3 ms·

Now compare the possibilities of any decent OS versus what basically amounts to a browser... any OS can run a browser, why buy a machine that makes you use a br

by camus2 9y ago

Now compare the possibilities of any decent OS versus what basically amounts to a browser... any OS can run a browser, why buy a machine that makes you use a browser exclusively and ties you to Google services for everything?

toast0 9y ago
For non power users, a computer that basically just works into a browser, which is where they do most of their computing, and is really hard to mess up is a nice thing. This is great for my young child and my mother in law. I no longer have to fix their computers, because they don't break. For power users, The intel core processor based chromebooks can run a standard Linux install as well, FreeBSD mostly works, and Windows can work with some effort. So you're not really locked in. There's a decent community of people packaging updated coreboot builds that get better at booting other operating systems over time. I don't know that that the pixel appeals to me, but the low spec chromebooks are nice because they're cheap and they usually have decently up to date cpus -- I don't want/need a super fast CPU but I want the latest architecture. Most Windows laptops in the prices range are really bulky and have slow spinning drives instead of an SSD (granted, the SSDs are usually tiny in the chromebooks). At the price point of the Chromebook Pixel series, you're getting a higher tier CPU, so you do need to shop around and see if you're getting a good value for the parts, and if you like the system design. Honestly, I don't see why I would pay $1000+ for a laptop that doesn't have the cluster of keys around page up/page down, but I'm a dinosaur and my taste isn't very well reflected in the marketplace. At the $200 price range where I've bought a few chromebooks, I can manage using a keyboard without important keys. :)

3 ms·

Now compare the possibilities of any decent OS versus what basically amounts to a browser... any OS can run a browser, why buy a machine that makes you use a br

by camus2 9y ago

toast0 9y ago
For non power users, a computer that basically just works into a browser, which is where they do most of their computing, and is really hard to mess up is a nice thing. This is great for my young child and my mother in law. I no longer have to fix their computers, because they don't break. For power users, The intel core processor based chromebooks can run a standard Linux install as well, FreeBSD mostly works, and Windows can work with some effort. So you're not really locked in. There's a decent community of people packaging updated coreboot builds that get better at booting other operating systems over time. I don't know that that the pixel appeals to me, but the low spec chromebooks are nice because they're cheap and they usually have decently up to date cpus -- I don't want/need a super fast CPU but I want the latest architecture. Most Windows laptops in the prices range are really bulky and have slow spinning drives instead of an SSD (granted, the SSDs are usually tiny in the chromebooks). At the price point of the Chromebook Pixel series, you're getting a higher tier CPU, so you do need to shop around and see if you're getting a good value for the parts, and if you like the system design. Honestly, I don't see why I would pay $1000+ for a laptop that doesn't have the cluster of keys around page up/page down, but I'm a dinosaur and my taste isn't very well reflected in the marketplace. At the $200 price range where I've bought a few chromebooks, I can manage using a keyboard without important keys. :)