Personal computing discussed

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derFunkenstein
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Best inexpensive Chromebook

Mon Jul 23, 2018 4:34 pm

Looking for an inexpensive portable internet machine for my wife. That just seems to scream "CHROMEBOOK!!!"

So she's not really picky about the hardware. I would like something that isn't super fragile and with reasonable performance. She would like good battery life. ARM is OK. Atom is OK. Probably want something with 4GB of memory and a 1080p display, but beyond that, who knows? Strong preference given to positive personal experience from a TR poster.

I'm looking pretty hard at this Acer, since it's got an Apollo Lake Pentium. So many of the others down on this end of the scale have Bay Trail or Cherry Trail.
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dragontamer5788
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Re: Best inexpensive Chromebook

Mon Jul 23, 2018 4:45 pm

Looking for an inexpensive portable internet machine for my wife. That just seems to scream "CHROMEBOOK!!!"


Not a tablet? In my experience, you can get bluetooth keyboards if typing is going to be common. Otherwise, the typical use case seems to be a Tablet for consuming.

What kind of internet are we talking about? Facebook posts? Blogging? Or more of a Youtube / Netflix kinda thing?
 
DancinJack
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Re: Best inexpensive Chromebook

Mon Jul 23, 2018 4:49 pm

i7 6700K - Z170 - 16GiB DDR4 - GTX 1080 - 512GB SSD - 256GB SSD - 500GB SSD - 3TB HDD- 27" IPS G-sync - Win10 Pro x64 - Ubuntu/Mint x64 :: 2015 13" rMBP Sierra :: Canon EOS 80D/Sony RX100
 
frumper15
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Re: Best inexpensive Chromebook

Mon Jul 23, 2018 4:54 pm

My two teenagers have versions of the Acer R11 convertible chromebook. Daughter has the white one like this: https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Convertible ... B06W57W6CX Son has the Black one like this: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product. ... 6834316312

Both seem very happy with them for their needs. They're able to do schoolwork (using Google classroom), watch Youtube, etc. They're compatible with the Google play store and have touchscreens so just about any game you want is available. They're pretty indestructible from their usage over the past year and half with the exception of a hinge that broke on the boys when someone literally stepped on it inside a bag. A $15 repair part and a few minutes time and that was good as new as well.

Battery life appears to be about infinite - I seem to find them unplugged laying around the house more often than not so it's not a huge concern. i know they used them on 10+ hour car rides as well.

I realize the one you linked is 15" and these aren't 1080P resolution, but if the smaller size, lighter weight, and lower cost are attractive they come highly recommended for what they are.
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derFunkenstein
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Re: Best inexpensive Chromebook

Mon Jul 23, 2018 5:38 pm

DancinJack wrote:
https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/chromebooks/12-14/xe513c24-k01us-xe513c24-k01us/

/thread


Well that's not bad at all. I can live with ARM as long as the performance is good enough. For the types of stuff she's going to do I'm sure it's fine. Dual A72 should be plenty for primary processing, and 32GB should be plenty of space. I like this.

dragontamer5788 wrote:
Looking for an inexpensive portable internet machine for my wife. That just seems to scream "CHROMEBOOK!!!"


Not a tablet? In my experience, you can get bluetooth keyboards if typing is going to be common. Otherwise, the typical use case seems to be a Tablet for consuming.

What kind of internet are we talking about? Facebook posts? Blogging? Or more of a Youtube / Netflix kinda thing?

She's really looking for that traditional laptop kind of experience. Keyboard, mouse, clamshell. Nobody would be opposed to a 2-in-1 of sorts but she won't use it that way. As for her use, it's kind of all of the above. Google docs, Facebook/Tumblr, YouTube, Netflix. I mentioned that Chrome OS could run Android apps and games, and that elicited an "ooh" but it's not the primary use case.

The 15" size isn't a big deal, but I really want an IPS display, and it seems like the only way to get one these days is to go 1080p (though I'm sure there are 1080p TN panels, too). It can (and probably should) be more like 12-14".
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
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