Chromebook - ok ?
Discussion
I'm about to buy a Chromebook. I think I've decided on either an Asus C434 or an Acer Spin 13 (both the base spec). I want a duel one that can double as a tablet. I can get both for £500. It will be used for home stuff, but bit knowing a great deal about them, I'm not sure which one to go for.
EdT said:
OK 8GB it is!
Is a Celeron up to the job ? Not had a PC with one of these
Do not buy any Chromebook with a Celeron processor. Trust me on that.Is a Celeron up to the job ? Not had a PC with one of these
If you want to knock any long-life use out of them (which you can realistically expect from Chrome OS) then get an i3 or anything above an i3.
The reality is that lower-power ARM chips run Chrome OS much better than a Celeron. Best to avoid.
AJB88 said:
EdT said:
Well well, taking sage advice it'll be a Chromebook then thanks PHers.
Do they use memory more kindly like the Mrs' Mac seems to.. 4GB seems common for these I see
From my experience 4GB is minimum, but I would try to get a machine you can add more to. I found with a few tabs open mine was using 3.5 straight away and had to deploy virtual memory. Do they use memory more kindly like the Mrs' Mac seems to.. 4GB seems common for these I see
The pic below illustrates my point above re. RAM usage and how it's not indicative of actual OS requirements. You'll see one task open (this topic on PH in a tab), but approx. 3/4 of RAM in use on an 8GB machine.
Edited by Corso Marche on Monday 13th July 19:46
I've got two kids at two different secondary schools and various Windows and Android devices and I've lost count of the times when one school app or other doesn't work with Android.
Same applies to a job my wife recently had where the apps were Windows only and my previous job where they gave me a stupidly-expensive giant iPad but, guess what, several key apps didn't work on ios.
I just go Windows.
Same applies to a job my wife recently had where the apps were Windows only and my previous job where they gave me a stupidly-expensive giant iPad but, guess what, several key apps didn't work on ios.
I just go Windows.
Corso Marche said:
Chrome OS manages RAM differently to the likes of Windows or Mac-OS. It doesn't matter how much RAM is in the machine or what processes/tasks are running it will always show approx. 75% of the memory as being in use. It basically pages memory ahead of demand and has it ready for instant use. I've used Chromebooks with 2/4/8GB of RAM. 2GB is thankfully gone out the window, but was ok-ish for browsing. 4GB is acceptable for many, and I'd not have any worries for a home-use or school-use device. 8GB is good of course, but not necessary unless it's a work machine or you do lots with images or video, or work with or manage large files. If somebody was contemplating using desktop linux apps for example I'd strongly suggest 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. But for most users 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage is sufficient.
The pic below illustrates my point above re. RAM usage and how it's not indicative of actual OS requirements. You'll see one task open (this topic on PH in a tab), but approx. 3/4 of RAM in use on an 8GB machine.
Not my experience at all, it used to show very high memory usage (LG chromebase) but as soon as installed 2x 4GB it never went near 75% again. I have got a Chrosh screenshot some where.The pic below illustrates my point above re. RAM usage and how it's not indicative of actual OS requirements. You'll see one task open (this topic on PH in a tab), but approx. 3/4 of RAM in use on an 8GB machine.
Edited by Corso Marche on Monday 13th July 19:46
One of my first machines an Acer C710 really struggled until it had more RAM then it was a nice little machine.
Been using ChromeOS since it came out and Linux since 2002. I'm typing from my LG Chromebase now but its running Elementary OS now as it came to the end of its support life.
Edited by AJB88 on Tuesday 14th July 06:31
If it's a printer from recent years Chrome OS will print to it just by plugging it into a USB port and allowing it to recognise and carry out first setup of the printer. It'll do the same for printers which support WiFi.
If it's an old printer there's probably not much you can do.
The handy thing with Chrome OS and printers is that the printer is saved to your account, so if you switch to another Chrome OS device you don't have to add stuff like printers again. It's already there the first time you sign in.
If it's an old printer there's probably not much you can do.
The handy thing with Chrome OS and printers is that the printer is saved to your account, so if you switch to another Chrome OS device you don't have to add stuff like printers again. It's already there the first time you sign in.
AJB88 said:
Not my experience at all, it used to show very high memory usage (LG chromebase) but as soon as installed 2x 4GB it never went near 75% again. I have got a Chrosh screenshot some where.
One of my first machines an Acer C710 really struggled until it had more RAM then it was a nice little machine.
Been using ChromeOS since it came out and Linux since 2002. I'm typing from my LG Chromebase now but its running Elementary OS now as it came to the end of its support life.
I've used lots of variants of Chromebooks, in all guises of processor/RAM/storage. One of my first machines an Acer C710 really struggled until it had more RAM then it was a nice little machine.
Been using ChromeOS since it came out and Linux since 2002. I'm typing from my LG Chromebase now but its running Elementary OS now as it came to the end of its support life.
They all behaved the same whether it'd be 2/4/6/8 GB of RAM.
If you look at my screenshot above you'll see 1706MB used but only 2100MB free. It's buffered 4062MB for immediate use by any tasks or processes.
But if you look at the next line you'll see correctly that there is actually 5114MB free, rather than just 2100MB. This is what causes confusion for a lot of people.
Corso Marche said:
If it's a printer from recent years Chrome OS will print to it just by plugging it into a USB port and allowing it to recognise and carry out first setup of the printer. It'll do the same for printers which support WiFi.
If it's an old printer there's probably not much you can do.
The handy thing with Chrome OS and printers is that the printer is saved to your account, so if you switch to another Chrome OS device you don't have to add stuff like printers again. It's already there the first time you sign in.
Cheers its a new wifi one - I shall try harder! If it's an old printer there's probably not much you can do.
The handy thing with Chrome OS and printers is that the printer is saved to your account, so if you switch to another Chrome OS device you don't have to add stuff like printers again. It's already there the first time you sign in.
Just ensure the Chromebook and the printer are on the same wi-fi network.
Settings >> Advanced >> Printing >> Add Printer
... and just follow the prompts which will guide you.
If you've any trouble just shout and I'll post steps to add it manually using the printers IP address.
Settings >> Advanced >> Printing >> Add Printer
... and just follow the prompts which will guide you.
If you've any trouble just shout and I'll post steps to add it manually using the printers IP address.
Edited by Corso Marche on Tuesday 14th July 16:46
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