I built a fairly powerful desktop and I'm looking for a cheap laptop. The laptop will mainly be used when travelling for everyday things like web browsing and streaming videos.
I would prefer a screen size of 13 inches, but anything between 12 and 14 inches is acceptable. Good battery life is a must.
I'm thinking of getting a Chromebook and installing Ubuntu on it. Any thoughts or recommendations?
It wouldn't hurt to take a moment and really deeply consider how much actual input you're going to do. Does your browsing involve much text entry? If not you could get away with a tablet.
Otherwise, sure, go with a Chromebook. Make sure it's got a nice display. Look for sales.
Leaning towards the Acer Cromebook R13. Size is perfect, and the display is supposed to be good for a Chromebook.
Bump
Buy Thinkpad
iPad
ThinkPad 13 Chromebook is probably the lowest I would go, and it's $467 with a FHD display. I'd prefer to spend a little less.
I'm a huge fan of Chromebooks, and I don't use a chroot or full-linux install or anything like that, just the Google-authored ssh client chrome app to my main machine, and Google Chrome for browsing.
I'm currently typing this on a Samsung Chromebook Plus. I have never once worried about the charge on this thing in the few months I've had it. I did an 8 hour trip the other week and didn't even come close to dead, though it's worth mentioning that I was mostly just in ssh and lightweight (mostly javascript free) websites. Playing video I think it would probably only last around 6-8 hours. But because it charges via USB-C, my cigarette-lighter charger would easily keep it alive anyway if I was in a pinch. Or one of those 12,000 mAH power banks.
It has a great premium feel, it's made of brushed aluminum. The keyboard is not like a Thinkpad or Latitude but it has enough travel to not be too frustrating on the go.
3:2 aspect ratio makes web browsing and terminal usage great. The pen works surprisingly well. I could bear with another half inch on the display but it's good in a pinch. 2400x1600 resolution is great if you've got the eyes for it, it's not so different from using my 4k display at home.
they should have them on display at best buys, if you want to get a feel for how the screen size is.
Very very very well worth the $350 I spent.
forgot to add, be aware this is an ARM machine.
The benefit is that this chromebook has support for Android applications via the google play store, and they run very well. The samsung chromebook pro is x86 and from what I've read, it fails miserably at running android applications properly. I use Kodi as a media player and it runs very well.
The downside is that if you get this device and wish to use a chroot or full install, you're not going to be able to use anything that isn't built for ARM, so for example, Steam and all the steam games won't work. (I guess the Steam android mobile app might work though, if you're just using it for chat purposes.)
let me know if you have any questions about the device, i'll keep this tab open for a bit.
Just to be clear, the reason this device gets such great battery life has much to do with the fact that this is an ARM machine. It's a trade-off, but one that is well worth it if you prioritize battery life on your laptop.
2017 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar
One other downside of this machine I might mention, it only has two USB ports and they're both USB-C. This is fine for me as I have a USB-C phone and a USB-C port on my desktop, but it does suck that I have to use an adapter when I want to plug in a USB storage drive or mouse. Maybe I'll get a USB-C storage device sometime soon.
And that brings something else up, the trackpad on this device is quite good. When I'm sitting at a desk with enough room, I still obviously prefer a mouse, but it's a very good trackpad, I'd put it up there with the macbooks I've owned.
Thanks for the info. It seems the Samsung Chromebook Plus is currently going for $450. Did you get it on a sale?
I had a very old first-generation samsung chromebook and bestbuy was running a deal where I could trade it in for a $100 credit towards this device, so I only paid $350 + tax.
I think I saw amazon was running a deal where it was $390 a couple days ago, for the 4th of july. I'm sure you'll see another deal in the next couple weeks if you're not in a rush to buy.
Good review
Do you think its better than this or google pixel c.
The last one is 2 in 1 hybrid, and here comes another question, should I prefer light chromebook or 2 in 1 hybrid laptop with win10?
Budget
Yeah, I'm going to keep an eye out for a good deal on one of the higher end Chromebooks. I would love to spend around ~$350.
Never seen the acer in person so it's hard for me to compare the two. I've seen threads on /r/chromeos asking about choosing between these two a number of times, and I think the consensus is that it's mostly a toss up.
That acer has a slightly larger screen, which some people might like, but the screen is only 1080p and 16:9. The 3:2 high DPI screen on the plus is something that puts it over the edge and makes it feel more like a macbook than a cheapo laptop. I also like that mine has a stylus.
Given that the prices are pretty similar, I can't see why someone would get the acer honestly. But frankly I've been so happy with this CB+ since I got it that I haven't really been paying attention to other devices that are coming out.
T40
As for the pixel c, I dunno. I don't like the idea of my laptop being an android tablet and going through an android launcher and having the problems of android multitasking. Chromebooks feel like laptops. Alt-tab works. I have a clock in the bottom right and a window switcher on the bottom. I don't really ever have to touch the screen if I don't want to.
To me, Android disqualifies using a tablet in any kind of way that isn't media heavy. If I was primarily watching movies on my laptop, I might consider an android-based device. But I don't do that, I mostly read websites, I type a lot, I watch movies occasionally.
Whether or not to go with windows 10 really depends on what you do on your computer. I live in tmux and terminals, there's nothing a chromebook with an ssh client can't do for me. But I'd guess that is probably not true for some people.
How inferior is the cheap ipad 2017 version comparing to ipad pro? The price is about half of pro but is the perfomance/value also half?
Thanks user you were very helpful, I'm gonna read some other reviews and probably I'll go for samsung cb
Glad to help out. I'm pretty sure that every bestbuy in the country has this device on display currently, so that's definitely something to check out before you pull the trigger.
I'll be around for another 10 min if you have any other questions about the cb+ or chromeos
Ok
Do you use the touchscreen or you right mostly on keyboard? Some youtube reviewers rotated it 360 and used it as tablet, does it work properly like a typical android touch device, can you visit websites in tablet mode?
Chromeos leans more to android or win10 in terms of functionality and usage?
I'm using a Chromebook right now. They are fantastic machines.
Would recommend. Just DO NOT get one with less than 4gb of RAM
I primarily use the keyboard. There's not a whole lot that I do on a computer that doesn't revolve around typing. I know this sounds ridiculous but it's a little bit exhausting to move my entire arm to the screen just to scroll down a page or click a link, I'd rather just use two fingers on the trackpad to scroll down.
You can definitely visit websites and click links and so on in tablet mode, but it's a little bit more clunky to launch another application with the keyboard folded over than it would be on an android tablet. It's still very easy but it's a few more clicks.
Whenever I watch movies in Kodi I rotate the keyboard around the back and use it as a tablet. Whenever I take notes using the stylus I fold the keyboard over and use it with the device laying flat on the desk.
In terms of functionality and usage... I guess I'd have to say it leans more to Android than Windows 10. But really, what do you do on a computer that isn't in a browser or in an android app? I don't feel limited by chromeos whatsoever, but it really depends on what you like to do on your machine. You're not going to be able to edit videos or use photoshop or anything like that, but if you have a workable desktop computer, you probably wouldn't want to do that on your laptop anyway.
I have an ultrabook for CAD and programming so I am ok with hardware.
I want something comfy to search web, take some notes using stylus solving math problems while lying on bed, something less payful for my eyes like my 5'' phone, something light, portable and not too big, that doesn't grow ridiculous temperatures like my ultrabook when it rests on bedsheets (literally can feel the heat flux). Generally, something close to macbook air but more economic.
Also it this really a legit problem for samsung cb+?
www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2017/6/1/15722466/samsung-chromebook-pro-software-bug
That's the Samsung Chromebook Pro, I've been talking about the Samsung Chromebook plus. Different machines.
I've never had a stability issue with this machine. YMMV.
Given what you're looking for, this device fits the bill. It does get a little bit warm on the bottom if you're doing something graphically intensive (google maps 3d view, for example) but nothing like a macbook or normal laptop.
Dead quiet too, fanless FTW.
My bad sometimes I'm a bit careless, which one is the better btw?
Thanks again user
nah 2GB hdmi 1080/60" no problems
Recently I was looking at the Pro vs the regular iPad, and I went with the regular. Topline price was not really a consideration for me (though "price for performance" was). I tested the Pro against the regular iPad, and I was not really impressed with the improvements in performance of the Pro. The biggest difference is the increased storage capacity and ability to use the Pencil.
The power upgrades that the Pro offers aren't really present in day to day tasks, but tend to be apparent in bottleneck issues, i.e., the power only becomes apparent on the top end of performance.
I'd buy the regular one again, for sure. No ragerts.
Don't. Had a friend who fell foot the modded Chromebook meme and our sucks. Shit battery, tacky keyboard with no Function keys. Bad resolution.
Better of getting an ebay ThinkPad or older HP Elitebooks are probably up your alley. Same with the Dell Latitude.
You'll get 4-8GB and an i5 for less than 200USD.