"Why Chromebook Pundits Are Out of Touch" - Page 43

Graham · 03-21-2014, 10:32 AM

I think that this thread's been pretty good at steering clear of that tribal attitude. I hope that our enthusiasm for the ChromeOS environment hasn't come across as trying to force it down people's throats.

I think there's a recognition that it's not quite ready to stand alone yet, but deserves an eagerness to let people know that what's available already is well worth taking a look at it, even if it only fulfils part of your needs.

We're increasingly becoming multi-gadget folk, and a Chromebook added to a Windows or Mac household is a fun thing to have. It doesn't have to replace anything at all really. It's just very good at what it does, and well worth having in reach.

Graham

QuantumIguana · 03-21-2014, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham

I think that this thread's been pretty good at steering clear of that tribal attitude. I hope that our enthusiasm for the ChromeOS environment hasn't come across as trying to force it down people's throats.

I think there's a recognition that it's not quite ready to stand alone yet, but deserves an eagerness to let people know that what's available already is well worth taking a look at it, even if it only fulfils part of your needs.

We're increasingly becoming multi-gadget folk, and a Chromebook added to a Windows or Mac household is a fun thing to have. It doesn't have to replace anything at all really. It's just very good at what it does, and well worth having in reach.

Graham

I do most of my computing on the Chromebook, it meets my needs. There is a Windows 8 desktop downstairs, my wife uses it. There are some articles on the Chromebook which assume that since it isn't for them, it isn't for anyone. Go to any article on the Chromebook, and you will see a number of tantrums (that's really the only way to put it) against the Chromebook. Of course, go to any tech article, and you're probably going to see similar tantrums. Mac vs. PC, Windows vs. Linux etc.

Latinandgreek · 03-21-2014, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frahse

I find that despite all the machines available to my wife and myself, it is necessary to purchase another Windows laptop. The only question now is whether it is a super light and slim machine or whether it has an optical drive. Between $450 and $500. This will impact my home machines budget because of other items that are coming due and I will have to very reluctantly put off buying myself a new Chromebook.

Drat you Bill Gates!

(... and he was said to have said as he was led out of sight, "it is no use worrying cause nothing is gonna turn out alright.")

You could also get an external optical drive if wanted the super light laptop, if you don't think that you'd need to necessarily have the optical drive integrated into the laptop. I'm so happy with my super light laptop (13" Macbook Air) that I can't see myself getting a heavier laptop ever again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Don't get mad, get even. The best way to stop Bill Gates to make money right now is to by the original Surface Pro, if you look around $400 is not out of the question.

Yes, the surface pro can also be connected to a screen, so it might be a good option. I played a bit with a set-up like that at the Microsoft store, it might be an option worth looking into. Also, perhaps the Surface RT, which is quite cheap (I've seen it selling for about $250 or so), might be a feasible option.

frahse · 03-21-2014, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

You could also get an external optical drive if wanted the super light laptop, if you don't think that you'd need to necessarily have the optical drive integrated into the laptop. I'm so happy with my super light laptop (13" Macbook Air) that I can't see myself getting a heavier laptop ever again.

Yes. That is fine for home or the office, but a problem if you travel.

frahse · 03-23-2014, 10:43 AM

I have been enjoying working at home (or the home office) a lot more since New Years and yesterday my wife and I took the time to go to Best Buy to look at machines.

In particular to look at display sizes 15.6 inches (like her old laptop), 14", 13.3" and 11.6" like her Chrome Book.
We looked at all the machines except Apple. When we got to that display counter, she said "No, I don't want an Apple laptop for my personal use." She does have an Apple desktop at work.

What I noticed is that none of the laptops I picked up to examine had an optical drive. Anyway, that made up my mind. No optical drive on this next machine.
Either a Toshiba like her old laptop, or a Lenovo, though I have paid the Acer website one visit.

We decided on a 14 inch model.

I will refurbish and repurpose her 3 year old 15.6" Toshiba for my own use. I already have "recovered" Win 7 and MS Office on the drive, but it does definitely have a "slight" intermittent problem with the 500GB hard drive which may necessitate a new drive, $50 for for a replacement 500GB or I think about $79 for a 750GB. We engineers like challenges That is why I have a 16 year old Dell Windows desktop for my home computer, but XP is expiring next month and the T450 XPS is too slow (450Mhz) and has too small a Ram 768Mb (maxed out) for Win 7 or 8.

My wife on the other hand doesn't understand or doesn't appreciate the purity or relevance of the noble discipline of "bringing order out of chaos." She wants a new machine and no quibbling. She likes the portability of her 11.6" Chromebook but she needs MS Office and other Windows software at times.

bill_mchale · 03-26-2014, 04:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frahse

I have been enjoying working at home (or the home office) a lot more since New Years and yesterday my wife and I took the time to go to Best Buy to look at machines.

In particular to look at display sizes 15.6 inches (like her old laptop), 14", 13.3" and 11.6" like her Chrome Book.
We looked at all the machines except Apple. When we got to that display counter, she said "No, I don't want an Apple laptop for my personal use." She does have an Apple desktop at work.

What I noticed is that none of the laptops I picked up to examine had an optical drive. Anyway, that made up my mind. No optical drive on this next machine.
Either a Toshiba like her old laptop, or a Lenovo, though I have paid the Acer website one visit.

We decided on a 14 inch model.

I will refurbish and repurpose her 3 year old 15.6" Toshiba for my own use. I already have "recovered" Win 7 and MS Office on the drive, but it does definitely have a "slight" intermittent problem with the 500GB hard drive which may necessitate a new drive, $50 for for a replacement 500GB or I think about $79 for a 750GB. We engineers like challenges That is why I have a 16 year old Dell Windows desktop for my home computer, but XP is expiring next month and the T450 XPS is too slow (450Mhz) and has too small a Ram 768Mb (maxed out) for Win 7 or 8.

My wife on the other hand doesn't understand or doesn't appreciate the purity or relevance of the noble discipline of "bringing order out of chaos." She wants a new machine and no quibbling. She likes the portability of her 11.6" Chromebook but she needs MS Office and other Windows software at times.

Wow, I thought I was pushing things with Pentium M systems that have 1.5 Gigs of Ram. Might I suggest a minimalist distro of Linux?

--
Bill

frahse · 03-27-2014, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

Wow, I thought I was pushing things with Pentium M systems that have 1.5 Gigs of Ram. Might I suggest a minimalist distro of Linux?
--
Bill

Good thinking. I have already considered that but am waiting to see what other solutions might come up.
I saw the other day that many, many ATM machines use XP and the Chinese also use it a lot.
I am hoping someone comes up with a tidy solution.

"Necessity is the mother of invention!" ("Mater artium necessitas")

Dopedangel · 03-27-2014, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frahse

Good thinking. I have already considered that but am waiting to see what other solutions might come up.
I saw the other day that many, many ATM machines use XP and the Chinese also use it a lot.
I am hoping someone comes up with a tidy solution.

"Necessity is the mother of invention!" ("Mater artium necessitas")

They have found a solution most of them are moving to linux or windows 7.

http://www.inferse.com/13788/goodbye...ks-move-linux/

eschwartz · 03-27-2014, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dopedangel

They have found a solution most of them are moving to linux or windows 7.

http://www.inferse.com/13788/goodbye...ks-move-linux/

Perhaps this will finally be The Year of the Linux Desktop, then.

bill_mchale · 03-27-2014, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frahse

Good thinking. I have already considered that but am waiting to see what other solutions might come up.
I saw the other day that many, many ATM machines use XP and the Chinese also use it a lot.
I am hoping someone comes up with a tidy solution.

"Necessity is the mother of invention!" ("Mater artium necessitas")

Well, you could look at some alternate Operating Systems... but by and large, I think a lean linux distro should perform at least as well as an XP system (In my experience, linux always ran rings around windows systems).

--
Bill

Graham · 03-28-2014, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

Well, you could look at some alternate Operating Systems...

Um... like ChromeOS? (To get back on topic...

)

Graham

frahse · 03-28-2014, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham

Um... like ChromeOS? (To get back on topic...

)

Graham

Can I put ChromeOS on my 1998 Dell XPS, T450, 768MB Ram, 450Mhz cpu?

How?

You know that machine and monitor cost me about $2,600 back when a dollar was almost worth a dollar.

Graham · 03-28-2014, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frahse

Can I put ChromeOS on my 1998 Dell XPS, T450, 768MB Ram, 450Mhz cpu?

How?

You know that machine and monitor cost me about $2,600 back when a dollar was almost worth a dollar.

That's what I was wondering, as ChromiumOS is very lightweight.

However, it looks like you need a 64 bit system:

http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/quick-start-guide

Graham

frahse · 03-29-2014, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham

That's what I was wondering, as ChromiumOS is very lightweight.

However, it looks like you need a 64 bit system:

http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/quick-start-guide

Graham

?
The T450 has a 64 bit data bus and a 32 bit address bus.
Is that compatible?
?

tubemonkey · 03-29-2014, 02:20 PM

Still no Asus Chromebox at Amazon that's sold by Amazon. They have one sold by some company that's overcharging for it. They're selling the $179 unit for $228.99 ($216.59 + 12.40 shipping). That's $50 too much and highway robbery!

I'm in no hurry. I'll wait until Amazon gets it in stock.

03-23-2014, 10:43 AM	#635
frahse occasional author Posts: 2,315 Karma: 2064403292 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Wandering God's glorious hills, valleys and plains. Device: A Franklin BI (before Internet) was the first. I still have it.	I have been enjoying working at home (or the home office) a lot more since New Years and yesterday my wife and I took the time to go to Best Buy to look at machines. In particular to look at display sizes 15.6 inches (like her old laptop), 14", 13.3" and 11.6" like her Chrome Book. We looked at all the machines except Apple. When we got to that display counter, she said "No, I don't want an Apple laptop for my personal use." She does have an Apple desktop at work. What I noticed is that none of the laptops I picked up to examine had an optical drive. Anyway, that made up my mind. No optical drive on this next machine. Either a Toshiba like her old laptop, or a Lenovo, though I have paid the Acer website one visit. We decided on a 14 inch model. I will refurbish and repurpose her 3 year old 15.6" Toshiba for my own use. I already have "recovered" Win 7 and MS Office on the drive, but it does definitely have a "slight" intermittent problem with the 500GB hard drive which may necessitate a new drive, $50 for for a replacement 500GB or I think about $79 for a 750GB. We engineers like challenges That is why I have a 16 year old Dell Windows desktop for my home computer, but XP is expiring next month and the T450 XPS is too slow (450Mhz) and has too small a Ram 768Mb (maxed out) for Win 7 or 8. My wife on the other hand doesn't understand or doesn't appreciate the purity or relevance of the noble discipline of "bringing order out of chaos." She wants a new machine and no quibbling. She likes the portability of her 11.6" Chromebook but she needs MS Office and other Windows software at times. Last edited by frahse; 03-23-2014 at 10:45 AM.

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03-21-2014, 10:32 AM	#631
Graham Wizard Posts: 2,742 Karma: 32912427 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: North Yorkshire, UK Device: Kobo H20, Pixel 2, Samsung Chromebook Plus	I think that this thread's been pretty good at steering clear of that tribal attitude. I hope that our enthusiasm for the ChromeOS environment hasn't come across as trying to force it down people's throats. I think there's a recognition that it's not quite ready to stand alone yet, but deserves an eagerness to let people know that what's available already is well worth taking a look at it, even if it only fulfils part of your needs. We're increasingly becoming multi-gadget folk, and a Chromebook added to a Windows or Mac household is a fun thing to have. It doesn't have to replace anything at all really. It's just very good at what it does, and well worth having in reach. Graham

03-29-2014, 02:20 PM	#645
tubemonkey monkey on the fringe Posts: 45,773 Karma: 158733736 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Metro Device: Moto E6, Echo Show	Still no Asus Chromebox at Amazon that's sold by Amazon. They have one sold by some company that's overcharging for it. They're selling the $179 unit for $228.99 ($216.59 + 12.40 shipping). That's $50 too much and highway robbery! I'm in no hurry. I'll wait until Amazon gets it in stock.