Talk to me about Chromebooks

[GrizzlyBear]

I am thinking about a new Laptop ; before Silicon heaven beckons for the current (crashing a lot recently), usage is nothing intensive; banking (not a typo), Skype/Teams, web browsing, shopping, maybe a few big Excel spreadsheets (probably no 3D CAD on this one). So thinking a Chromebook might be a better choice?

My question is what is a Chromebook like to use (stuck in the house so can't go to try)? , I normally work off USB drives, so keep a maximum of 1GB (ish) on the HD, I don't really want to save to the cloud as internet here is best described as tragic .

Can I still use the free Excel type software (Something like Open Office); rather than shell out £60 pa to Microsoft. Also how big is the Chrome OS? as some seem to have a SSD and local memory. Do the batteries really last the claimed 6+ hours?

Is the performance comparable to a windows Laptop: so far I am looking at 8GB+ RAM, maybe a 15"+ touchscreen, SSD (120GB should be plenty as my current 1TB has never had more than 60GB including windows). Current laptop is a few years old: ASUS i5 (4210), only 4GB RAM, 1TB hard drive (just 5400 rpm).

Say £400 - £500 (if they are rubbish at that price point please say), I don't want to spend more just in case some of the smaller relatives decides to find out if they can be grown in the garden (also I don't like spending money on myself). Anything to watch out for? I seen some only have 1 or 2 USB ports, which is just plain wrong.

[knk]

Chromebooks are great. Google drive, docs, sheets, slides can manage most office-type tasks.
£500 will get you a great machine.

But they do work best on-line using cloud storage.

[poing]

If your internet is tragic than I probably wouldn't go for a Chromebook. They are very web based.

Things like Teams work ok, there are apps like a mobile phone app store, but some of them are not very well executed for chromebooks. They basically use the android app store.

Things like Excel work but have some limited functions as they are not the full desktop version you'll be used to. Using external storage with them is possible but more complicated than a normal Windows machine. I have to admit I prefer google sheets to excel these days but most of the world still use excel so you end up forced to use excel.

For normal web stuff they are great, fast and secure, although very google centric as you'd imagine. I have an android phone so everything works in beautiful harmony. Having said that, the 6 month old chromebook is sat doing nothing and I'm typing this on my 2011 apple macbook pro.

[Funk]

£500 gets you a decent laptop, not sure why you'd go Chromebook at this price - and as others have mentioned Chromebooks work best online.

For example, this Dell-certified rerfurbished Inspiron 15 has a 10th-gen i5, 8Gb RAM & 256Gb SSD - it'll fly along just fine: https://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInven...

They have a 10% off code at the moment as well - DOHLS12 which brings it to £454 inc VAT. The only thing it doesn't have is touchscreen.

Both my previous Dell laptops have been from the Outlet and looked brand new (just £100-ish cheaper!).

Edited by Funk on Saturday 23 May 14:12

[Meeten-5dulx]

Defo reiterate that the chrome book will work better as many apps are cloud based.
Also, if you are an intensive Excel user, the online version is restricted.

I personally hate it so it's via citrix or the full fat local version.

We have a chrome book for 5yrs and it is light, easy to use and free of virus. A great little tool, but it may not be the right one for you for your requirements.

[Funk]

This just reminded my that I got a free Chromebook with my Pixel 4 XL purchase last year which I haven't even opened yet...

[ReverendCounter]

I would avoid, personally. I had one and it was a great solution in some ways (great battery life, light weight, etc) but incredibly frustrating in others. Forget using it as a normal laptop to which you have access all areas so to speak - there will be several ways in which you won't be able to work or use it as you normally would have and if you are lucky, you might find a workaround. Otherwise you're doomed, and the operation you really need to carry out at that specific time, whatever reason, just can't be done.

They're good but not perfect. I've never had another since and I won't go back.

[GrizzlyBear]

Thanks for the replies, so it looks like they are not quite what I was looking for, this will need more thought...

Funk said:

£500 gets you a decent laptop, not sure why you'd go Chromebook at this price - and as others have mentioned Chromebooks work best online.

For example, this Dell-certified rerfurbished Inspiron 15 has a 10th-gen i5, 8Gb RAM & 256Gb SSD - it'll fly along just fine: https://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInven...

They have a 10% off code at the moment as well - DOHLS12 which brings it to £454 inc VAT. The only thing it doesn't have is touchscreen.

Both my previous Dell laptops have been from the Outlet and looked brand new (just £100-ish cheaper!).

Edited by Funk on Saturday 23 May 14:12

Thanks for this, but I don't want anything refurbed, I used Multi-core, multi-processor Dells in work several years ago (OK, more than a few years, it was when multi-cores were new tech), I had 3 machines die in less than a year so I am not sure I trust them. (I like big sums).

Meeten-5dulx said:

Also, if you are an intensive Excel user, the online version is restricted.

That might be a deal breaker for me, I will need to look into how it is restricted, might be OK.

Thanks for the replies to this, I will need to investigate more, sadly it looks like a windows Laptop might be the only option

[Corso Marche]

I'm a strong advocate for Chrome OS and Chromebooks. Secure, quick, seamless with other cloud integrations, decent to excellent battery life, no slowdowns (unless you fill the internal storage, but there is no reason to), stability, and the OS just gets out of your way and is super quick and simple to use.

But from what you've mentioned I don't think moving to Chrome OS is for you.
1) You've mentioned Teams and Excel. If you're working on shared Excel files with others just stick to Windows. Ditto Teams.
2) If your internet isn't decent forget Chrome OS. Sure, they can be used offline very productively using their native apps (and Linux desktop apps if you choose) but you're instantly removing what makes them so quick and seamless to use.

We've a few android phones and the only laptops we've run for a number of years now in the household are Chromebooks. We've transitioned fully, and haven't looked back. But from what you've posted it doesn't sound as if it's a solution for you at this moment in time.