Anyone Tried A Chrome OS Laptop?

TheEliteReaper

TheEliteReaper

TheEliteReaper

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i was looking on another site at laptops for the missus to see whats about and i noticed some Netbooks i think they were that had a Chrome OS which ive never seen before and thought that be cool, we both use Chrome as our browsers, so if the whole thing was Chrome then it be like her nexus which is andriod, but better..

im assuming they quite new? so wondering if anyone had any experience?

one i saw and like was a Acer C7 Chromebook @ 200
 
I use ChromiumOS on a Dell mini 9 and a Chromebox as my main machine.
If all you're doing is browsing the web, it's great. You have access to all your Google apps, it's quick to boot up and fast to use. There are a reasonable number of Chrome web apps in the store also.
My only disappointment is the lack of Java, so no Minecraft! :(

I was looking at the new Acer offering, but wasn't too convinced on the 320gb drive over the small SSD.

Definitely give a new Chromium build a go on a current PC/laptop you've got, it'll boot from USB so you can see if you'd get on with it.
 
thanks for the reply, so if we was to take one for a test run, then there wouldnt really be any regrets??

missus would only be doing normal web browsing and facebook apps and possibly go on this dj streaming site(im assuming so unless the laptop turns out really good lol), but she has a pc that can run flash/java stuff if need be..

Edit: only reason i would go for the Acer mainly in the hard drive, other factors too, but im not looking at the item as i type, although ssd are really good and would like to try one myself, i dont see a drive less than 20gb good value and appealing in my eyes, would have to have 80gb atleast..

i want an ssd in my laptop, but i have a 640gb sata and best ssd would be 256gb or something which is nowhere near comparable lol
 
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I guess you'll need to use the OS and see what you think, but it's more geared towards everything being online, using Google drive, etc. Storage space isn't really a big deal. :)
 
I've just yesterday got a Samsung series 3 chromebook, I've also got an android phone, nexus 7 and use Chrome extensively across all pc's and other devices I use. If your misses is already wedded to the Google cloud you can't (probably) got too wrong.
 
I have a samsung chromebook. In my opinion, I would never ever go for a chromebook with a HDD. It totally defeats the object of having a FAST booting/operating chromebook. Go for a Chromebook with an SSD, and brush up on your cloud computing xD.
I think chromebooks are good for most, but could not be used as a main computer, they are more of an extension of a main computer/laptop.
 
I got a Chromebook for Christmas after 'hinting' about one for ages. So far I've been really pleased with it. It's super quick for booting up and powering down, I think official figures are quoted at 7 seconds.

Once it's up and running I've found it to be more than adequate for pretty much anything you throw at it. I've had 10+ tabs open and it doesn't seem to slow down. It plays Youtube 1080p video without issue too.

Pop an SD card in and it opens up a window to view the contents and images are opened up quickly when you double click them.

Hardware wise, the gestures take a bit of getting used to but I honestly prefer the method used on my Chromebook now to a traditional right click! I have the Samsung Series 3 and it feels well put together, although it is entirely plastic so don't expect too much, this does make it incredibly light though! The screen is okay, the viewing angles can be a bit iffy but I don't you can expect a Retina display. Couple of omissions from the keyboard that frustrate me sometimes though: Page Up/Down and a delete key (it does have a backspace though).

It's not a replacement for a PC, at least not for me. I still have a lot of stuff I use Windows for, after all the Chromebook is essentially just a web browser, don't expect to be doing anything that requires a great deal of power. It's certainly good enough to replace my ageing HP laptop as I really only use that for browsing/music etc.

Apps wise (if you can call them that) so far I've really only stuck to Google applications and as you'd expect they all perform great, just as they do in Windows through Chrome. For me the best thing is having all my stuff on both my Chromebook and my Nexus 4, which I suppose is all down to how good Google's services are.

I'm a huge fan of both the Chromebook and Google though so I am a bit bias. Hope this helps.

Oh and you can also get Chrubuntu on the Chromebook now giving you a fully functional laptop if you like. It can be dual boot either from the SSD or a SD card (which is the route I'll be taking).
 
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I've found the chromebooks to be really a giant tablet, nothing gets instaleld and you are severly tied to google apps and if the internet isn't available then your stuffed.

TBH I would say either get a nexus 7/10 tablet or get a ultrabook. Depending upon your needs. if all you do is use gmail/internet/youtube then its good. Otherwise stick toa tablet or proper laptop/ultrabook
 
Bry said:
if the internet isn't available then your stuffed.
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Not strictly true. You can download your Google docs for offline editing for example. But I do take your point.

It's just important to realise that its limitations and understand what you'll use it for. For may people I think it would be fine. If all you use it for is editing document, browsing the internet and say listening to music then there's the functionality of the two is pretty much the same.

And I'm not sure the tablet comparison is completely fair, they're very different devices really, in the same way that a tablet is different from a laptop.

Anyway, get down to one of the large electrical retailers and try one if you're unsure.
 
They're a good idea and they work well when things are going okay.

But you know those times when your internet goes down and you feel naked because you have no way of communicating with the outside world? Well they're a million times worse with a net-based OS. It's infuriating that if your internet is playing up, your laptop is next to useless - particularly because the time a very lightweight, super cheap laptop would be perfect is when travelling, but is also when it's most useless.
 
I don't really understand what you can do with an unconnected laptop in terms of communication that you can't do with an unconnected Chromebook though?
 
Not really what your asking but I have the new arm chromebook, but I run ubuntu on it, but it runs it very well.

Fully functional laptop, light, slim, fanless, cool running, awesome!
 
desires said:
Personally I think they're expensive for what they are.
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I would certainly agree with you at £450 as they were till very recently, but at less than £200 it makes a whole lot more sense!

Bigsy said:
Not really what your asking but I have the new arm chromebook, but I run ubuntu on it, but it runs it very well.
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I've got the same Chromebook as you, the Sammy Series 3 - which version of Linux are you running, did you follow a particular set of instructions online? Are you dual booting or booting from SD?
 
Tazzfalcon said:
I've got the same Chromebook as you, the Sammy Series 3 - which version of Linux are you running, did you follow a particular set of instructions online? Are you dual booting or booting from SD?
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Look up Chrubuntu online. There are lots of tutorials that show you how to dual boot and it's incredibly simple. I've just ordered a 32Gb Class 10 SD card as I'll be going dual boot when it arrives.
 
interesting debate..

they sound like good netbooks in the sense that the browser i use is the whole computer, although as a OS i was abit lost when i had a little test of one lol, the £199 would be my choice, but they are a lot of money really as someone has said for what you get, pretty much similar specs to other netbooks, but google instead of windows..


im going to tie this one up on my part now as ive just brought on auction a Samsung NC110 for £100 for the missus and shes happy about it(hopefully turn up earlier than estimated), its like what she used to have, but with a 320gb HDD and a dual core Atom unless her old one which was a samsung had dual, dont remember though, so hopefully she be happy with that..

thanks for the replies though guys, quite interesting and helpful..:)
 
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