Otis
Footballguy
Despite my mammoth mitts, I have never minded typing on smaller keyboards, and in fact prefer it. The keyboard is just like ethe Macbook Air, and it's close enough to full size that I don't notice a difference at all.
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Chromebook -- Highly recommend (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Otis
- Start date
Jayrok
Footballguy
Here is an HP 14" Chromebook (factory refurb) for $199.99. Not sure if it's the one you are talking about.
Chromebook
(HULK)
(Smash)
Nope. I'm talking about the new one with 10 hours battery life. Its technically available next month but somehow Walmart has some for sale already.
Link: http://www.walmart.com/ip/28858405?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=3
I'm kinda waiting a bit to see what the other variations are. There is a rumor about a version with a backlit keyboard which would interest me. Or maybe a different color as I'm not a fan of these colors. The only real drawback of this machine is the screen resolution, but I figure its "good enough" for me to take the plunge. I just want to make sure I see what the other options/variations are for this model before I dive in.
Jayrok
Footballguy
Have you heard or seen anything that has been leaked for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
I'm looking for a deal on a tablet this year, I think.
WampusCat43
Footballguy
After multiple false starts with regular laptops and an iPad, this has turned out to be perfect for my wife. Internet and gmail access (and a regular keyboard) is all she needs. USB mouse works first time, every time. Plugs right into the stereo system with the headphone cable as well.
BeTheMatch
Footballguy
Just got mine. The only issue I'm having so far is that I don't see a Netflix app. Am I missing it? The app works great on my iPad to use in conjunction with chromecast to beam to my main tv. Was hoping to be able to do the same thing on the chromebook.
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AhrnCityPahnder
Yinz-o-riffic
I have an acer c720 on preorder. has anyone seen a ship date for these?
BeTheMatch
Footballguy
Just discovered a pretty cool thing. When I go to the Netflix website and stream a movie in the Chrome browser and then hit cast (through Chromecast), instead of just beaming the whole browser window to my TV, my TV recognizes automatically that I'm on Netflix and just launches Netflix through the Chromecast device on my TV. So it's like having the Netflix app, which gives me much better quality, etc. Very cool.
AhrnCityPahnder
Yinz-o-riffic
"Acer C720 Chromebook (11.6-Inch, Haswell micro-architecture, 4GB)" -- New estimated arrival date: November 01, 2013
drummer
Footballguy
Ars Tech review:"Acer C720 Chromebook (11.6-Inch, Haswell micro-architecture, 4GB)" -- New estimated arrival date: November 01, 2013
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/review-acer-and-haswell-give-chrome-os-the-battery-life-it-deserves/
Looked good to me until they reviewed the display. Here is their Good, Bad, and Ugly on it:
Quez
Footballguy
My experience with Amazon is if you email them within about a week, and the price change was within about 5-7 days, they reimburse the difference. hth
Keerock
Footballguy
Quez
Footballguy
(HULK)
(Smash)
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm getting the $349 model whenever it restocks online. In white. Can't stand the other colors.
Keerock
Footballguy
(HULK)
(Smash)
Yes. But more importantly, its the one with 4GB of RAM. The wifi $299 version only has 2GB.
Keerock
Footballguy
Keerock
Footballguy
(HULK)
(Smash)
Yup. SIM is removable, might be able to get it to work on AT&T as well. But the free 200 MB is definitely TMobile.
I ordered that version since itll basically be a youtube/browsing/netflix machine at my house. 297 on Amazon but it's not supposed to arrive until 11/18
Keerock
Footballguy
Rayderr
Footballguy
I've been looking into this for my wife. Apparently the answer is no. iTunes can not run on the chromebook. And thus, if you have an iPod, you can't use the chromebook to sync up the music using a different program.
Shame. That's the only thing preventing me from getting it.
(HULK)
(Smash)
The $349 model comes with 200MB of free 4g (HSPA+ and/or LTE) data from T-Mobile per month, for 24 months.
Keerock
Footballguy
(HULK)
(Smash)
http://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-14-14-q029wm-Chromebook-PC-with-Intel-Celeron-2955U-Processor-4GB-Memory-16GB-Solid-State-Drive-and-Chrome-OS/28858405
"No WiFi? No problem. Enjoy two years of free mobile Internet service up to 200MB of 4G data per month with no annual contract, no credit card and no overage fees."
AhrnCityPahnder
Yinz-o-riffic
Got this yesterday. I can see using this thing a lot. it wont be your main computer, but for internetting this thing is $. Battery life is really nice."Acer C720 Chromebook (11.6-Inch, Haswell micro-architecture, 4GB)" -- New estimated arrival date: November 01, 2013
The main knocks on the acer (vs the HP) are:
1. The screen. A fair criticism. It's not the best, but it's not terrible. Probably crappy in daylight, but this thing likely never see daylight.
2. The aesthetics. meh to the critcisms. It's functional and not ugly. I'm not spending $250 on a prize pig, I just want a solid mule.
A few thoughts on chrome OS, having never used it before.
1. Boot times! insanity to go from off to on in 5 seconds. Rules.
2. Your appreciation for one of these may depend on how currently invested you are in google's ecosystem. I've previously used google docs, google drive, chrome, and Google play music.
3. There's a good chat app called IMO that replicates the now defunct Meebo's functionaily. https://imo.im/
4. I haven't yet looked into what sort of OS tweaking you can do (other than wiping and installing a nix distro) -- I need to look into small things I hope are doable -- custom hosts file, what I can do with VPNs, etc.
Mister CIA
Footballguy
I bought a Chromecast yesterday just for kicks and now I'm pretty sure I'll buy a Chromebook tomorrow just to maximize my use of the cheap device (surprisingly Chromecast does not play well with my Windows phone).
Will likely grab the HP 14. All things considered, this looks like the best couch device available. Only quibble is I wish they played well with external/network storage (Hey you getoff of onto my cloud).
Will likely grab the HP 14. All things considered, this looks like the best couch device available. Only quibble is I wish they played well with external/network storage (Hey you get
Keerock
Footballguy
BoltBacker
Footballguy
"5% off Site Wide on Mobile Orders ($50 max) with Coupon Code: MBLNOV23.Expires: Nov 03"
BeTheMatch
Footballguy
One thing I'm noticing with mine is that it doesn't seem to be able to stream as fast on my wifi as my other devices (iPad and a laptop) do. A big reason I got the Chromebook was to stream video from the Internet to my main TV. But it takes way longer to download, constantly stops to catch up because it's not downloading fast enough and then many times the audio lags a little behind the video.
This is a major thumbs down for me, and I'm not sure if I would've gotten it if I had known this would be the case.
This is a major thumbs down for me, and I'm not sure if I would've gotten it if I had known this would be the case.
BeTheMatch
Footballguy
Keerock
Footballguy
Seems like every friggin' day I see promo codes for NewEgg... until now when I actually want one, they're nowhere to be found
Otis
Footballguy
Otis
Footballguy
What are you using to stream? If it's Chromecast, I thought the whole point was that Chromecast took over the stream after you started it, and didn't go through your computer anymore? That's the only way I stream with mine, works great.
BeTheMatch
Footballguy
Well, unless using Netflix or YouTube, I found that Chromecast is very, very slow and basically doesn't work when trying to use it for anything else - like just casting my browser to watch shows/movies from other sites. That's why I thought bypassing Chromecast and just connecting the Chromebook directly to the TV through HDMI would work better. But it's still slow even bypassing Chromecast (and that second connection to the wifi).
Keerock
Footballguy
Keerock
Footballguy
Keerock
Footballguy
Got mine yesterday. So far, I'm on the fence. Absolutely LOVE the speed. Machine is lightweight. Battery life so far is as expected (8+ hours) - used it for about 4 hours last night and still had ~60% battery left. Connected flawlessly to free 4G, my WiFi, ChromeCast.
What I have some issues is getting used to the Chrome "OS". It's odd having everything run through a browser. Setup was a little clumsy, but once I got the hang of it, it was OK I guess. Have not been able to successfully set up an air printer with it yet, although I think that's more of an issue with my crappy old printer than the ChromeBook). Will take some getting used to, but for what I intend to use it for (browsing, streaming, email), it's as advertised.
What I have some issues is getting used to the Chrome "OS". It's odd having everything run through a browser. Setup was a little clumsy, but once I got the hang of it, it was OK I guess. Have not been able to successfully set up an air printer with it yet, although I think that's more of an issue with my crappy old printer than the ChromeBook). Will take some getting used to, but for what I intend to use it for (browsing, streaming, email), it's as advertised.
(HULK)
(Smash)
Keerock
Footballguy
The one we've been talking about
ETA: One other thing... the white keyboard worries me a little. I envision the keys getting dirty as I'm using this thing while watching TV and scarfing down a bag of greasy chips
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Otis
Footballguy
If you weren't already using Google appls (and you really should be, they're great), it's more of an adjustment for sure. For those of us who have already for some time been on Gmail/Drive/Calendar/Docs by Google, it's pretty easy.
