Chromebooks

[Taipan]

I believe one of these would be ideal for my wifes computing needs as all she does is e-mails, socials and ebay? Looking to buy 2nd hand and spend about £200. A quick shufti on eBay and I've seen these 2 as a for instance. Any good? Much difference between them?
TIA

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ASUS-Chromeb ... s&LH_BIN=1

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acer-CB5-571 ... 3&LH_BIN=1

[KungFooBob]

You're right about Chromebooks.

I made the MiL buy one, she loves it.

I told FiL to buy her this one...

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing ... 0-pdt.html

It's very nice and tactile, proper metal chassis.

I wouldn't worry at all about specs, especially storage. They all run at a fine speed regardless of the CPU/RAM.

Where I work for have sold a couple of thousand into education in the last few months, mostly Dell, a few hundred Lenovo, we usually advise against Acer and Asus, but that's usually because the schools buy the cheapest models and they're not as durable for school use as the cheapest Dells.

[cheb]

Isn't there something about an expiry date for these things? As in they stop working after a fixed time.

https://www.laptopmag.com/uk/articles/c ... expiration

[KungFooBob]

Tis only the updates.

It's more of an issue if you want to use them with G Suite.

They'll still function perfectly well as a device after the go EOL.

[cheb]

Ah, thanks. I had one some years ago but got frustrated by not having a full OS.

[KungFooBob]

They're not for everyone, but if 100% of the stuff you need them for is available SaaS, then you can't beat them from a security/stability point of view.

[KungFooBob]

Actually Taipan...

If you have an old PC that's slow and/or generally shit.

Neverware have a version of ChromeOS that is available free for home use. It doesn't work on all old laptops and you might have to tweak the BIOS/UEFI, but you'll get the same Chromebook experience, just without the corporate management features (that you don't need anyways).

https://www.neverware.com/freedownload#intro-text

It'll live boot from USB (like many Linux distros) so you can try it before you install proper.

[Taipan]

Actually Taipan...

If you have an old PC that's slow and/or generally shit.

Neverware have a version of ChromeOS that is available free for home use. It doesn't work on all old laptops and you might have to tweak the BIOS/UEFI, but you'll get the same Chromebook experience, just without the corporate management features (that you don't need anyways).

https://www.neverware.com/freedownload#intro-text

It'll live boot from USB (like many Linux distros) so you can try it before you install proper.

Cheers KFB. I did try that but despite changing things in the bios i cant get it to boot from the USB device. I've bought the good Lady a Chromebook now and thought i'd sort out one the abandoned G6s i've got laying about until i can bear to pay for a new screen on my Macbook, but the bastard has defeated me!

[Taipan]

Well Mrs Taipan is one happy bunny. She loves her super fast Chromebook!

Back of the net...

[KungFooBob]

The MiL's only complaint was that the scroll bars where too small... so I taught her to two finger scroll.

[Taipan]

I tried it myself last night and order a 2nd hand one for me now! It'll tied me over until I come to terms with my Macbook repair costs!

[KungFooBob]

They're ChromeOS based

There's no access to the workings of the OS, in fact the OS is read only, it keeps two copies and compares the boot copy to a known good version and if different switches to the 2nd copy. It's why they're so secure and don't get viruses.

They'll run Android apps.

[Taipan]

Mine arrived today and I'm impressed, well i would be if the keys would stop sticking down! Shame i cant run office and creative cloud on it, but as a browser its streets ahead of a windows lappy!

[KungFooBob]

Use the web based version of office on it, IIRC theres an app version of potatoshop too.