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TraderStav posted:What should I be looking at spec-wise at a minimum for these during the BF sales this week? I believe quad core Celeron CPU is still recommended minimum. I’d be wary of non-Intel CPUs but simply because I don’t have a good rule of thumb/scale to compare them. That said, I am using a Samsung Chromebook Plus with a non-Intel CPU[1] and while it’s sufficient for many things, it’s noticeably slower than I would want in a daily driver, especially on demanding web sites/apps; MS Outlook, Teams, Slack, etc. YMMV, I guess? —— [1] RK3399 aka OP1. An ARM architecture, Google/Samsung designed/influenced CPU. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockchip#RK3399_aka_OP1%5B15%5D
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Nov 25, 2019 16:01
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The Google Pixel Slate Black Friday deal is live in the Google Store and I couldn't resist the M3 Slate for $449. Also grabbed the Brydge keyboard and a Pixelbook Pen since they were literally free with it. asecondduck fucked around with this message at 16:29 on Nov 25, 2019 |
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Nov 25, 2019 16:21
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asecondduck posted:The Google Pixel Slate Black Friday deal is live in the Google Store and I couldn't resist the M3 Slate for $449. Tbh that is really cool I've been day dreaming about a useable tablet on an OS that I prefer
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Nov 25, 2019 22:35
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Statutory Ape posted:Tbh that is really cool I've been day dreaming about a useable tablet on an OS that I prefer So, about the tablet use... Granted, my experience with Chrome OS and tablet mode has been with my 2-in-1, but Chrome OS is not nearly as tablet-use-focused as, say, an iPad is. In order to splitscreen Android apps, the app has to support resizing. So, for example, Apple Music only works in full screen mode in Chrome OS. Also, when in tablet mode, only two apps are supported in splitscreen mode--there's no slide over (super handy for a quick Twitter scroll through or quickly changing music) or window mode like in non-tablet mode Chrome OS. Also, the Slate is slightly larger and heavier than the already-questionably-for-handheld-use 12" iPad Pro. Personally, what I really want is a Pixelbook, but not at the Pixelbook prices, or a Pixelbook Go... that could occasionally be used as a tablet. So I think the Slate+Brydge combo is gonna work really well for me! But when it comes to using it as just a tablet, I have my expectations managed.
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Nov 26, 2019 01:31
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TraderStav posted:Hey all, never touched a chromebook in my life so don't have a lot of knowledge in this space. My kids use them at school all the time and my youngests (8 years old) have recently gotten pretty into writing stories and such on their iPads. I believe it's time to get them something more robust to work with and my wife and I like the idea of using Chromebooks for their 'work' at home. They likely won't be using it much outside of google docs/sheets/slides and maybe some interesting apps that come along the way (Scratch and the like). I love using Chromebooks for exactly those purposes, and they'll indeed be great for your kids. They just work, and are generally secure, reliable, and cheap. In general, CBs all work the same but I do indeed recommend some minimum requirements, as mentioned in the first two posts. Definitely get 4-8 GB of RAM and a decent 4-core CPU will suffice. Keyboards, touchpads, and displays are generally all sufficient, and internal storage isn't going to be too important, particularly for young kids, and there are alternatives like external and remote storage. You don't need to spend a ton on CBs for the kids, and while the official support duration is a consideration it's less of an issue the less you spend on the device in the first place, particularly since it doesn't mean the device won't work afterwards. If you see any CB deals you're considering and want a second opinion you can post the links here, otherwise if I see any good options I'll post them as well. asecondduck posted:Personally, what I really want is a Pixelbook, but not at the Pixelbook prices, or a Pixelbook Go... that could occasionally be used as a tablet. So I think the Slate+Brydge combo is gonna work really well for me! How about $650 for a refurb'd i7 Pixelbook?
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Nov 26, 2019 04:50
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So the Brydge keyboard for my Slate arrived today (the Slate itself is coming tomorrow, boo). I was hoping that I could test out the keyboard with my R11, but while the trackpad works (and works well, it's glass and larger than my R11's) the keys themselves don't. Here's hoping that it's just some quirky Chrome OS thing and not an indicator of a faulty keyboard... One thing that was pleasantly surprising is that the keyboard is almost exactly the same size as my R11. I didn't actually check the dimensions of the Pixel Slate but I had assumed that the height and width would be larger than the R11 due to the screen size difference but I didn't stop to think about how large the R11's bezels actually are. Also the Brydge keyboard feels... Pretty good? It's a little squishier than the R11's and my , but there's plenty of travel and the keycap size is only slightly smaller. I'll know better after I've actually typed something on it and not just pretended to.
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Nov 29, 2019 21:29
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I haven't tried that specific combo myself, but I'm presuming that if it's a Bluetooth device, it simultaneously connects as a separate keyboard and pointer device. Check the settings to see if you can enable the keyboard somewhere, as it should work on any device unless I'm missing something here.
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Nov 30, 2019 08:46
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Atomizer posted:I haven't tried that specific combo myself, but I'm presuming that if it's a Bluetooth device, it simultaneously connects as a separate keyboard and pointer device. Check the settings to see if you can enable the keyboard somewhere, as it should work on any device unless I'm missing something here. I tried looking through settings and didn't come up with anything, and after digging through some of the Amazon questions that Brydge answered it seems like there's some sort of firmware tweaking they do to only make the keyboards work on the device they're intended for--which on one hand is lovely, but on the other hand I don't really intend to use the keyboard with anything else, I was just bored and wanted to test it a bit.
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Nov 30, 2019 13:43
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Okay, Pixel Slate has arrived and it's set up. The Brydge keyboard works fine with it, thankfully. It's a little annoying that I'm not gonna be able to use it as a backup keyboard with other devices, but I got it for free with the Slate so I'm not actually complaining. I have to press further on the keys than any of my other laptop keyboards, so I'm occasionally missing letters on it, but overall it's not bad. Not, like, perfect, but I'm sure I'll get used to it soon enough. The M3 Slate is noticeably faster than my Celeron-featuring Acer R11 (no surprises there). Video websites were always a little laggy, especially when fullscreening YouTube, no issues here. Oh and the screen... man, Chrome OS looks nice at high resolutions. I did try scaling down from 100%, since that's what I do on my rMBP, but yeah, Chrome OS doesn't handle it gracefully. Thankfully, my main reason for wanting to be able to scale apps--Android apps being rather huge--is taken into account with the higher resolution, to the point where a couple of them have fonts that are almost too small at 100%. So that's awesome. When connected to the keyboard and closed, the Pixel Slate/Brydge keyboard is almost exactly the same size as my R11. It's wild. If you're looking for a new Chromebook, I would seriously give the Slate a look at the $450 price. Especially with the free keyboard and pen. [Edit: Okay after having used it some more I really like the Slate + Brydge combo. It's truly the 2-1 device I've been chasing since the original Asus Transformer I bought ages ago. The pen is actually super useful for tablet mode, being able to handwrite short things in tablet mode is great--the handwriting processing and recognition is excellent. I'm now really annoyed that Google fumbled the launch as badly as they did, since it effectively killed off the concept of a Chrome OS tablet, but also happy because I got a killer deal on it.] asecondduck fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Nov 30, 2019 |
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Nov 30, 2019 20:27
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I'm glad that you like the Slate. Personally I prefer a more traditional laptop format or a convertible for ChromeOS, as my use-case is more for data input so having a nice keyboard built-in is important. Conversely, I use Android devices more for media consumption, so they make more sense in a tablet format, and AndroidOS is better suited for touch input anyways. Having an Android laptop or detachable is a little odd to me, as the keyboard is only occasionally useful; if there's ever an occasion I'd want to type a considerable amount I'd do it on a CB as the full version of Chrome is much better than the stripped-down Android app. That's why the handful of tablet/detachable CBs never really appealed to me, because as a tablet they're worse than a comparable Android device, but you lose the native keyboard input; for comparison, the Pixelbook would be my preference over the Slate, but that's just me.
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Dec 1, 2019 07:54
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Mini-derail, but I wish Google didn't give up on the ~$200 7" Android tablet market. The Nexus 7 was so good  I'm pretty happy with my Fire HD 10 though. It's been awesome to read comics on. And the Fire 7 I got my dad so he can play Bejeweled Blitz and Kingdom Rush wherever he wants has worked out perfect for him 
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Dec 1, 2019 09:46
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[Edit: the following is only relevant if your Chromebook has a dual core processor that uses Hyperthreading to add two more virtual cores, such as the M3. Sorry for not originally including this distinction] So Google disabled Hyperthreading as of Chrome OS version 79. This effectively disables two of the cores on your Intel-powered device. Apple has done a similar thing on their computers. For comparison, Microsoft has taken no action, and Intel's official stance is that the decision to disable Hyperthreading should be up to the user. I won't post a link here, because reenabling it would leave your device potentially vulnerable and exploitable to some nasty-rear end attacks, but there have been instructions posted elsewhere online of how to turn Hyperthreading back on. asecondduck fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Dec 1, 2019 |
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Dec 1, 2019 14:43
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So does this make the recommendation of 4-core moot? And the two-core AMD ones I'm seeing around are about the same?
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Dec 1, 2019 15:12
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Anything with multiple physical cores should use them fine still, the part being disabled would be the logical cores- the 2c/4thread style you saw back in old i3 days. In this example the 4 would be reduced to the physical 2. That's probably also the common arrangement you'd see in practice on most of those chips in question for this too- most of them.
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Dec 1, 2019 15:39
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Sorry, that is an important distinction. I'm not really sure of an easy way to tell if your Chromebook's processor is using HT to have "four" cores by way of two virtual cores on a dual core processor, like the M3 on the Pixel Slate does. I guess the easiest way is probably to open Cog on your Chromebook--if you see four cores, but only two (the first and third) are showing any usage, then your Chromebook was using HT to emulate two virtual cores until recently. If you're seeing usage on all four, then you have a true quad core processor and you don't need to worry about Google disabling the virtual cores for your safety at all. [Edit: Google has a list of devices that previously used Hyperthreading here: https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/mds-on-chromeos] asecondduck fucked around with this message at 16:34 on Dec 1, 2019 |
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Dec 1, 2019 16:29
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Is an i5 Pixelbook still worth it at $699 new? I’ve always wanted one but could never justify the price, but I’ve got a little extra cash now and would like a ChromeOS device that’ll last me the next four or more years. Wonder if it’s worth playing the used gamble on Swappa or eBay for an i7 of the same price, but no warranty/a SquareTrade warranty makes me nervous.
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Dec 1, 2019 16:44
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Atomizer posted:. Personally I format or a convertible for ChromeOS, aprefer a more traditional laptops my use-case is more for data input so having a nice keyboard built-in is important. This is the way I feel too, strongly. However Brydge keyboards are so good that it actually can bring a tablet back across the laptop line. I never mentioned it, but reading this Chromebook thread lead me to Brydge, and in turn I bought one for my other half's iPad Pro. We both love it and have hammered out essays etc using it. She then took it to her work, who needed the portability and ease of iPads but better typing. They have now ordered 8 iPad + Brydge combos. Same result. In conclusion, Brydge owes this thread referral money.
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Dec 1, 2019 16:52
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I'm gonna check it out now too based on that info, not familiar w it but i like playing with devices so..
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Dec 1, 2019 16:58
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When docked in the Brydge keyboard, my Pixel Slate feels and acts like a Chromebook. Full stop. It even changes the UI to the "laptop" UI instead of the tablet one. The trackpad is also quite good--not as good as the one on my rMBP, but leagues better than any Windows trackpad I've ever used, or the one on my Acer R11. I imagine the experience is the same with the official Google keyboard, except that's not nearly as lap-friendly (the same issue that plagues other "tablet with a connectable, optional keyboard" devices like Microsoft's Surface or the iPad Pro). Basically the Slate + Brydge = Pixelbook... except you can pull the screen off and use it as a tablet, if you want to.
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Dec 1, 2019 17:04
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Humerus posted:Best Buy has their Black Friday ad up and is actually selling a ton of stuff at BF prices* including the HP x360 Chromebook with 8GB RAM and i3 for $350 which seems like a hell of a deal. The white color is the only one advertised as BF price but the blueish one is also $350. I'm very tempted since something like the Asus C434 is still hundreds more. dbcooper posted:Best Buy's Black Friday Chromebook sales are up: Thank you both! Managed to order an open box one for a bit cheaper and picked it up yesterday. Haven't fired it up yet... asecondduck posted:[Edit: the following is only relevant if your Chromebook has a dual core processor that uses Hyperthreading to add two more virtual cores, such as the M3. Sorry for not originally including this distinction] Well goddammit
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Dec 1, 2019 18:27
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teagone posted:Mini-derail, but I wish Google didn't give up on the ~$200 7" Android tablet market. The Nexus 7 was so good One of my friends has one and uses it still. It's nice to see it every once in a while.
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Dec 2, 2019 00:33
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My Nexus 7 was amazing. I used it for years. It's just too slow nowadays and out of date. it was just the right size to hold in one hand to browse the internet and then use with two hands to type.
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Dec 2, 2019 02:08
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teagone posted:Mini-derail, but I wish Google didn't give up on the ~$200 7" Android tablet market. The Nexus 7 was so good It's funny you mentioned it, because I think my 2013 N7 just died. I generally used it every day, mostly for Youtube, but about a week ago it locked up and restarted itself but was never able to reboot after that. I tried doing everything including wiping the partitions, but the problem seems to be that it can't access the cache partition anymore. asecondduck posted:[Edit: the following is only relevant if your Chromebook has a dual core processor that uses Hyperthreading to add two more virtual cores, such as the M3. Sorry for not originally including this distinction] I actually re-enabled HT on my HP 13, understanding the [hypothetical] risk. I don't do anything particularly sensitive on this device, and a lot of my personal info has already been exposed by 3rd parties like Equifax. I did notice a performance deficit after HT was originally automatically disabled, and I pound the device pretty hard. This CPU, a Core m7 is fairly low frequency (base 1.2 GHz) and does appear to rely fairly heavily on HT to string out as much performance as possible. Dicty Brojangles posted:So does this make the recommendation of 4-core moot? And the two-core AMD ones I'm seeing around are about the same? No, I'd still recommend at least 4 threads. There are some 4 core CPUs in CBs, but a lot of them have relied on 2C4T Intel CPUs and losing HT is a pretty big blow. I don't know that it's actually been exploited yet, and while I wouldn't tell everybody to re-enable HT, it's something to consider. Otherwise, you'll need to pay special attention to the CPU in any CBs you're looking at to make sure it's at least got a powerful dual-core. Some of the early CBs actually had Haswell/Broadwell-based Celerons (the XXXXU models, e.g. 2955U, 3205U,) which were dual-core but offered good performance (versus the Atom-based NXXXX Celerons) as they were from the full Core lineup. I'm not familiar with the AMD-based CBs, although I'm aware they exist. Anything Ryzen-based should be just fine though. asecondduck posted:Sorry, that is an important distinction. I'm not really sure of an easy way to tell if your Chromebook's processor is using HT to have "four" cores by way of two virtual cores on a dual core processor, like the M3 on the Pixel Slate does. You can easily tell this info just by Googling your CPU's model, and especially if it's an Intel, the first link should be Intel Ark which will tell you how many cores and threads it has. And you're right, you can use Cog (or the System Monitor extension, as I prefer,) and it will show you half of the threads being completely unused if HT is disabled. Dog Toothbrush posted:Is an i5 Pixelbook still worth it at $699 new? I’ve always wanted one but could never justify the price, but I’ve got a little extra cash now and would like a ChromeOS device that’ll last me the next four or more years. $700 for the midrange PB is probably fine new, but I'd go with the top-end i7 model for $650 refurb'd with a 1-year warranty.
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Dec 2, 2019 08:41
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Here's an interesting deal if you want a slate/detachable, $280 refurbished. That might be the same display that's in the Samsung Plus/Pro and Pixelbook.
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Dec 2, 2019 09:50
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Is anybody using linux on these detachables E: not linux apps in containers, or whatever linux the desktop OS
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Dec 2, 2019 17:17
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Atomizer posted:Midrange PB is probably fine new, but I'd go with the top-end i7 model for $650 refurb'd with a 1-year warranty. I really want that thing but I'm worried about warranty fulfillment and what happens if I need to replace the battery due to getting an older one on a refurb unit (this is impossible on a Pixelbook right?)
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Dec 2, 2019 22:01
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Statutory Ape posted:Is anybody using linux on these detachables You mean like using Crouton to add Ubuntu? It's been doable on ChromeOS (which is itself Linux-based anyways) for years, although I haven't heard anyone specifically mention using it on a tablet-style CB without a hardware keyboard. It was certainly viable with touch input back when I tried it on the CB Pixel years ago, but desktop Linux is definitely more suited to keyboard/mouse input. Dog Toothbrush posted:I really want that thing but I'm worried about warranty fulfillment and what happens if I need to replace the battery due to getting an older one on a refurb unit (this is impossible on a Pixelbook right?) It's apparently doable.  Again, you can get a 3rd party warranty if you're concerned. But the way I see it, if you buy something like this for $600 and it lasts 3 years and you have to throw it away after that, you've only spent $200/year. There are plenty of people who spend way more than that upfront on PCs and have a worse ratio of value:year over the usable lifetime of their system. Atomizer fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Dec 3, 2019 |
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Dec 3, 2019 00:17
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I just order the Acer Chromebook C732-C6WU from the Amazon cyber monday sale. Is this one any good? It was kind of an impulse purchase but I've wanted a chromebook for awhile since I had the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook back in 2013 and loved it. So you can run Android apps in Chrome OS now?
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Dec 3, 2019 00:23
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64bit_Dophins posted:I just order the Acer Chromebook C732-C6WU from the Amazon cyber monday sale. Is this one any good? Hmm. Celeron + 4GB is basically the minimum specs you want on a Chromebook, and the processor in that Chromebook is worse than the one in the R11, which works... okay, not great. I didn't realize how slowly webpages loaded on it until I got the Slate last week. No touchscreen might make Android apps a little frustrating, though--you can use the mouse to interact with them, but you'll have a better time with them on a touchscreen. They're great for filling holes in Chrome OS, though. I was so happy when Apple Music finally got official Chromebook support so I could stop sideloading it. That said, the $125 price I'm seeing on Amazon isn't bad--honestly, that's decent for the price. It's supported for four more years, too, so it's got that going for it.
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Dec 3, 2019 00:55
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Atomizer posted:You mean like using Crouton to add Ubuntu? It's been doable on ChromeOS (which is itself Linux-based anyways) for years, although I haven't heard anyone specifically mention using it on a tablet-style CB without a hardware keyboard. It was certainly viable with touch input back when I tried it on the CB Pixel years ago, but desktop Linux is definitely more suited to keyboard/mouse input. I enjoy oddities, my intent would certainly be to type on the keyboard. Stuff like steam stream etc not so muchTy though, I might try it for fun sometime lol
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Dec 3, 2019 01:12
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64bit_Dophins posted:I just order the Acer Chromebook C732-C6WU from the Amazon cyber monday sale. Is this one any good? Do you have a Micro Center around? They have a Lenovo 100e with 4GB RAM and a MediaTek processor for $79. Should be faster than the Samsung 3 but comparable to a bit slower than the Asus. Decent build quality too.
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Dec 3, 2019 01:35
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Mediatek processor is poo poo imho
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Dec 3, 2019 01:45
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64bit_Dophins posted:I just order the Acer Chromebook C732-C6WU from the Amazon cyber monday sale. Is this one any good? Oof, the Samsung 3 was my first CB as well and I hated it! Performance was awful and the speakers were downright painful! Battery life was the only thing good about it but it needed that because it took forever to do anything! I quickly replaced it with the Acer C710 (with HDD and extended battery) and eventually the CB Pixel 2015! Anyways, that Acer C732 is...mediocre. The CPU is below what I'd recommend, although it at least has 4 GB RAM and an appropriate resolution for the display size. It looks chunky with fat bezels, although it's a higher-durability EDU model. I'd say it's fine for the price, and if you dropped & broke it it wouldn't be a huge loss, although it should be durable enough to take a beating. It's not what I'd recommend, except the investment is negligible. Statutory Ape posted:Mediatek processor is poo poo imho That CPU is in the Acer R13, it's fine. I'd go with it over a low-end, low clockspeed dual-core Atom-based Celeron.
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Dec 3, 2019 01:51
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Dog Toothbrush posted:Do you have a Micro Center around? They have a Lenovo 100e with 4GB RAM and a MediaTek processor for $79. Should be faster than the Samsung 3 but comparable to a bit slower than the Asus. Decent build quality too. I do have a microcenter around but at this point it's a little late to collect the cyber monday deal lol. Atomizer posted:Oof, the Samsung 3 was my first CB as well and I hated it! Performance was awful and the speakers were downright painful! Battery life was the only thing good about it but it needed that because it took forever to do anything! I quickly replaced it with the Acer C710 (with HDD and extended battery) and eventually the CB Pixel 2015! I'm assuming that it's going to be slow. I really just want something that I can use to keep in the bag that I throw around all the time. Also to have something to browse the internet on the couch with. The series 3 had a lot of issues but I mainly used it to take notes in college and write papers and for that it was actually perfect. The CB being so slow was actually a benefit because it kept me from goofing off lmao.
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Dec 3, 2019 03:40
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asecondduck posted:Hmm. Celeron + 4GB is basically the minimum specs you want on a Chromebook, and the processor in that Chromebook is worse than the one in the R11, which works... okay, not great. I didn't realize how slowly webpages loaded on it until I got the Slate last week. I'll let you know how it is. The heaviest task I plan on doing is hulu and youtube. Other than that I'll just be shitposting on forums and discord.
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Dec 3, 2019 05:03
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You probably want 4GB ram but even the shittiest arm processor can decode 60fps youtube @ 1366x768 with modern hardware decoding stuff, no worries about that. I have a garbage-tier ASUS C201 that was out of date when I bought it in the summer of 2016 and it rocks out with it's cock out on youtube. Haven't tried Hulu recently but I can fire that up if you're honestly curious. Streaming video decoding in hardware was solved long, long ago. My 1996 Sony Viao Pentium 1 200mhz had some form of MPEG 2 hardware decoding via MMX extensions (cpu video hardware decoding for you young'n's). We are not breaking any new ground here.
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Dec 3, 2019 10:24
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Remember when mmx was advertised on the decals lol Otoh my pentium 133mhz screamed compared to the 486dx I had and was a true media consumer of the time lol
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Dec 3, 2019 12:02
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This thread taught me what MMX actually was. Now I feel justified in desiring it back then.
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Dec 3, 2019 15:06
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MMX let you have real colored lighting in that space shootmans game made by a racist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs6eYhZ1nPs
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Dec 3, 2019 15:46
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The really nice ASUS C425 is down to $380 and has been as low as $320 this week. I bought one but it wouldn't retain a charge so I returned it and am pondering if I want to buy another. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VT254P6?pf_rd_p=ab873d20-a0ca-439b-ac45-cd78f07a84d8&pf_rd_r=MCJXNQ3R2TVPG4PEB7X4
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Dec 3, 2019 15:49
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