Topic: Chromebooks!

[Lumi Kløvstad]

This is kind of a nonstandard topic for me, as I tend to be very particular and exacting with my tech-- I pride myself on well chosen components that get the most bang for my buck. BUt, when my Sony Vaio Duo ultrabook finally became too glitchy, laggy, and unreliable to continue being reliable, I decided to do something that I had previously considered only in a hypothetical sense.

I bought a Chromebook.

A Toshiba Chromebook 2, if you want to be precise.

I'd done the research, and I ultimately feel that this is the best Chromebook on the market (4GB of RAM, great speakers, and a fantastic screen would be why), but most Chromebooks adhere to a common minimum line of quality and are generally worth what you pay, I think.

I admit to being surprised at how little my activities changed. ChromeOS is basically a really huge web browser that is supposedly useless when it's not connected to the internet, but that's far less true than it used to be as long as you plan ahead and make sure the stuff you want offline is synced to your drive. As it was, I tended to shut down my PC when the internet was down anyways, so it's not all that big a difference.

I can honestly say I'm glad I spent so little on a machine which does so much. In the spring I'm building a proper gaming PC, but this is good for pretty much everything else.

I'll just come out and say it: after years and years of will-I-or-won't-I, and hypothetical speculation... I'm a fan.

These cheap little laptops are pretty good.

[Gunlord]

Interesting review! Don't think I'll get a Chromebook (I don't need one atm) but I may recommend it to others

[Aridale]

I was just tellin my gf the other day that when her current laptop gives out on her she needs a chromebook. For what she uses it for itd be perfect

[Crying Freeman]

I used a demo unit of the Acer 15.6" one, and it was great! Huge screen, build quality was good, and from someone who hates most chicklet style keyboards, the keyboard was really nice too!

For $170, I'm considering it for sure!

[Lumi Kløvstad]

I used a demo unit of the Acer 15.6" one, and it was great! Huge screen, build quality was good, and from someone who hates most chicklet style keyboards, the keyboard was really nice too!

For $170, I'm considering it for sure!

I've been thoroughly impressed by almost every Chromebook keyboard that didn't come from an HP machine. HP Chromebooks tend to have mushy keyboards that either lack spring, or don't have the proper "click".

But then again, if you want a good HP laptop, you have to spend $1200 or more anyways, so it's no surprise their Chromebooks suck (the HP Chromebook 11 had a nasty habit of randomly catching fire, for instance).

[Crying Freeman]

I've been thoroughly impressed by almost every Chromebook keyboard that didn't come from an HP machine. HP Chromebooks tend to have mushy keyboards that either lack spring, or don't have the proper "click".

But then again, if you want a good HP laptop, you have to spend $1200 or more anyways, so it's no surprise their Chromebooks suck (the HP Chromebook 11 had a nasty habit of randomly catching fire, for instance).

Omg HP's chrimebooks feel cheap even for Chromebooks lol. HP's basic consumer laptops have been shit for a while I've noticed. A lot of ppl's x360s broke.... Reminds me of another similarly named product breaking....

The pro and elitebooks are going on sale for cheap on Amazon rn, and I've heard pretty good things from them.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Freeman, if you're looking for a good Chromebook, my top suggestions are:

1) Toshiba Chromebook 2 (4GB Ram model).
This is the one that I bought, and it absolutely FLIES. In addition, it has the nicest 1080p screen I've ever seen on any laptop in terms of clarity, crispness, and color reproduction. It has speakers by Skullcandy embedded INSIDE the laptop (it uses the keyboard as a speaker grille) and they are loud and clear, with enough bass that you'll feel it through the keys as you type, and the keyboard is also pretty good too. It's not LARGE screened (it's a 13 inch design), but it should be big enough for your purposes, and it has a full size HDMI out so you can connect to another monitor.

2) Dell Chromebook 2
Honestly, I'd have bought this one if the Toshiba hadn't been available. Here's a pretty good versus article about the two. Great screen, and a phenomenal keyboard (as Dell likes to make their computers enterprise friendly) makes this a great choice. I think the Toshiba's "graduated from the Macbook school of design" look is a little nicer, but this is a close second in terms of looks.

The best you can say about the aesthetic design of everything past this point is that they are "inoffensive" to look at.

3) Acer Chromebook 13
Also a 1080p model, but uses a TN Panel instead of IPS, so it's got far worse viewing angles and a darker picture. But it's powered by an NVIDIA K1 CPU which gives it the strongest graphics game out of the lot and a killer 13-14 hour battery life that can match a Macbook Air. Be advised, the K1 may break compatibility with some apps.

4) Dell Chromebook 11
Probably the best of the small Chromebooks. It's not flashy and it doesn't have many special features, but it's a good performer all around that will serve you well with a great keyboard and reasonable performance. It's still a CHromebook, so keep your expectations realistic though.

5) Asus C200 Chromebook
Modest hardware, a 720p screen, and somewhat low performance hide an important factoid: this 11 inch Chromebook is a battery life MONSTER. Reviews frequently push it to 11 hours, and sometimes more, making it a great lightweight choice if you're away from an outlet frequently and need something smaller than a 13 inch laptop.

It's bigger brother, the C300, is virtually the same but is only rated for 10 hours -- among the 13 inch Chromebooks, that's pretty good but others can do better.

6) Acer Chromebook 15
Among the few large screen Chromebooks on the market, this one is the clear choice. Decent battery life, up to 4GB of Ram and an optional 1080p 15.6 inch screen and a fairly new (and beefed up) Intel Celeron 3205U processor make it a performance beast (by Chromebook standards, at least). If you need a bigger Chromebook, buy this (don't settle for less than 4GB of ram though). Only HP competes in the bigger screened Chromebook field, and their 14 incher is underwhelming. This is really your only real option.

Honorable Mentions:
The Acer R11 Chromebook and the Asus Chromebook Flip both turn into tablets if that's your thing, and they perform pretty well on the fields that matter, but don't really make the best-of list.

[Crying Freeman]

Freeman, if you're looking for a good Chromebook, my top suggestions are:

1) Toshiba Chromebook 2 (4GB Ram model).
This is the one that I bought, and it absolutely FLIES. In addition, it has the nicest 1080p screen I've ever seen on any laptop in terms of clarity, crispness, and color reproduction. It has speakers by Skullcandy embedded INSIDE the laptop (it uses the keyboard as a speaker grille) and they are loud and clear, with enough bass that you'll feel it through the keys as you type, and the keyboard is also pretty good too. It's not LARGE screened (it's a 13 inch design), but it should be big enough for your purposes, and it has a full size HDMI out so you can connect to another monitor.

2) Dell Chromebook 2
Honestly, I'd have bought this one if the Toshiba hadn't been available. Here's a pretty good versus article about the two. Great screen, and a phenomenal keyboard (as Dell likes to make their computers enterprise friendly) makes this a great choice. I think the Toshiba's "graduated from the Macbook school of design" look is a little nicer, but this is a close second in terms of looks.

The best you can say about the aesthetic design of everything past this point is that they are "inoffensive" to look at.

3) Acer Chromebook 13
Also a 1080p model, but uses a TN Panel instead of IPS, so it's got far worse viewing angles and a darker picture. But it's powered by an NVIDIA K1 CPU which gives it the strongest graphics game out of the lot and a killer 13-14 hour battery life that can match a Macbook Air. Be advised, the K1 may break compatibility with some apps.

4) Dell Chromebook 11
Probably the best of the small Chromebooks. It's not flashy and it doesn't have many special features, but it's a good performer all around that will serve you well with a great keyboard and reasonable performance. It's still a CHromebook, so keep your expectations realistic though.

5) Asus C200 Chromebook
Modest hardware, a 720p screen, and somewhat low performance hide an important factoid: this 11 inch Chromebook is a battery life MONSTER. Reviews frequently push it to 11 hours, and sometimes more, making it a great lightweight choice if you're away from an outlet frequently and need something smaller than a 13 inch laptop.

It's bigger brother, the C300, is virtually the same but is only rated for 10 hours -- among the 13 inch Chromebooks, that's pretty good but others can do better.

6) Acer Chromebook 15
Among the few large screen Chromebooks on the market, this one is the clear choice. Decent battery life, up to 4GB of Ram and an optional 1080p 15.6 inch screen and a fairly new (and beefed up) Intel Celeron 3205U processor make it a performance beast (by Chromebook standards, at least). If you need a bigger Chromebook, buy this (don't settle for less than 4GB of ram though). Only HP competes in the bigger screened Chromebook field, and their 14 incher is underwhelming. This is really your only real option.

Honorable Mentions:
The Acer R11 Chromebook and the Asus Chromebook Flip both turn into tablets if that's your thing, and they perform pretty well on the fields that matter, but don't really make the best-of list.

The Toshiba's definitely a monster! Thanks for all the info, man! I'm starting college some time next year so laptops have been on the mind, and Chromebooks are great for a budget-minded student.

I had the new USB C Macbook in mind, but DAMN $1300 is a lot to dish out. I love Apple, not to the point of fanboyism, so I'm not gonna pretend that's a good price to pay for the positives it has. I mean, the only ports on that thing are the headphone jack and USB C socket. Makes compatibility annoying cus you'll need an adapter for USB C to normal USB.

My top 2 considerations are the Toshiba Chromebook and a Macbook Air (assuming I can get a good deal with Apple's student discount).

[Shiroi Koumori]

@Crying Freeman: What do you plan to major in college? It might help in the decision making process of choosing which laptop to buy. Liberal Arts students swear by the Mac.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

The Mac will crush most Chromebooks in terms of raw power and app support (wow, that's the first time I've said that about a Mac. XD), but the Chromebook is much cheaper, not as easily hacked, not as catastrophic if it is stolen, and versatile enough to match anything a student might need unless they need rendering support, in which case no Chromebook or Mac will likely do the trick anyway.

And don't laugh when I say ChromeOS is not easily hacked. Millions of better men than I have tried and failed for a lofty cash prize. You can read all about it.

[Crying Freeman]

The Mac will crush most Chromebooks in terms of raw power and app support (wow, that's the first time I've said that about a Mac. XD), but the Chromebook is much cheaper, not as easily hacked, not as catastrophic if it is stolen, and versatile enough to match anything a student might need unless they need rendering support, in which case no Chromebook or Mac will likely do the trick anyway.

And don't laugh when I say ChromeOS is not easily hacked. Millions of better men than I have tried and failed for a lofty cash prize. You can read all about it.

All accurate points. And hey, if chromeOS is that safe, I'm surprised. I know not as many people create viruses or malware for Linux OSs, but I'd assume it'd be easily hackable. But hey, with your work online its not a big worry unless you get some sketchy shit on the browser I assume?

[Lumi Kløvstad]

Google has held an annual hackathon to try to compromise ChromeOS with a huge cash prize every year since Chromebooks have become a thing. It's only been successfully compromised in this competition twice, and both of those required time and effort that your average data thief is not willing to expend. There's a whole lot of reasons for it (frequent updates, niche status of the OS, the very cloud-centric nature of its fuctionality meaning fewer local resources to compromise, etc) but the takeaway is that it's practically uncrackable.

If you want security against malicious attackers on a PC platform, you'd be hard pressed to find something better at it than ChromeOS.

[Crying Freeman]

Google has held an annual hackathon to try to compromise ChromeOS with a huge cash prize every year since Chromebooks have become a thing. It's only been successfully compromised in this competition twice, and both of those required time and effort that your average data thief is not willing to expend. There's a whole lot of reasons for it (frequent updates, niche status of the OS, the very cloud-centric nature of its fuctionality meaning fewer local resources to compromise, etc) but the takeaway is that it's practically uncrackable.

If you want security against malicious attackers on a PC platform, you'd be hard pressed to find something better at it than ChromeOS.

Sounds pretty badass. If Google could just do the same for Android

I'd definitely go Chrome over Windows tbh