ackmondual
Well-known member
Just in case there weren't enough convincing posts....I just don't get the point of chrome books. A crippled device the cannot work unless you have an Internet connection, and can't run any real programs such as photoshop, libre office, word, etc. 16 gb of storage, 2gb of ram, less useful than a decent Windows laptop. What is the point of these devices? A real laptop and tab s2 does it all.
Many laptops and tablets have their usages reduced without internet connection. Without internet, I would rather go to my 11" Win 10 laptop instead, as I can still do no small # of games, programs (e.g. IDLE for some quick Python programming), documents (Google Office is just fine, but I prefer M$ Office for stuff for heavier formatting, and offline stuff that I can manipulate the actual files), and similar stuff. I've only got an 80 GB SSD there, so I try not to keep any multimedia unless it's work-ish related. Still being offline, I'd go to my iPad for games.
Google Docs does work for the more than enough folks. As for Photoshop, the scroogled ads that's on TV or videos are amusing because even though a group of 2 people were taken aback how Chromebooks can't run Photoshop nor Illustrator, I'm guessing that was out of at least 10 people who wanted to use Photoshop on the road. Why do you have a Tab S2 if that can't run Photoshop then?
The 16 GB of storage can be a bit of a sticking point, but most rely on Google's integration of apps and cloud storage for all of that. I keep some image and PDF files locally for easy access, but they're only several MB each in size, so I'm still sitting pretty there. Nice thing here is there are USB ports for external hardrives, and a micro SD card slot for external storage.
2 GB RAM isn't that big of a deal breaker. Chrome OS is designed to run on lower specs. That said, I use an HP Chromebook 14 with 2 GB of system RAM, and have gotten error messages on browser tabs saying the system ran out of memory. I make sure to close tabs I don't need to be left open. On a scale of 0 through 5 with 5 being a deal breaker, that's about a 1.5 in severity. I wish it had more RAM, but still a long way to go for me to stop using it
decent laptop. BTW, that same "scroogled" campaign mentioned you could get a Windows 10 laptop for as little as $300, or was it $400? I highly doubt you'd want to run Photoshop on such a laptop, assuming it's even possible... PS needs more resources than not, not to mention a larger screen is better. You can also use a dock, but then that cuts down on mobility, which is "a few strikes" against it.
Real laptop + tab s2 is now 2 devices you gotta lug around.
.
I bought a refurbished HP Chromebook 14 since it was only $190 shipped. That was cheap enough for me to try it out, even if it didn't work out. As suspected, I found an app to program in Python, but it required me being online. There may be offline alternatives, but it's not a priority. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to run a Unity nor Android Studio equivalent on it (and actual, I doubt my win10 laptop could either, but that was also a low price point). The CB's mostly a consumption device that can do low to mid-low productivity. Doing just that, it excels, and to me, it's a joy to use.
Typing in internet forums, and documents is much nicer with an actual keyboard. It has smart gestures on the trackpad to scroll, switch tabs, and go back/forward quickly. Google products of course do work well with it. I'm reading an ebook for a certification, and it saves where I'm at when I exit. I check an option to make it for reading offline. I use Google Documents to take notes.
My woes are few, but they are there.... no smart gesture for zooming.... you gotta press Ctrl+= or Ctrl+- for that. I've had the thing restart on me without warning. I had to reopen webpages, but Google Office stuff should be retained (I didn't have to find out the hard way). I've brought up low memory errors.
.
Education was brought up, and that's a sector where CB's took 50% marketshare within a few short years. Windows laptops lost about 15% market share, while iPads lost half their share, down to about 23%? The lower specs make it cheaper per unit. There are tools that let staff admin them, set up stuff, and share stuff without having full blown IT knowledge and being too time consuming. Having stuff on the cloud means it's more sharable and backed up. Multiple user profiles means if one student loses or breaks their CB, they can be issued another one, and get back and running swiftly. As a bonus, CBs aren't as valuable as win laptops, And tablets, and ipads, so kids are less likely to steal them, or pawn them.
Last edited: