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Chromebook ?
 

[Closed] Chromebook ?

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Which did you look at?


 
Posted : 20/01/2014 12:30 pm
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Thanks mol. 🙂

Those two look like they might be contenders.

EDIT: until I saw the price of the Pixel 😆


 
Posted : 20/01/2014 12:51 pm
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I have the HP one but in 14" size (it's all about size DD 😉 ) - it looks very nice - certainly not tacky. The 11 looks good too but there may be supply problems as the first ones had chargers that could overheat...

EDIT - yeah, 'coming soon': https://www.google.co.uk/intl/en_uk/chrome/devices/hp-chromebook-11/


 
Posted : 20/01/2014 12:59 pm
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Pixel is great had one 6 months or so.. It's all about the screen!

Google gave everyone at 2013 US conference a free one(!)..

So they do come up on Ebay quite regularly for less if your smitten and have time to stalk a few 🙂


 
Posted : 20/01/2014 1:28 pm
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@clubber,

While feeling no need to compensate (unlike yourself for some reason...all vertical eh? 🙂 ), Tesco have that 14 for £249.

Can these be used offline? Eg. as I mentioned above, I'd be building an accounts spreadsheet that I could update on the go rather than this panicky faff every January to get my books done and of course, missing out on all the things I could be using to dodge more tax in the rush. So can I update a spreadsheet offline which could then sync with google docs when in wifi or does chrome have to be "online" to be doing anything useful?

Mind you, I've just got unlimited tethering and data for £18/month-2-month from 3 but that's not coming online till beginning of Feb. 🙂


 
Posted : 20/01/2014 2:04 pm
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I got my (bigger one) from Tesco.

You can use them offline and increasingly so - Google docs (including sheets, the excel equivalent) allows offline working and there is that SSD to store some stuff on it for offline if you need.

https://support.google.com/drive/answer/1628467?hl=en


 
Posted : 20/01/2014 2:11 pm
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Ah, thanks for that link.

More silly questions to follow:

Towards the bottom of that article, it says:

Offline editing is limited to spreadsheets that were created after switching to the new version of Google Sheets. Also note that editing "My Drive" is limited to starring files and folders.

One assumes that if I were to buy a chromebook today, and set up a new spreadsheet, that would be using the "new version" of Google Sheets.

I'm not fussed about trying to edit on a tablet...won't be using iPads for editing spreadsheets, only the chromebook (or say, someone else's desktop running Chrome).


 
Posted : 20/01/2014 2:18 pm
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You always get the latest version of your apps. That's the beauty of cloud computing.


 
Posted : 20/01/2014 2:20 pm
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Yeah, I would expect so. I expect that you can convert 'old' ones to new ones though anyway.

I use google docs on my (android) phone and sometimes tablet and it's surprisingly useable and now that we have our stuff all on google drive, it's means I can access it pretty much anywhere which has turned out to be surprisingly useful.


 
Posted : 20/01/2014 2:21 pm
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The only "argh" discovery I've had using a chromebook in place of a moribund (Windows) netbook is that the Ordnance Survey "Getamap" thing won't fly, as it relies on MS Silverlight.

Otherwise, I'm amazed at how brilliant the thing is for the price, and the screen / picture quality in particular is very good (Samsung one, bought last year, don't know the model number)


 
Posted : 20/01/2014 2:28 pm
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does it really use Silverlight?
does anyone actually use that?

pretty sure I used OS getamap on Linux browser at some point (probably stock Chrome, or if not then the open source Chromium equivalent), and don't remember installing Moonlight or anything. Maybe I did. Was quite a while ago. All I know for sure is it wasn't Windows or OSX, since I've not used either in over 2 years.


 
Posted : 20/01/2014 2:45 pm
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Eurosport player uses Silverlight too.


 
Posted : 20/01/2014 3:36 pm
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So can you not run iTunes at all on a chromebook? I can't afford a mac, I don't want a ms laptop as experience of them is they slow down very quickly. But need something to update the old iphone if I need to. I know it does ota downloads but just in case.


 
Posted : 21/01/2014 6:55 pm
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no itunes, no.

However, google music will upload your entire iTunes collection and host it for you from where you can download it to the chromebook for local playing, or stream it when online.

I wont even use a site that runs silverlight on my PC. Horrible software.


 
Posted : 21/01/2014 6:59 pm
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Some other streaming TV requires Silverlight too. Had to install in on my PC for MissStripes


 
Posted : 21/01/2014 7:12 pm
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yeah was thinking one of the movie services probably uses silverlight.

not a major issue for what I need.

almost tempted. could use a fractionally larger screen and resolution than my eee. it's that or a cheap lenovo.

now just need to work out the best place to get one with a UK (or US) keyboard, and not a funny German keyboard.


 
Posted : 21/01/2014 7:19 pm
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So budget of £300 what is good samsung or hp?

Hp 14 qo15sa or a toshiba?

The biggest concern I have is I had a netbook but was rubbish for anything word related so cv's presentations etc just too small on the screen. So what do you guys reccomend


 
Posted : 21/01/2014 7:25 pm
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I use the Chromebook for STW etc, and a real PC@1900*1200 when needs must.

The only way around it would be to buy a machine with a Retina/equivalent screen and squint.


 
Posted : 21/01/2014 7:30 pm
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The main thing holding me back is photo management. I really want a local copy as well as uploading full sized to Google Drive. I know the Chromebook will read cards and allow uploading to Google+, it's the getting them onto my NAS that is the issue. The http access frankly sucks on the NAS and ftp doesn't seem to be a realistic option on the Chromebook...


 
Posted : 21/01/2014 10:02 pm
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I'm yet to buy one. The HP14 looks a good deal..... Help please ? Budget not an issue.....


 
Posted : 21/01/2014 10:05 pm
 Del
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wife has a laptop with Windows 8 which we hate.

wipe it and install 7?


 
Posted : 21/01/2014 10:25 pm
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Had a quick play on a C720 and it's quite nice, though as the wife has just spunked £135 on a pair of shoes, I think I might just save up for a second hand Nicolai frame instead.


 
Posted : 21/01/2014 10:34 pm
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I was kinda set on the HP 11, but it seems, from talking to a chap who works for HP, "coming soon" is not necessarily soon at all. 🙁

So what do we think of the [url= http://www.trustedreviews.com/acer-c720p-chromebook_Laptop_review ]New Acer c720P[/url]?


 
Posted : 24/01/2014 9:43 pm
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The acer looks good. The HP screen is good but it still has the same CPU as the Samsung Series 3 (which I am using which is good but sometimes I'd like a little more oomph). The Acer uses a Haswell processor and looks as if the screen may be a little better than this one.


 
Posted : 24/01/2014 9:53 pm
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Ah roight. Cheers AdamW.


 
Posted : 24/01/2014 10:01 pm
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I don't want a ms laptop as experience of them is they slow down very quickly.

Let's just clear something up. Windows doens't slow down on its own. If you treat it right it'll be fine.

And yes I know, you shouldn't have to blablabla.


 
Posted : 24/01/2014 10:15 pm
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Cheapest option would be to spend £10 on a Dummies guide to Windows 8. Its *really* not hard to use.


 
Posted : 24/01/2014 10:32 pm
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I agree. What was the question again?


 
Posted : 24/01/2014 10:33 pm
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Last question not concerning windows was at Post 70 Stoner.


 
Posted : 24/01/2014 10:40 pm
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I received the replacement charger for my HP 11 yesterday, so once the backlog of existing owners have been seen to, I would not have thought it would be long before they could start selling them again.

Not too sure what they have changed as it appears to recharge at the same speed and it still gets uncomfortably hot 😮

EDIT: In fact it appears to be on sale already [url= http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/24/former_fiery_hp_chromebook_11_back_on_google_play_shelves/ ]Article[/url]


 
Posted : 24/01/2014 11:28 pm
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Indeed it is! So much for my insider knowledge, eh? 😳 Right, so it'll be between the HP11 and the c720p then. I think the c720p is out in Feb. Hmmm.


 
Posted : 25/01/2014 7:48 am
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Just thought I'd AdamW's earlier post. The hp 14 has a haswell chip. There's some confusion because there is a previous version of the hp chromebook 14 which was the 'pavilion'' model which obviously has an older chip.

I've got the latest hp chromebook14 and it's a great bit of kit. Just works basically though I've found it can be a little hit and miss working on routers (ip address navigation) and I've found a couple of websites where kids games don't work.

And OT, there's a lot of bs written about Windows. It does slow down over time even if you did all the "maintenance" a full on geek could do because of patching /updates. It doesn't however slow down quickly unless you constantly install rubbish on it.


 
Posted : 25/01/2014 8:19 am
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Does the new HP14 have a dirty great big charger clubber?


 
Posted : 25/01/2014 8:22 am
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Not excessively but it's a typical laptop type one rather than the mobile phone one on the 11


 
Posted : 25/01/2014 8:27 am
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What's the screen resolution like on the hp11 and hp14....?


 
Posted : 25/01/2014 8:58 am
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I'm sure you can Google the numbers but the 14 certainly looks good in use. The 11 I tried in the shop similar.


 
Posted : 25/01/2014 9:11 am
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Just had a look at the charger btw. It's smaller than most laptop ones, say 1.5x3.5 inches


 
Posted : 25/01/2014 9:12 am
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The charger is a phone charger no?


 
Posted : 25/01/2014 9:38 am
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For the 11, it is.

Think it's a bigger laptop style for the 14.


 
Posted : 25/01/2014 9:40 am
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Yep


 
Posted : 25/01/2014 9:59 am
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The charger on our Acer c720 is about the size of 20 fags, maybe slightly thinner and wider. Pretty small really.


 
Posted : 25/01/2014 3:53 pm
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