OT Google Chrome Book OT

ryantt

Ok, I’m not a tech guy, but I “need” something to use other than my phone and Mac Book.  I do not feel confident taking my Mac Book with me...I’m accident prone and likely to break/leave it some place.  

I was looking at the Chrome Book 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-15-6-chromebook-intel-atom-x5-4gb-memory-16gb-emmc-flash-memory-granite-gray/6359610.p?skuId=6359610

Is this worth while.  Basically all I’ll use it for is Sunday school lessons and maybe, some basic web stuff.  

Any help would be appreciated. 

Ryan 

FanOfFanboys

outside of my work pc I only use a Chromebook. I am typing on one right now. It is 4 years old, probably replace next year

I love this thing

boots up and powers off quickly, I went a couple of years working from home and I used it to stream music in the background all day. I bet I have averaged 30+ hours/week over the last 4 years. 8-12 tabs open is common (I have 9 open currently)

Internet, netflix, pandora, photos, etc

Botch

Will be watching this thread carefully.  My 9-year-old Macbook Err's second battery is dying, I really don't need an advanced 'pooter for surfing (which is all I do here in my recliner) (and I will first be investigating having Err's battery replaced by Bed, Batteries, Bulbs, and Beyond, as suggested to me elsewhere).
 
One thing I Really Would like to change, is the size of the laptop.  My Err is (iirc) 13", and just the right size to slide down between my legs, back and forth (I have a big lap) (ahem); just an extra inch on each side would have it setting on TOP of my legs, would be much better.  
And a bigger screen would help the ol' eyes, too.  I can deal with Safari, Chrome, Explorer, Opera, Netscape, browser don't matter, so I could go with a cheep non-Apple product for surfing.  

HeavyG

Botch said:

Will be watching this thread carefully.  My 9-year-old Macbook Err's second battery is dying, I really don't need an advanced 'pooter for surfing (which is all I do here in my recliner) (and I will first be investigating having Err's battery replaced by Bed, Batteries, Bulbs, and Beyond, as suggested to me elsewhere).
 
One thing I Really Would like to change, is the size of the laptop.  My Err is (iirc) 13", and just the right size to slide down between my legs, back and forth (I have a big lap) (ahem); just an extra inch on each side would have it setting on TOP of my legs, would be much better.  
And a bigger screen would help the ol' eyes, too.  I can deal with Safari, Chrome, Explorer, Opera, Netscape, browser don't matter, so I could go with a cheep non-Apple product for surfing.  

Speaking of Mac Air batteries. I received my replacement battery for mine today and will be installing it tomorrow. I don't normally use my Macbook often but my iMac died a few days ago and since the Air won't hold a charge for more than a few days and dies within a few hours of use I decided to go ahead and replace it since I'll be using the Air daily until I repair or replace my iMac.

alaskanassasin

Botch said:

Will be watching this thread carefully.  My 9-year-old Macbook Err's second battery is dying, I really don't need an advanced 'pooter for surfing (which is all I do here in my recliner) (and I will first be investigating having Err's battery replaced by Bed, Batteries, Bulbs, and Beyond, as suggested to me elsewhere).
 
One thing I Really Would like to change, is the size of the laptop.  My Err is (iirc) 13", and just the right size to slide down between my legs, back and forth (I have a big lap) (ahem); just an extra inch on each side would have it setting on TOP of my legs, would be much better.  
And a bigger screen would help the ol' eyes, too.  I can deal with Safari, Chrome, Explorer, Opera, Netscape, browser don't matter, so I could go with a cheep non-Apple product for surfing.  

there is a lot to work with there I am just to lazy

fiber_induced_deuce

This is defiantly the way to go for you’re porn hub account. Chromebook all the way for anything illegal you want to do to.

dmourati

I have a pixelbook:

https://store.google.com/us/config/google_pixelbook

It's got a touch sensitive screen and is very lightweight and thin. I prefer my Macbook pro 15" to it for most use cases. If I were traveling a lot and concerned less concerned about a big bright screen, the pixelbook would fit the bill.

Full disclosure, I work for Google and the pixelbook (and one macbook, I have two) are provided by the company.

smak

I'm a big Chromebook fan.  Currently have a Pixelbook and use it 99% of the time. 
Caveat: I enabled the Linux functionality and use a number of Linux applications (VS Code, Inkscape, etc).

If you are mostly surfing the web and email, a Chromebook would be my recommendation.  Just need to check on your printing situation if that is a requirement.

My wife and both boys (9 and 12) use Chromebooks as well.

There are a couple edge case where I need to pull out an old windows laptop but those cases are increasingly rare.

ryantt

@smak and  @dmourati what is a Pixelbook vs a Chromebook?   

JohnInCarolina

ryantt said:

@smak and  @dmourati what is a Pixelbook vs a Chromebook?   

About an extra thousand dollars.

FanOfFanboys

ryantt said:

@smak and  @dmourati what is a Pixelbook vs a Chromebook?   

pixelbook is a chromebook, just an expensive one with more features

one draw of the chromebook, and there are many, is the low price point. a $300-$400 windows PC is usually junk and Apple does not offer anything new in that price range (that I know of) but there are a lot of great chromebook options in that price range

if I were to drop $1k on a laptop I probably would go with an Apple product but everyone has a different preference 

unoriginalusername

I'd get an iPad if you're mac and iPhone as you keep the same notes, apps etc.  Chromebook has very limited utility outside of WIFI 

Wisv1k

unoriginalusername said:

I'd get an iPad if you're mac and iPhone as you keep the same notes, apps etc.  Chromebook has very limited utility outside of WIFI 

That's not exactly true.  The office style applications and others all work offline. They sync automatically when you hit the internet.  Any device is essentially the same, when you need internet, you need it.  As with any device, the work around is hotspotting your phone.

ColbyLang

About to buy a chrome book for the house as well. My PreK son is using one daily at his school. We’ve been Mac users since college, but will get him the same thing he’s using in class

PigBeanUs

I’ve always said “chrome don’t get you home”. Never seen a chrome plated book before though. That’s a new one to me. 

ryantt

The thing that appealed to me is the $$. But after talking to my Boss (Wife) she said just get an iPad mini and Bluetooth keyboard.  This way I can just Share documents between the phone and all other items.   

I appreciate the help. 

PigBeanUs

ryantt said:

The thing that appealed to me is the $$. But after talking to my Boss (Wife) she said just get an iPad mini and Bluetooth keyboard.  This way I can just Share documents between the phone and all other items.   

I appreciate the help. 

Have you reached out to Apple? Could get a free one? 

unoriginalusername

Wisv1k said:

unoriginalusername said:

I'd get an iPad if you're mac and iPhone as you keep the same notes, apps etc.  Chromebook has very limited utility outside of WIFI 

That's not exactly true.  The office style applications and others all work offline. They sync automatically when you hit the internet.  Any device is essentially the same, when you need internet, you need it.  As with any device, the work around is hotspotting your phone.

Not sure what’s involved in the OP’s use case for “Sunday school notes and web stuff” but i find more off line functionality in the iPad and If your already in the ecosystem with a Mac and iPhone I think it makes sense to be able to respond to iMessages, FaceTime or continue notes / documents where you left off on different devices etc