Chromebook advice, budget of £300-ish

iMacMart said:
Thread revival…

same boat same price as my eldest is going to need one for 6th form, are and Chromebooks decent?

Thanks
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I used one for a year for my Uni work recently, it was fantastic. I had the Google PixelBook Go. It had the best battery life of any laptop I've ever owned, it would sleep for days and only loose about 10%.

It was nice to not have to worry about updates or anything, it would do everything in the background and I never knew it was happening.

The only reason I moved to a different laptop was because I needed a bloody exclusive Windows Application for my Uni work. I'd still have my PixelBook Go otherwise. Got my gaming fix from Stadia too which I still use today.

I had the Intel M3 version and it was more than enough. (Coming from a Ryzen 3600 RX580 desktop)
 
jrwagh333 said:
I used one for a year for my Uni work recently, it was fantastic. I had the Google PixelBook Go. It had the best battery life of any laptop I've ever owned, it would sleep for days and only loose about 10%.

It was nice to not have to worry about updates or anything, it would do everything in the background and I never knew it was happening.

The only reason I moved to a different laptop was because I needed a bloody exclusive Windows Application for my Uni work. I'd still have my PixelBook Go otherwise. Got my gaming fix from Stadia too which I still use today.

I had the Intel M3 version and it was more than enough. (Coming from a Ryzen 3600 RX580 desktop)
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Thanks for posting, and did it handle all your uni apps etc? Sure the school would use goggle compatible school app word, excel etc
 
I think chromebooks are great, currently looking at getting new one myself atm (gf has basically stolen my old one...). Especially good as a casual browsing, entertainment, and lightweight office tasks machine.

Just much less hassle than Windows laptops, and in general a better user experience imo, performance even on modest hardware feels good, and often have great battery life.

The only reason not to get one is if you know you'll need to use specific applications not available on chrome / no chromebook compatible app in the app store. E.g. If you need all the features of desktop Microsoft word rather than the online / app versions, or you need to use Adobe Premier or whatever. I'd have thought everything you'd need for 6th form would be browser based.

You can use Linux programs on chromebooks too, which gives you access to a wide range of software. I don't actually have it set up on my current chromebook as I only use it for browsing & entertainment. However I installed Linux on one about 8 years ago (used crouton) and it worked nicely. I think the processes are a bit different now though but from a quick Google there are a few methods: https://uk.pcmag.com/linux/135719/how-to-install-linux-on-your-chromebook


Second hand prices seem a bit variable atm from what I've seen - some good value options, some way overpriced, but maybe worth having a look at anyway if you want to save some cash. Worth checking what the AUE date (no more updates - so may start to get security vulnerabilities, and may start to become incompatible with apps etc) though to make sure it still has life left in it: https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en
 
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