Chromebook versus Laptop

So my stepfather wants to get my mom a laptop for Christmas. Not an expensive, high end one, just a basic one. She is not very tech savvy,but she did manage to work Skype on my old laptop. She will mostly do a tiny bit of web surfing, Facebook, email and Skype and put pictures from her camera on it.

During our research we see chromebooks. Dr.Awkward doesn't have much knowledge of them. What are they best for? Would I be better off for one of them for my mom, or a regular laptop?

I picked up this cheaply on black friday, but was maybe hoping for a little more quality than this? Hoping to stay under $350...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-x55...$pcmcat302900050006&lp=1&cp=1

Does your Mom have a Google account? Chromebooks are basically a love-song for Google services. Chrome will be the browser. Chrome Apps will be your programs for everything. Web Apps will be your only viable alternatives.
As a 'laptop' they are pretty limiting. As a WebBrowsing/Email/Chatting machine they are fantastic, fast, and relatively easy to maintain.
If you embrace the Google Environment and use Google Drive for your content then next to nothing lives on the actual computer. Your Google profile stores all the settings and apps and logging into any Chromebook should just pick up wherever you left off.

1) Can't install regular programs.
2) Usually limited on-device storage because it wants everything to live in Google Cloud.
3) If Internet is spotty you might become frustrated but Google is getting better and better about enabling content in offline mode.

On the flip side: Dead-simple troubleshooting and the device is for all intents and purposes just an access point for the Google profile.

Edit: Pre coffee post. Reader beware.

I've been researching this quite a bit. My girlfriend's Mom has an old Asus Eee PC that she loves but it runs XP and thus, has to be replaced within the next few months. Her Dad brought up the idea of buying her a Chromebook and I looked into it. Honestly, I can't recommend one of those at this point over an inexpensive PC laptop. The Chromebook idea is cool and though they appear inexpensive, it's the same low-end hardware you would get in a budget PC, except it's hard locked to Google everything which severely limits its options. Also as Rezzy said, it's wholly dependant on having reliable, decently fast Internet access. No Internet basically makes the thing useless.

I found her an Asus 10.1" AMD notebook with 320GB of storage, a good keyboard and trackpad, a touch screen and Windows 8 for less than $300 on sale recently and it can do whatever she wants. If you don't like Windows 8 Metro (and I don't blame you), ClassicShell is free and makes it just like Windows 7. Windows 8 is faster and way more optimised than even Windows 7 and runs very well on even low-end hardware. Windows 7 and 8 are also super reliable, easy to use and contrary to what people will inevitably say, viruses are not an issue if you aren't stupid online. Use Chrome or Firefox, install a free anti-virus (Avast is one of the best rated right now and free) and don't click unknown links. It's not hard and the majority of people who bemoan their parents constantly getting viruses frankly didn't teach this to them properly. My Mom knows squat about computers and has a Vista (yes, Vista) laptop. The number of viruses she's gotten? Zero.

The idea of the Chromebook is cool but even for its low price, it's still hamstrung with no particularly major advantages over an inexpensive PC laptop. I think Chromebook is a long-play strategy that will get more interesting and compelling as time goes on but right now, I don't see the value.

Thanks for the input guys. Looks like the cheapo laptop is the way to go for now.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

Windows 7 and 8 are also super reliable, easy to use and contrary to what people will inevitably say, viruses are not an issue if you aren't stupid online... It's not hard and the majority of people who bemoan their parents constantly getting viruses frankly didn't teach this to them properly.

Everyone's stupid online at some point, and this is stuff they shouldn't need to care about.

Even I've managed to run bogus binaries, and I'm very careful.

Just a few seconds of inattention, one time, and you're boned.

Not to mention things like 0-day Flash exploits. Don't have to be "stupid online" to get burned by one of those.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

I've been researching this quite a bit. My girlfriend's Mom has an old Asus Eee PC that she loves but it runs XP and thus, has to be replaced within the next few months. Her Dad brought up the idea of buying her a Chromebook and I looked into it. Honestly, I can't recommend one of those at this point over an inexpensive PC laptop. The Chromebook idea is cool and though they appear inexpensive, it's the same low-end hardware you would get in a budget PC, except it's hard locked to Google everything which severely limits its options. Also as Rezzy said, it's wholly dependant on having reliable, decently fast Internet access. No Internet basically makes the thing useless.

I found her an Asus 10.1" AMD notebook with 320GB of storage, a good keyboard and trackpad, a touch screen and Windows 8 for less than $300 on sale recently and it can do whatever she wants. If you don't like Windows 8 Metro (and I don't blame you), ClassicShell is free and makes it just like Windows 7. Windows 8 is faster and way more optimised than even Windows 7 and runs very well on even low-end hardware. Windows 7 and 8 are also super reliable, easy to use and contrary to what people will inevitably say, viruses are not an issue if you aren't stupid online. Use Chrome or Firefox, install a free anti-virus (Avast is one of the best rated right now and free) and don't click unknown links. It's not hard and the majority of people who bemoan their parents constantly getting viruses frankly didn't teach this to them properly. My Mom knows squat about computers and has a Vista (yes, Vista) laptop. The number of viruses she's gotten? Zero.

The idea of the Chromebook is cool but even for its low price, it's still hamstrung with no particularly major advantages over an inexpensive PC laptop. I think Chromebook is a long-play strategy that will get more interesting and compelling as time goes on but right now, I don't see the value.

Have you tried installing Windows 8 on the eee PC? I've had 3 or 4 come through my posession, and one of them had 8 (1000HA or HE) and it worked really well--just a thought if you are looking at tossing the little eeePC.

Gosh I love those things.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

I've been researching this quite a bit. My girlfriend's Mom has an old Asus Eee PC that she loves but it runs XP and thus, has to be replaced within the next few months. Her Dad brought up the idea of buying her a Chromebook and I looked into it. Honestly, I can't recommend one of those at this point over an inexpensive PC laptop. The Chromebook idea is cool and though they appear inexpensive, it's the same low-end hardware you would get in a budget PC, except it's hard locked to Google everything which severely limits its options. Also as Rezzy said, it's wholly dependant on having reliable, decently fast Internet access. No Internet basically makes the thing useless.
...
The idea of the Chromebook is cool but even for its low price, it's still hamstrung with no particularly major advantages over an inexpensive PC laptop. I think Chromebook is a long-play strategy that will get more interesting and compelling as time goes on but right now, I don't see the value.

I'd say it comes down to what you expect to do with a Chromebook, and if you take the steps to ready it for offline use ahead of time (mark files in Google Drive as needing to be local, do the same for an app if there's something to do there). It can't rip or burn optical discs at all, so if that's a thing you still do, it's a non-starter. I would think, though, that anything planned to be done on a 10" machine is probably related to being mobile and online at some point.

ChromeOS's value is that it gets a lot of traditional operating system cruft out of the way, and however small the local storage is, it's usually fast flash. No, no anti-virus to load up, no background agents for my graphics card or other devices slowing down the startup, no "fast startup" cheats slowing down the login just so they load up faster, all of which represent failure points, memory usage, and context switching penalties that are absent in ChromeOS. Updates are automatic, occurring roughly every 6 weeks, and relatively quick to apply. For the things it's designed to do, it just works.

I've gotten a lot of enjoyment from my Chromebook. I got the last version, the Acer C720, I believe. Intel-based processor, lots of memory. Works like a charm for exactly what it's advertised to do. Would I use it as my only computer? No, but as I have a tower PC at home it's a killer combo. If I really really need to get online and I'm not around a wireless network I can tether to my phone. And at that point I usually just look at my phone.

I installed Linux alongside ChromeOS (because tinkering). That's worked nicely. You can also use Chrome's remote desktop to log into another machine (like my desktop) and get some work done that way. All in all, money well spent.

Anyone still using Chrome books? My grand daughter's pc is dying and it is some horrible all in one HP so it just can't be fixed.

All the computer needs to do is internet, youtube, netflix. Can you skype on chromebooks? That would be nice also.

My boys use Hangouts to talk with family on their Chromebook, so I would guess that Skype would be fine as well.

Not 100% sure on this, though.

karmajay wrote:

All the computer needs to do is internet, youtube, netflix. Can you skype on chromebooks?

Chromebooks are great for the first three, but there's no native support for Skype. You can use the web-based Skype but I understand that comes with some severe limitations. Google pretty much figures you're going to use Hangouts if you want to teleconference on a Chromebook.

That said, a quick search shows there are plenty of ways to hack Skype onto Chromebooks so it may be a non-issue.

My Chromebook is mostly a toy that I got almost free from my wife's employee purchase program. I've been really happy with just how well it works as a Google Docs and browsing tool. Amazing battery life on it too.

Elycion wrote:
karmajay wrote:

All the computer needs to do is internet, youtube, netflix. Can you skype on chromebooks?

Chromebooks are great for the first three, but there's no native support for Skype. You can use the web-based Skype but I understand that comes with some severe limitations. Google pretty much figures you're going to use Hangouts if you want to teleconference on a Chromebook.

That said, a quick search shows there are plenty of ways to hack Skype onto Chromebooks so it may be a non-issue.

My Chromebook is mostly a toy that I got almost free from my wife's employee purchase program. I've been really happy with just how well it works as a Google Docs and browsing tool. Amazing battery life on it too.

Have you tried Online Office on it?

I've tried it on a desktop using Chrome and it seems pretty smooth. I'm considering getting the Toshiba 2 Chromebook to replace all work related stuff when not using a desktop.

jowner wrote:

Have you tried Online Office on it?

Not a software suite I actually use, but it definitely works fine on my relatively low end Chromebook.

jowner wrote:
Elycion wrote:
karmajay wrote:

All the computer needs to do is internet, youtube, netflix. Can you skype on chromebooks?

Chromebooks are great for the first three, but there's no native support for Skype. You can use the web-based Skype but I understand that comes with some severe limitations. Google pretty much figures you're going to use Hangouts if you want to teleconference on a Chromebook.

That said, a quick search shows there are plenty of ways to hack Skype onto Chromebooks so it may be a non-issue.

My Chromebook is mostly a toy that I got almost free from my wife's employee purchase program. I've been really happy with just how well it works as a Google Docs and browsing tool. Amazing battery life on it too.

Have you tried Online Office on it?

I've tried it on a desktop using Chrome and it seems pretty smooth. I'm considering getting the Toshiba 2 Chromebook to replace all work related stuff when not using a desktop.

Did you ever get one of these? If so, what do you think of it? I want a Chromebook in part so I can have a lightweight computer for doing Emacs + programming + Kindle. Basically something cheap that I don't mind getting stolen if I'm running around programming in cafes, etc. Or to take on vacations.

My wife has 2 chromebooks and 1 of them is great, the other is not so much. So it really depends on what you're getting. The one that's great is one of the HP ones...one of the early gen 14s I think. It's really great and the only reason that she bought a new one 3 years later is that occasionally if she puts too much pressure on the area around the touchpad(by nature of holding it up on her lap or something) the mouse will disappear. Unfortunately the one she bought, one of the cheaper ASUS ones, is sluggish and flimsy so she ends up just using the HP one still. We're going to replace that one with another HP soon.

DSGamer wrote:
jowner wrote:
Elycion wrote:
karmajay wrote:

All the computer needs to do is internet, youtube, netflix. Can you skype on chromebooks?

Chromebooks are great for the first three, but there's no native support for Skype. You can use the web-based Skype but I understand that comes with some severe limitations. Google pretty much figures you're going to use Hangouts if you want to teleconference on a Chromebook.

That said, a quick search shows there are plenty of ways to hack Skype onto Chromebooks so it may be a non-issue.

My Chromebook is mostly a toy that I got almost free from my wife's employee purchase program. I've been really happy with just how well it works as a Google Docs and browsing tool. Amazing battery life on it too.

Have you tried Online Office on it?

I've tried it on a desktop using Chrome and it seems pretty smooth. I'm considering getting the Toshiba 2 Chromebook to replace all work related stuff when not using a desktop.

Did you ever get one of these? If so, what do you think of it? I want a Chromebook in part so I can have a lightweight computer for doing Emacs + programming + Kindle. Basically something cheap that I don't mind getting stolen if I'm running around programming in cafes, etc. Or to take on vacations.

On it right now. Pretty much phased out tablets for me.

As long as you double check that it does everything you will spend the majority of your time doing you should be fine.

Specifically for me its just for browsing and google docs. Office online works but tends to bug out randomly because Microsoft. Other problem is I'm a tab whore. I'm really bad at bookmarking and coming back to things so I just end up with an endless tab count. You can notice a pretty big slow down if you forget a tab in the background thats a major hog. Positive is its actually forcing me to organize my bookmarks which in turn makes me actually open my bookmarks and see things I've been meaning to get back to.

At $400 + tax Canadian for a Toshiba long term I honestly think Apple laptop market is in serious trouble. A full working laptop is obviously better but the price gap is obscene. I just dont do enough 'cool things' that require all the extra umph.

jowner wrote:

On it right now. Pretty much phased out tablets for me.

As long as you double check that it does everything you will spend the majority of your time doing you should be fine.

Specifically for me its just for browsing and google docs. Office online works but tends to bug out randomly because Microsoft. Other problem is I'm a tab whore. I'm really bad at bookmarking and coming back to things so I just end up with an endless tab count. You can notice a pretty big slow down if you forget a tab in the background thats a major hog. Positive is its actually forcing me to organize my bookmarks which in turn makes me actually open my bookmarks and see things I've been meaning to get back to.

At $400 + tax Canadian for a Toshiba long term I honestly think Apple laptop market is in serious trouble. A full working laptop is obviously better but the price gap is obscene. I just dont do enough 'cool things' that require all the extra umph.

I use a Chromebook Pixel 2 for work. 90% of what I do on a computer (minus gaming) is great on ChromeOS. But that other 10%...

It's a fantastic machine. But one word of caution to anyone who might want to get one (my work bought mine) is that no one will service them.

I had the misfortune of sitting down at a table that was missing a foot at a coffee shop. Burning hot tea scalded my legs, and got all over the Pixel. I shut it down, but Chromebooks really don't shut down. I let it dry, but the trackpack was a goner.

I called up Google to see what my options were. I was even willing to pay. Their answer: they don't work on them, and have no system in place to even recommend places to work on them. Apparently you're just supposed to replace a f*cking $1400 computer if the trackpad breaks.

I'm in New Orleans, so it's not a super large city, but it has a decent tech sector. I couldn't find a single person who knew how to work on it.

Through dumb luck, I managed to speak with a Google rep who took pity on me and replaced the entire Pixel. But what the hell.

Maybe if I had one of the cheaper ones, the "replace it" philosophy would be fine. But it's frustrating that there's not more repair support for the mid- to high-range Chromebooks. Although I guess that's not its primary market, right?

ccoates wrote:
jowner wrote:

On it right now. Pretty much phased out tablets for me.

As long as you double check that it does everything you will spend the majority of your time doing you should be fine.

Specifically for me its just for browsing and google docs. Office online works but tends to bug out randomly because Microsoft. Other problem is I'm a tab whore. I'm really bad at bookmarking and coming back to things so I just end up with an endless tab count. You can notice a pretty big slow down if you forget a tab in the background thats a major hog. Positive is its actually forcing me to organize my bookmarks which in turn makes me actually open my bookmarks and see things I've been meaning to get back to.

At $400 + tax Canadian for a Toshiba long term I honestly think Apple laptop market is in serious trouble. A full working laptop is obviously better but the price gap is obscene. I just dont do enough 'cool things' that require all the extra umph.

I use a Chromebook Pixel 2 for work. 90% of what I do on a computer (minus gaming) is great on ChromeOS. But that other 10%...

It's a fantastic machine. But one word of caution to anyone who might want to get one (my work bought mine) is that no one will service them.

I had the misfortune of sitting down at a table that was missing a foot at a coffee shop. Burning hot tea scalded my legs, and got all over the Pixel. I shut it down, but Chromebooks really don't shut down. I let it dry, but the trackpack was a goner.

I called up Google to see what my options were. I was even willing to pay. Their answer: they don't work on them, and have no system in place to even recommend places to work on them. Apparently you're just supposed to replace a f*cking $1400 computer if the trackpad breaks.

I'm in New Orleans, so it's not a super large city, but it has a decent tech sector. I couldn't find a single person who knew how to work on it.

Through dumb luck, I managed to speak with a Google rep who took pity on me and replaced the entire Pixel. But what the hell.

Maybe if I had one of the cheaper ones, the "replace it" philosophy would be fine. But it's frustrating that there's not more repair support for the mid- to high-range Chromebooks. Although I guess that's not its primary market, right?

I'm genuinely curious... why would you (or your work) spend ~$1000 on a Pixel when you can get a MacBook or equivalent Windows PC/Surface for that price. Seems like you're paying a lot more money for less functionality.

Iridium884 wrote:

I'm genuinely curious... why would you (or your work) spend ~$1000 on a Pixel when you can get a MacBook or equivalent Windows PC/Surface for that price. Seems like you're paying a lot more money for less functionality.

My work buys us a computer when we get hired, and updates every 18 months. I already had a fairly beefy Thinkpad with Linux/Windows 10, and almost everyone else has Macbooks, so there's no real impetus for me to cover the OS X front. And I was curious. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I find it really useful as a work machine, believe it or not. My job is browser based, so I don't need anything else. When I need to test Safari or IE, I ask a colleague. And having a work machine that can't install random software or games is more helpful than you'd think with restricting your personal life/activities to only your personal laptop.

The battery life is great, and it charges absurdly fast. I'm actually going to purchase it once it's time to update my machine in six months because I like it for non-gaming computing so much.

I'd never buy a Pixel equivalent Chromebook for myself again, but in the future I'd totally buy one of the midrange ~$400 models.

Edit:

And to be clear, the reason I'd never buy the Pixel again is because of Google's complete lack of options for factory servicing them. I'd still get a future updated one if the quality remained the same and they changed that approach.

I ended up buying a $230 Windows laptop on sale and putting Linux on it. I hate it. The display is awful. I'm probably going to sell it and just buy a MacBook Air as my "cheap" laptop. Apparently my eyes can't handle laptops without sub-pixel rendering.

ccoates wrote:

I'd never buy a Pixel equivalent Chromebook for myself again, but in the future I'd totally buy one of the midrange ~$400 models.

The Toshiba Chromebook 2 (2015 edition) is getting good reviews, and falls right in that price range. I really, really liked the prior Full HD Chromebook 2, but a Chromebook just didn't fit my needs.

Kurrelgyre wrote:
ccoates wrote:

I'd never buy a Pixel equivalent Chromebook for myself again, but in the future I'd totally buy one of the midrange ~$400 models.

The Toshiba Chromebook 2 (2015 edition) is getting good reviews, and falls right in that price range. I really, really liked the prior Full HD Chromebook 2, but a Chromebook just didn't fit my needs.

It's too bad Toshiba is discontinuing its Chromebooks though.

Maybe the new Acer?

Acer's new all-aluminum Chromebook offers up to 14 hours of battery life

DSGamer wrote:

I ended up buying a $230 Windows laptop on sale and putting Linux on it. I hate it. The display is awful. I'm probably going to sell it and just buy a MacBook Air as my "cheap" laptop. Apparently my eyes can't handle laptops without sub-pixel rendering.

The new Acer is 1920x1080 for $299. Might be worth waiting until it's released this month.

ccoates wrote:
Iridium884 wrote:

I'm genuinely curious... why would you (or your work) spend ~$1000 on a Pixel when you can get a MacBook or equivalent Windows PC/Surface for that price. Seems like you're paying a lot more money for less functionality.

My work buys us a computer when we get hired, and updates every 18 months. I already had a fairly beefy Thinkpad with Linux/Windows 10, and almost everyone else has Macbooks, so there's no real impetus for me to cover the OS X front. And I was curious. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I find it really useful as a work machine, believe it or not. My job is browser based, so I don't need anything else. When I need to test Safari or IE, I ask a colleague. And having a work machine that can't install random software or games is more helpful than you'd think with restricting your personal life/activities to only your personal laptop.

The battery life is great, and it charges absurdly fast. I'm actually going to purchase it once it's time to update my machine in six months because I like it for non-gaming computing so much.

I'd never buy a Pixel equivalent Chromebook for myself again, but in the future I'd totally buy one of the midrange ~$400 models.

Edit:

And to be clear, the reason I'd never buy the Pixel again is because of Google's complete lack of options for factory servicing them. I'd still get a future updated one if the quality remained the same and they changed that approach.

Interesting. Thanks for your response. I'll have to check it out.