Eating Crow, just got an ASUS Chromebook flip

[murphcid]

My oldest daughter just trashed, and I mean trashed her laptop, so I had to rush out and get her something to use for homework. And since the school requires Google Docs and cloud storage, and I did not have enough $$$ to get her a real laptop, I got her an ASUS Chromebook Flip to tide her over till I can get her a real laptop again. The nice thing is since the school requires the use of Google Docs, she can do her homework, and upload it to the school. I just wonder how the battery life is going to be on this thing? Also can she upload anything like photos, or can she do any work off line, or is it dead unless there is a wifi connection?

Also can she save Google Docs to a flash drive and let me print things out for her on my desktop computer?

 

[frifred]

Yes, she can work on Docs offline (she may need to turn the offline feature on, in Google Docs, first). And, as long as it has a USB port, she can copy a file for you to print......but, Google Docs allows you to email a file so she can just email it to you, or directly to your printer if it has that feature (like Epson Connect, for example), or you can set up Google Cloud Print for your printer and Chromebook. As for uploading photos, etc., she should try to keep files that are stored locally on the laptop to a minimum, as I assume that it probably on has a 16DB SSD(?). Chromebooks are really designed to be used with Google Drive, saving your files there in the cloud.

I have been using a Chromebook as my main daily machine for a couple of years now and I love it. I keep it right on the arm of my couch so I can just pick it up whenever I want to look at something online. I still use my regular windows laptop, but only once a week or so, just to do my heavy lifting work!

 

[murphcid]

It has proven to be so useless, that it only is used to watch YouTube, NetFlix, and surf the net. "Dad! I can't add iTunes! There is not enough memory!, I can't play games! There are no Apps!". *sigh*

 

[Jonneh]

I'll gladly take it off your hands! =)

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[murphcid]

If you can pry it out of the kids and the Spouse-Unit's hands... They love it, I find it useless, so I am getting a little Lenovo 2gb/64gb 11.6 screen to install MInt Linux on for my baby laptop.

I'll gladly take it off your hands! =)

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[murphcid]

Well instead of the Lenovo I got an HP 13.3" 360 laptop, installed Mint 18 on it, and it blows the Chromebook away. Then I got a MacBook Pro and it is even better. My low opinion of the Chromebooks has been if anything, reinforced.

 

[pbike908]

Well instead of the Lenovo I got an HP 13.3" 360 laptop, installed Mint 18 on it, and it blows the Chromebook away. Then I got a MacBook Pro and it is even better. My low opinion of the Chromebooks has been if anything, reinforced.

Jeez for one that couldn't afford a "real laptop" it looks like you found some cash!!! MacBook Pro, a nice device, are arguably a total rip off now that Windows 10 has matured. If I were in the market for a Chromebook currently, I would purchase the new Asus 12.5" unit with the backlit keybaord for $499. I imagine that it will be one of the first to fully support the Google Play store (Android apps) if Google ever gets their act together and "officially" rolls that out.

I think Android apps on Chromebooks could be a real game changer.

I don't think anyone would say that a Chromebook is as powerful and/or as versatile as a laptop. And neither is a smart phone or tablet. Most folks anymore have little need for a laptop. They could get by with a smartphone and a Chromebook.

If Google can truly flesh out, and/or merge Chomebooks and Android,it will be a heck of a value proposition. Granted if one is a Windows 10, Mac, Iphone, or Linux advocate it will never measure up....

My 75 year old Dad LOVES his Toshiba Chromeboook....

 

[murphcid]

I got my longevity pay at work (23 years worth). The HP laptop normally goes for $499, but Best Buy had it on for $349 so I got it. The Macbook was purchased from a guy who had bought it, and hated it, so he (actually his wife) got rid of it for under $1,000. I had enough money left over to put in a Crucial MX300 275gb SSD in the HP. The Macbook is the 256 gb HD model from 2015, not the new one. The wife and youngest daughter use the chromebook to watch Netflix and YouTube, that is all that is done with it. I just wish that Chrome was more like Mint Linux, and was useful when you did not have an internet connection. Plus a reasonable size SSD (128/256 gb) so that you could do some real work on one. The Macbook was the end of a 32 year desire to get one. It is nice, works well, but 90% of what I can do on the Mac, I can do on the Linux machine. I just miss iTunes for Linux.

Jeez for one that couldn't afford a "real laptop" it looks like you found some cash!!! MacBook Pro, a nice device, are arguably a total rip off now that Windows 10 has matured. If I were in the market for a Chromebook currently, I would purchase the new Asus 12.5" unit with the backlit keybaord for $499. I imagine that it will be one of the first to fully support the Google Play store (Android apps) if Google ever gets their act together and "officially" rolls that out.

I think Android apps on Chromebooks could be a real game changer.

I don't think anyone would say that a Chromebook is as powerful and/or as versatile as a laptop. And neither is a smart phone or tablet. Most folks anymore have little need for a laptop. They could get by with a smartphone and a Chromebook.

If Google can truly flesh out, and/or merge Chomebooks and Android,it will be a heck of a value proposition. Granted if one is a Windows 10, Mac, Iphone, or Linux advocate it will never measure up....

My 75 year old Dad LOVES his Toshiba Chromeboook....

 

[Brew Swayne]

It has proven to be so useless, that it only is used to watch YouTube, NetFlix, and surf the net. "Dad! I can't add iTunes! There is not enough memory!, I can't play games! There are no Apps!". *sigh*

You do realize that Chromebooks and Windows Laptops/Macbooks aren't even supposed to be comparable, right?

Chromebooks are designed with the most basic user needs in mind.....the internet. Most people don't need super powerful machines that can run super powerful software for things like photo/video editing or gaming etc, etc. They want facebook, amazon, ebay, netflix, youtube, email, and maybe google drive. That's pretty much it. If your needs exceed that, then no, a chromebook probably isn't for you. But if you're just a regular schmuck like most, then a $300 chromebook is a far better use of money than a $1000 macbook or windows laptop.

As for the lack of iTunes, well, duh. Google does have it's own ecosystem similar to iTunes though. And with Google Play Music you can upload your entire iTunes library (up to 50k songs) for free and it will maintain your playlist integrity. Now your music is safely stored in the cloud and is available everywhere you go. You can also download your music back to a physical drive whenever you want.

Also, there are plenty of apps and extensions available in the Chrome Web Store. But if those don't quite suit your needs, a few 2016 Chromebooks are capable of running Android apps from the Play Store and I believe all 2017 Chromebooks will have the same capability.

Personally, I think chromebooks are exactly what the market has been lacking for the last 20 years. The only thing that was really holding it back was the lack of a developed cloud system for storage. How many people out there have dropped thousands of dollars on PC or Macs over the years and they've never even come close to using them to their full potential? It's like buying a tractor-trailer when all you need is a station wagon.