New Acer Chromebook C710-2055

[SeaKing]

Acer C710-2055 11.6-Inch Chromebook (Older one C710-2847)

New Acer C7 has essentially 3 increases.
Memory increases from 2 to 4GB
Battery life increases to 6 hours (4 cell battery to 6 cell)
Price increases from $199.99 to $279.99

At Amazon, you can pre-order
"This item has not yet been released.
You may pre-order it now and we will deliver it to you when it arrives.
$279.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping. Details
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com."

An increase of $80 seems high.
I think I priced the memory increase cost at $12 to $16 for DIY.
So that is $65 for a 6 cell battery over 4 cell.
But maybe that is the early adopter price and at Amazon prices always go down!

Of course strickly speaking of prices, this is $1000 less than the Google Pixel.
It is also $30 more than the basic Samsung 3 (without 3G) for $250.

My finger is still not yet steady on the purchase trigger but maybe soon...

[wizwor]

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-C710-2055.../dp/B00BB9OXM0

Here's your link Seaking

[Graham]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

It is also $30 more than the basic Samsung 3 (without 3G) for $250.

Advantages of the Acer chromebook:

Doesn't have the issues that the Samsung ARM device has with code designed to run on Intel processors, which means that not all the apps in the Chrome Store are compatible with the Samsung.

You have significant local storage without needing to add an SD card.

The increased memory is presumably an advantage for the Acer, but the Samsung ARM version runs fine with its 2 GB.

Disadvantages compared to the Samsung ARM chromebook:

There will be hard drive and fan noise, while the Samsung is blissfully silent.

It's heavier, and even with the extra weight and cost, the battery life is still a little less than the Samsung's.

Hope this helps. Yell, if you want any thoughts on using a Chromebook in general.

Graham

[Dopedangel]

Originally Posted by Graham

Advantages of the Acer chromebook:

Doesn't have the issues that the Samsung ARM device has with code designed to run on Intel processors, which means that not all the apps in the Chrome Store are compatible with the Samsung.

You have significant local storage without needing to add an SD card.

The increased memory is presumably an advantage for the Acer, but the Samsung ARM version runs fine with its 2 GB.

Disadvantages compared to the Samsung ARM chromebook:

There will be hard drive and fan noise, while the Samsung is blissfully silent.

It's heavier, and even with the extra weight and cost, the battery life is still a little less than the Samsung's.

Hope this helps. Yell, if you want any thoughts on using a Chromebook in general.

Graham

Wait I thought the the point of web and html app was that the hardware architecture is no longer relevant. And they could be run on anything that can run a browser

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Dopedangel

Wait I thought the the point of web and html app was that the hardware architecture is no longer relevant. And they could be run on anything that can run a browser

Well, yes, and no and maybe so. I remember I was working at a very large place and they had golf carts to zip around in. I could handle those fine.
Then I found that the golf carts were usually busy and unless I could find someone to carry me, I had to walk, or ride a bike, or if I had some amount of equipment, I could get a 3 wheel bike with a big basket on the back.

I remember getting on it, and getting to the turn, and leaning, and pulling, and running into a post. Well almost cause I finally applied the brakes.
You had to unlearn that leaning that had worked so well since grammar school, and just turn the handle bars. Seemed easy in theory, but was hard to apply because of old habits.

With Chrome, I think you have to unlearn also.
Hardware still matters. Only if you use the cloud does it not matter so much and that is true for regular computers as well. Windows or iOS or linux.

The difference with Chrome, is that there is more emphasis on the Cloud though there is a backdoor of sorts for Offline work. There you use your storage on-board.

The big difference is that normally each time you get the programs from your net connection. Fresh, debugged, free and ready to go.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Dopedangel

Wait I thought the the point of web and html app was that the hardware architecture is no longer relevant. And they could be run on anything that can run a browser

Indeed it is. However, some web app designers add code targeted at the specific features of Intel hardware.

So, perhaps a better way to look at the current state of the Chromebook ecosystem is that they can run all strictly HTML5 web apps (which is the intended purpose), and they also support Flash, but that the Intel-based devices can also run an additional selection of apps.

The problem currently is that the Chrome Store doesn't indicate compatibility, so you have to install the app on the ARM Samsung to find out. This isn't as big a deal as it sounds, as installation is trivial on a chromebook; very little code is downloaded, if any. You click 'Install' in the Store and the installation only takes a few seconds. Removal is just as simple.

Having said this, I've mainly run into the issue with certain higher-end games. All the productivity apps I've needed have run fine on the Samsung, except for one: Gantt, a Microsoft Project clone, runs so slowly as to be unusable. But it isn't much faster on my i7 desktop...

Graham

[SeaKing]

1 source said there was no Ethernet port for the new C710 2005 Chromebook which the C710 2847 did have, but I have seen a listing that showed that port was still there.

This port is useful for
1. a problem with the WiFi.
2. to use the laptop as the computer connected to the router if no more than temporarily for setting up.

I consider not having that port a big weakness for the Samsung 3 Series.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

I consider not having that port a big weakness for the Samsung 3 Series.

True. That can be remedied with a USB ethernet adaptor, but obviously it would be better to have it built in.

Graham

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by Graham

True. That can be remedied with a USB ethernet adaptor, but obviously it would be better to have it built in.

Graham

Yes, I probably over stated the case. The missing Ethernet port is not a "big" weakness, but still could be an inconvenience.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

An increase of $80 seems high.

Definitely too high; and a deal breaker for me.

[frahse]

We have to keep kicking the tires to use an old expression, even if they are now low profile, run flat or non pneumatic.

Things change. Decisions have to be rethought.

In today's mail I got an ad from Dell:

$299.99 for a fully loaded Dell 15" W8 laptop.

Compare that $299.99 machine with the $279.99 Acer C710 2055 Chromebook, or the Samsung Series 3 $249 Chromebook or to the $199.99 Acer C710 2847 Chromebook.

It certainly seems as if the Dell W8 machine has more value with all that hardware, but the problem is the costs that you keep paying for the life of the machine.
I just loaded Bit Defender on my personal Windows XP (which I love and they will have to pry from my typing fingers) laptop because the Norton 360 Total Security I got for home, worked wonderfully on my wife's W7 comptuter, but kept giving me problems on mine. It was more expedient to just buy a different product than to run the Norton Removal and reload tool 1 more time, or to use the Norton Power Erase or the malwarebyte or the Bitdefender eraser again and again.

Hopefully the Chromebook system will stop those kinds of agonizing experiences with always ready to go and working software.

Here is to the end of Corporate Gold Disking!

I can handle paying more money for an absolutely beautiful screen, for a wonderful tactile feedback keyboard, for a track pad that seems to respond to my thoughts. That is like deciding to turn in the Jimmy for a BMW roadster. But the thrill of the driving experience disappears fast when you spend a lot of time down in the dealers mechanics repair bay.

I JUST DON'T WANT TO DO THE LOAD, RELOAD, LOAD, RELOAD, ERASE, RELOAD CRAP ANY MORE.

[Graham]

Exactly. Some elderly friends just had a problem with a cheap refurbished Windows machine they were sold. I spent 3 hours last Thursday checking that PC and proving that it was (extremely) faulty. They got their money back and were given an old Vista machine by a friend. It then took me all of Sunday and Monday to clean up the Vista machine, solve the issues it had (they had no disks so I couldn't just wipe and reinstall), then load their backups and convert their mail and contacts to import.

I got back last night to find that Outlook on my own PC had developed a problem. Took me another hour to clean that up and set compacting the mailbox going, which has only just finished, having run for 24 hours, limiting what I could use the PC for today.

My Chromebook is looking more and more attractive. Again, I did all my work on it today.

Graham

[QuantumIguana]

I'm happy with my Samsung Chromebook. There are rumors of a cheaper Chromebox desktop, I'd be interested in that.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I'm happy with my Samsung Chromebook. There are rumors of a cheaper Chromebox desktop, I'd be interested in that.

I'm considering a Chromebox as well, ideally an ARM device that was as silent as the Samsung laptop. It sounds as though the current Intel ones do have a small fan and so aren't totally silent.

I'd be willing to pay for something a little more powerful than the laptop version, though. I connected that to my 23" monitor, and though it drove it with no problems, at native resolution, the mouse was a little sluggish, even at the liveliest settings. Not unusable, though, and it's possibly an issue with ChromeOS rather than the power of the laptop itself, I suppose.

But, yes, being able to run my desktop in near silence - with instant on - would be great, with the power of the Windows machine only required when I really need it.

Well worth paying a few hundred pounds for.

Graham

[detayls]

Originally Posted by Graham

I got back last night to find that Outlook on my own PC had developed a problem. Took me another hour to clean that up and set compacting the mailbox going, which has only just finished, having run for 24 hours, limiting what I could use the PC for today.

My Chromebook is looking more and more attractive. Again, I did all my work on it today.

Graham

Buy a Mac and get past all this stuff...