is to take with her only one thing she could not do with out was a mouse so she has a wireless logitech thing

MarkDavis · 11 Nov 2013 at 12:20

Still can't decide between the HP and the impending Acer 720.

HP's build quality and screen is a no brainer.

Acer's memory card slot would be handy as 16gb is pretty restrictive for any storage.

I suppose I could use a USB stick on the HP I guess.

MarkDavis · 11 Nov 2013 at 16:13

Woah, this really complicates things!

The Acer Haswell 720 is £180 at PC Word:

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...er-c720-wifi-chromebook-ash-21774145-pdt.html

At least twice as fast as the HP/Samsung in performance but screen is supposedly very dim though - 123 lux (Acer) v 218 lux (HP)

http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/acer-c720-chromebook .aspx

http://www.squidoo.com/hp-chromebook-11-vs-acer-c720

Genoma · 11 Nov 2013 at 20:48

That is a really interesting price, wonder how this would run XBMC with a USB3.0 HDD attached to it. Not sure how, maybe under linux?

Sjdeany · 12 Nov 2013 at 04:02

I can honestly say I prefer the Surfaces over the chromebooks.

Surface is a tablet so a little more difficult to do lengthy work on, You can get bluetooth keyboards that will be compatible though. about £20

manic111 · 12 Nov 2013 at 11:21

Sjdeany said:
I can honestly say I prefer the Surfaces over the chromebooks.

Surface is a tablet so a little more difficult to do lengthy work on, You can get bluetooth keyboards that will be compatible though. about £20

So do I - but even the Surface RT is £50 more than the Chromebook, and that's without the keyboard. The Surface 2 is the best part of £150 more (without keyboard).

MarkDavis · 12 Nov 2013 at 20:01

I ended up buying the Acer 720 though I did like the design and better build of the HP11.

Fantastic little lappy if you're looking for a super portable 11.6" (and are aware of the limitations of ChromeOS / Chromebooks). Thin and light yet usable. Noticeably faster and better battery life with that Haswell architecture compared to the HP and runs multiple tabs running 720p video for example with ease. Screen isn't too bad at all. Only minor annoyance is that I can't find a way of adjusting the scroll wheel speed on my external mouse.

Absolute steal though for £180.

MarkDavis · 13 Nov 2013 at 15:17

Sjdeany said:
I can honestly say I prefer the Surfaces over the chromebooks.

Surface is a tablet so a little more difficult to do lengthy work on, You can get bluetooth keyboards that will be compatible though. about £20

Personally, I wouldn't. The problem with Surface is that even when you don't take into account its greater cost, its too big and heavy to realistically use as a tablet and the keyboard setup is too compromised.

I've been playing around with the 11.6" Chromebook for the last couple of days now and 11.6" IMO is right on the limit of what's usable in terms of ergonomics.

modelportfolio2 · 14 Nov 2013 at 16:55

I bought the HP 11 Chromebook and despite the overheating problem mentioned in the press today for the charger (meaning that it is not available to buy until they fix the charger), mine is a delight to use. I have had no problems with an overheating charger so perhaps it is a small number of users and I am sure it will be replaced in due course. Meanwhile as the charger is a USB, I know I can use my Nexus 5 or my Nexus 7 charger if a problem were to materialise.

MarkDavis · 15 Nov 2013 at 00:32

^ Great little lappy that HP. At times I wonder whether I should have gone for it instead of the Acer. Guess I'll have to wait for their next model!

modelportfolio2 · 15 Nov 2013 at 14:23

And the choice keeps coming. Asus has announced their Chromebook in early 2014.

MarkDavis · 17 Nov 2013 at 23:58

^ TBH, all Chromebooks are compromised a bit, so I'm not convinced there's going to be that much difference between them anyway.

The only 'fully usable' laptop in terms of ultra portability and 100% usability would be a top end 13.3" ultrabook. Something like the new XPS13. Just a shame it costs £900!

alfalavala · 25 Nov 2013 at 09:52

Nevermind.