You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Looking to replace a tired laptop (case cracked, charging port iffy, trackpad working only occasionally, battery knackered) that has given good service over the last 6 years or so.
I'm pretty sure that I don't need a full blown laptop this time and it appears that current Chromebooks can run apps from the play store. Most of my usage would be web browsing plus using apps like eurosport player, iplayer, snapseed and Google play music. I presume that they'd be fine for this sort of thing?
Am happy having stuff in the cloud and have a local network drive so not bothered by their relative lack of storage. Would quite like a full hd screen but not interested in touch screens or anything that can flip into a tablet mode.
Was thinking something like the Acer Chromebook 14. Anyone got any thoughts or suggestions?
Yes, certain models (increasingly) can run Android runtime which means you can install most apps from the Play Store including google music. It doesnt mean 100% guarantee that ALL apps will run, but big name stuff should do so. iPlayer certainly does and also allows programme downloads.
The Acer 14 looks fine, will run android too. Dont knock touch screen, its surprisingly useful.
I have an Acer Chromebook 14 and it's terrible. Internet drops off continually. I'm currently looking for a suitable replacement and will avoid Acer at all costs. My wife has a Dell which has been faultless.
My children are forced to have a chromebook for school. They have Dell 3189's which are tough and have a really good touch screen with stylus.
All good as long as you don't mind google looking at everything you do and selling your data to the highest bidder
my personal preference is Asus. They make great bits of kit.
Umm, might want to check you can access the network drive from a Chromebook.
We've got one and a WD NAS, I haven't got around to figuring out how to make them communicate yet. I had a quick look and it seemed you needed to enable an older version of SMB via a 3rd party app in order to do so, it all seemed a bit "iffy" to me - so I chucked what I wanted on a usb stick.
Could be my 5 minutes of research just didn't unearth the required magic spell though.
Had a little play with an Asus c301 which was nice enough but very plasticy.
Umm, might want to check you can access the network drive from a Chromebook.
Hadn't even considered that being an issue. Have never had any bother connecting to it from any other device (android, Linux, windows) so figured it would just work.
I have an Acer Chromebook 14 and it’s terrible. Internet drops off continually.
Not seen any other mention of this so not going to be unduly concerned. Is that your only issue with it?
All good as long as you don’t mind google looking at everything you do and selling your data to the highest bidder
Not bothered by that at all 🙂
I have an Asus C302ca
Lovely bit of kit; highly recommend it. Since getting it, the boy has started using it rather than his laptop for this homework. It'same just so much faster
I have an Asus C302ca
Thats definitely out of my price range.
Winston you are deluded of you think your data isn't being captured and used by every search engine and web site..... It has nothing to do with Chromebooks.
OP in a week or so they may well be announcing that certain Chromebooks will officially dual boot with Windows if that makes any difference. You'll need a fairly big ssd though.
OP in a week or so they may well be announcing that certain Chromebooks will officially dual boot with Windows if that makes any difference. You’ll need a fairly big ssd though.
Thanks, but I haven't used windows at home for a few years now. Hateful thing.
Oh...I guess you're right. Still I will keep on using Tor on linux if you don't mind.
I bet you've not got a phone either.
It's worth saying that there are two acer chromebook 14s. The 2gb older model and the newer 4gb full HD one. I've got both. The latter is great, the former not so good as it's a bit underpowered. Internet drop out isn't something I've particularly noticed with it though . £250 for the better one which is a bargin.
and the newer 4gb full HD one
Yeah, that's the one I was looking at.
Haha yes I have and no I dont always use Tor etc.
But please don't call me deluded. I have a pretty good handle on what is and what is not going on and whilst much is scaremongering or unimportant in the grand scheme of things, the fact that google has got its tenticals all over my children already pisses me off especially as the teachers responsible are being led up the garden path by cynical hard nosed business men yet they dont seem to know or care - its all free this and bargain that like my children aren't the product being bartered.
I bought the Acer 14 HD (250 quid model) last week.
It's great and does everything I want. Not sure why I bothered with a windows laptop for the last few years.
Buy one.
Buy one
I need to find some money first 🙂
its all free this and bargain that like my children aren’t the product being bartered.
You're in luck to be honest, the GDPR stuff of late means that legally companies aren't allowed to keep any user identifying data, without the user specifically agreeing. Companies are super paranoid about this at the moment, so it doesn't get hidden in big EULAs.
The bulk of metrics logged by companies like Google will be no more intrusive than the council counting how many people drive down a certain road. I'm not sure why you think Google would give a shit that your kids like Peppa Pig to be honest. PCs use cookies to track your preferences obviously, which you can wipe, mobile devices use AdvertisingID/IDFA, which is something that you can reset whenever you fancy.
I don't like TV companies logging what I watch, which is why I peep though other people's windows to watch their TV on an evening.
And the C101PA is like a mini version of the C302CA, if that appealed at all. It's more like a flippy iPad with a proper OS and built in keyboard though. Most Android apps seem to work, very well made for the price.