10 ms·

The middle class can afford to pluck down a few more bucks and get a device with a real OS...

• kelukelugames 12y ago
  I've never had a chromebook. How bad is it? What if I just want to browse the web and watch hulu, netflix, and youtube?
  • simonk 12y ago
    If all you need is a web browser its amazing.
  • Kevguy 12y ago
    I have a cheap Samsung Chromebook ($250 in 2013). I've never had a problem browsing with 10+ tabs open and watching hulu at the same time. It is not going to run Visual Studio of course, but it is quite capable for browsing/videos/word processing/etc.
    • remusrm 12y ago
      I have a aver c670 and was 159 and I love it. Would love to get a chrome bit instead of the stupid chromecast
    • ams6110 12y ago
      How usable/practical is it without a WiFi connection?
      • coke12 12y ago
        It's basically just a web browser with some tweaks for convenient offline Google Docs. You can unlock a full shell and download some decent editors (Caret is one that I've used), if you want to do JS or Python development. Unfortunately the third-party package manager ("chromebrew") does not have a very robust offering, so you're pretty limited in what you're able to do. You can try building binaries yourself but you'll need to build your toolchain as well.
      • mcpherrinm 12y ago
        What do you want to do offline? You can install chrome and turn off your internet connection today and find out how well it works for you. Browse https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/apps?_feature=offline https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/apps?_feature=of... to get a list of apps that are available that work offline.
        • seanmcdirmid 12y ago
          Or just take your chrome book to china where all Google apps are blocked...
    • tracker1 12y ago
      If you have a windows desktop on your lan, using RDP via the chromebook does okay in a pinch... when I used mine, I'd typically have several SSH windows, and an RDP connection open. Worked really well for me. Though I really wanted VPN, and the ability to run VMs, so broke down and bought a new MBP (my prior one was stolen).
  • anigbrowl 12y ago
    It isn't. Even the first ones ran at a decent clip.
  • andmalc 12y ago
    I also have a cheap, late 2012 Samsung Chromebook with an ARM processor and 2GB RAM, the kind the reviewers like to get down on as horribly underpowered. But over time updates have improved the performance and at this point it's really fine. And yes, Netflix, YouTube etc., no problem.
  • bduerst 12y ago
    They're like fairly-reliable burner laptops. They handle most of the day-to-day things you would ever need a laptop for, but don't leave you worrying that much about price if it were stolen or damaged. Which is probably why they're so popular with schools. I no longer own one but when I did it was my go to for email and basic web stuff.
  • tluyben2 12y ago
    I have an ARM Samsung and I really like it; great battery life and runs Linux with Crouton. ChromeOS is fine for browing and most document writing I do. My wife wrote a few books on it in Google docs. No problem...
• Karunamon 12y ago
  Really, we're in a day and age where most people can do their daily activities on the web. The usual "word processing, research, facebook" student load, for instance? A dedicated physical machine powerful enough to run even MS Word locally is a waste of money in this instance. Access to the global information network and ability to use things on it is step 0 in getting people into the modern era. All that other stuff that you get from a "real OS" is a step above that.
  • na85 12y ago
    Not everyone lives in a first-world country where ubiquitous internet access via wifi hotspots has been implemented, and not everyone can afford a 3G plan.
    • Karunamon 12y ago
      And this is probably not the device for them. The whole point of a netbook (which is really what a Chromebook is, with the tainted name dropped) is something that has most of its functionality on the web rather than a local device.
      • marssaxman 12y ago
        Never understood why "netbook" became a bad word. I loved mine; it was sturdy and simple and cheap and I never worried about throwing it in a bag and taking it wherever I was going. My mindset was "so what if it gets trashed, it only cost $250, I'll buy another one!" - but in fact my one netbook lasted five years, and by then the category had disappeared. That one Eee pc outlasted two macbooks!
        • Karunamon 12y ago
          I think part of it was that there were so many horribly specced Windows devices sold. As in, the specs were not good enough to handle the OS. 2GB, a single core first gen Atom, and a 5200RPM drive is painful to use even Windows 7 on. Had one of those machines for work. Even after a fresh install, the lag was positively infuriating.
• ef4 12y ago
  An awful lot of people pluck down premium-level bucks for iOS, which is even more neutered than ChromeOS. Consumers have spoken, they do not care.
  • deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  • munificent 12y ago
    Consumers do care, they just care about different things that some of us do.
    • have_humility 12y ago
      This is not a particularly insightful comment. The implicit context for the comment you're replying to, made explicit, is clearly "Consumers have spoken, they do not care [about whether their devices have a 'real' OS or not]." Given that this is the case, your rebuttal is a fairly empty one. It's essentially in the same realm as tautological-ish, no-impact statements, as far its role in this discussion goes...
    • freehunter 12y ago
      I liken it to techies running out and buying a Tesla. You can't put your own turbo on it, you can't do much to improve the performance or customize it, you can't repair the engine in your garage, you can't drop in a new transmission when yours goes out, and it's not a manual transmission, so you're giving up a lot of control in driving it. That's what an automotive-minded person might believe. Why would you buy an electric car that you can't control when you could have a 1989 Volkwagen Golf getting 30mpg that would last you forever with just a little bit of maintenance? You would make that choice because you don't want to have the responsibility of doing something that makes the car unreliable or unsafe. You don't have the knowledge or the tools to fix it when it does. And you can't be late for work, or fail to pick up your daughter from school because your car wouldn't start. So even though you could get a car perfectly tailored to you and controlled by you for just $5,000, you buy a $60,000 electric car knowing that there's hardly any moving parts, so all you need to do is turn the car on and put your foot down and it will work. You plug it in when you get home, and unplug it when you leave for work. That's all you need to know. That's how I liken the debate between Android and iOS, or Linux and Windows. People say to me "look at all the customization I can do!" and all I see is a maintenance nightmare. I use Linux at work because that's what it's best at. When I get home, I'm playing video games on my Windows desktop. On the weekends, I'm driving down two-track roads in my custom-built 1998 Toyota 4Runner, but my daily driver is a Fiat 500. When I'm playing around with developing apps, I'll sideload them onto my Nexus 4. But when someone calls my phone number, it rings to my iPhone, which I know will always ring no matter what software I manage to install. As a consumer, it's not that I don't care. It's that I don't even want it. I know it's there. I know it's cheaper and I know it's more powerful and I know it can be customized. But none of those things are at the top of my list. Reliability, compatibility, and simplicity are my three biggest requirements.
• maaku 12y ago
  The middle class in first world countries, maybe. Try spending some time in the developing world. Lower cost of living means that "middle income" families can live comfortably on less income. But the costs of large capital goods, e.g. computers and cars, is not lower. Imagine your average laptop cost $5k - $15k. Would you consider it a big deal if you could get a decent <$1k laptop? That's the equivalent situation.
  • deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
• aikah 12y ago
  Don't bother, this thread is totally astroturfed by paid googlers. What you can read here is just insane. I can't believe HN is alllowing this. This product is crap,but boy they are selling it hard here.
  • 72deluxe 12y ago
    I too was surprised by how positive some of the comments were. Microsoft's Surface tablet seems widely panned here (unless I am looking at the wrong comments) but if Microsoft had released a Chromebook, everyone would have said "HAHA! What a piece of junk! Who'd buy that???" When Apple released the MacBook the other week, everyone had the same reaction ("Only one port? Can't plug in a USB stick and the power adapter at the same time? It'd STOOOPID"). But, when Google releases an UNDERPOWERED netbook with abysmal 1990s screen resolution, less storage than a USB stick and that only fully works when you're on a network, it's widely praised. I don't understand it! In the 1980s with the microcomputer boom, if you'd have told all those kids using BBC Micros at their school that they could only use their computer and the Interword ROM whilst connected to the telephone system, they'd have thought you were stupid. Yet, essentially this is what Chrome OS offers you. You can upload all your data (as if uploading your 4GB videos to "the cloud" is an enjoyable experience), and then view it periodically when you have a network connection. I know we normally DO have network connections but the invention of microcomputers was meant to DO AWAY with the need for mainframes, not turn our local powerful microcomputers into dumb terminals for remote corporate-controlled mainframes. If you'd proposed such a solution 20 years ago, they'd have thought you were insane.
    • tonyblundell 12y ago
      I've never understood this argument. You need a connection for web-based use-cases. You don't need a connection for non web-based use-cases (document editing, etc works offline). The same is true of any OS.
      • 72deluxe 12y ago
        But it's true that with ChromeOS the entire usability of the product is massively different without Internet access. All of the "apps" don't work as well without an Internet connection. This doesn't happen with an ordinary machine (if you open Word whilst offline, it isn't crippled). I think storing all of your data online is foolish, basically as it means that offline you're scuppered.
• 72deluxe 12y ago
  Yes, it makes me wonder how many people buy a Chromebook and state "never again!". It's like being given an etchasketch as a computer to do "real" work on but with the iron filings only accessible when with a tethering plan. With all the talk of schools mandating that children have equivalent devices, what was wrong with writing on paper and doing maths on paper? We managed at school.