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Chrome book, or…?

dessiato

dessiato

🇪🇸 my spirit is crying for leaving
I’m about to start a course and have been advised that I need “a PC instead of a mobile device” to access it. I’ve an iPad 7 with a keyboard, this seems to fit my idea of what I actually need.

The course is delivered online via the TEAMS and Moodle platforms, as well as being a cross campus course with some, but limited, attendance.

But should I buy a cheap Chromebook or similar? If so, which, and why? If not, what do you suggest? Budget is flexible, but I’d rather not spend more than is strictly necessary.
 
dessiato said:
I’m about to start a course and have been advised that I need “a PC instead of a mobile device” to access it. I’ve an iPad 7 with a keyboard, this seems to fit my idea of what I actually need.

The course is delivered online via the TEAMS and Moodle platforms, as well as being a cross campus course with some, but limited, attendance.

But should I buy a cheap Chromebook or similar? If so, which, and why? If not, what do you suggest? Budget is flexible, but I’d rather not spend more than is strictly necessary.
Click to expand...

If budget is tight tight get a chromebook, but try and avoid it.

Yes you can use Teams in a browser or via the Android app, but you don't know what other MS stuff they will be running that might not end up playing nice and just lead to fustration.

Fwiw I own a chromebook, but I wouldn't recommend it for this.
 
Chromebooks are secondary devices. That's not to say you can't use one as a primary device (loads of students do), but it's intended use is really second device or Primary and Secondary education.

They've not given you a lot of detail there. Are they recommending a PC because there's particular software to install? Yeah, you're fairly stuck then. Thing is, I don't see a Chomebook as much different to an iPad with a keyboard (except it's much cheaper) in terms of usability. They have to have some reason why they think you need a PC?
 
Riklet said:
Nah Chromebooks are shit, get a proper laptop.
Click to expand...
Err, no, they're not and there's a reason why they've exploded in popularity and outselling iPads. They're cheap, fast, reliable, can do most everyday tasks and come with an amazing battery life. And there's no need to fuck about with firewalls or anti virus or sit through long updates. And if your machine gets nicked you just log into your replacement machine and everything is as you left it.

I've used them as my main machines when I'm put and about for years while my flash Lenovo Windows machine gathers dust. There's limitations for some users for sure, but I can do everything I need on mine and it's infinitely faster than my Windows machine.
 
Laptops Direct currently have Win10 laptops for a smidgeon under £100. I bought one and it runs Teams and the rest of Microsoft 365 just fine.
 
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Get a regular Windows laptop, chromebooks are essentially smart terminal devices and they're fine for that nothing wrong wih it. But the same argument applies to them as applies to Linux laptops or Macbooks.
The 'standard' is Windows and everything else is an outlier. If the college is just saying get a PC that's what they mean, if they had said get a PC or a Mac or any mobile device will do fine then the choice is more variable.
 
editor said:
Err, no, they're not and there's a reason why they've exploded in popularity and outselling iPads. They're cheap, fast, reliable, can do most everyday tasks and come with an amazing battery life. And there's no need to fuck about with firewalls or anti virus or sit through long updates. And if your machine gets nicked you just log into your replacement machine and everything is as you left it.

I've used them as my main machines when I'm put and about for years while my flash Lenovo Windows machine gathers dust. There's limitations for some users for sure, but I can do everything I need on mine and it's infinitely faster than my Windows machine.
Click to expand...

Yeah yeah I know you love Chromebooks and im glad yours has worked well for you seriously but I just dont think theyre very good for academic stuff. We may just have to agree to disagree because obviously bajillions of students bought them so theres good stats to back up your opinion. My Dad has one and uses it for video calls and casual dossing around and it seems fine for that.

But.... They are in the end running Android/Linux and most universities are running Windows and Office 365. And if you have limited time to tinker and install apps then Windows 10 will just make life easier.

If dessiato already had a laptop I'd say why not but not having a laptop? An old Lenovo with a flash drive is exactly what he needs! I cant imagine churning out a last minute assignment on some 10 inch Chromebook.
 
I could see the point of chromebooks when windows machines all had HDDs and took ages to boot up but not now.

The cheap ones are plastic and nasty and the expensive ones are expensive.
 
Riklet said:
Yeah yeah I know you love Chromebooks and im glad yours has worked well for you seriously but I just dont think theyre very good for academic stuff. We may just have to agree to disagree because obviously bajillions of students bought them so theres good stats to back up your opinion. My Dad has one and uses it for video calls and casual dossing around and it seems fine for that.

But.... They are in the end running Android/Linux and most universities are running Windows and Office 365. And if you have limited time to tinker and install apps then Windows 10 will just make life easier.

If dessiato already had a laptop I'd say why not but not having a laptop? An old Lenovo with a flash drive is exactly what he needs! I cant imagine churning out a last minute assignment on some 10 inch Chromebook.
Click to expand...
You can use Office 365 on Chromebooks easily - or do what I do and use Google Docs. It was never a problem when I was writing for a newspaper who used Microsoft Office.

And this is interesting, albeit a small study:

Survey reveals strong preference for Google Workspace over Microsoft 365 among college students​

To find out, we commissioned a survey with an independent research firm, College Pulse, fielding 12 questions to 750 students at 52 colleges across America in June 2022.

The results are in: these students preferred Google by a long shot. Among our findings, students surveyed revealed the following preferences:

  • Google Docs (86%) over Microsoft Word (14%)
  • Google Slides (75%) over Microsoft PowerPoint (25%)
  • Google Sheets (62%) over Microsoft Excel (38%)
Click to expand...


https://sada.com/insights/blog/surv...ce-over-microsoft-365-among-college-students/
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
I think it's different if you can set your own ecosystem vs having to use someone else's.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you mean. I've worked with companies who are all Windows/Office and had no problem interchanging files from my Chromebook.

My school district has over 4000 Chromebooks that access the Moodle sites I run every day. My Moodle servers use multi-core Intel processors and have lots of RAM (48 gigs on the database server). Chromebooks are great client devices for accessing Moodle. They are wonderful in an environment where they are shared by multiple users.

Moodle in English: Moodle on Chromebook

moodle.org moodle.org
Click to expand...
 
dessiato said:
I’m about to start a course and have been advised that I need “a PC instead of a mobile device” to access it. I’ve an iPad 7 with a keyboard, this seems to fit my idea of what I actually need.

The course is delivered online via the TEAMS and Moodle platforms, as well as being a cross campus course with some, but limited, attendance.

But should I buy a cheap Chromebook or similar? If so, which, and why? If not, what do you suggest? Budget is flexible, but I’d rather not spend more than is strictly necessary.
Click to expand...
Try the iPad and keyboard for a few classes before buying anything? It might be fine.
 
editor said:
I'm not sure what you mean. I've worked with companies who are all Windows/Office and had no problem interchanging files from my Chromebook.
Click to expand...

Yes, the difference is the school has picked chromebook and that's what they base things around. I support a school as one of my clients and I don't think they would be a terrible choice. I'd happily recommend chromebooks for other users, for example it was the perfect choice my Dad.

I also support the 365 ecosystem at work and am unofficially supporting my partner who has just started a masters. They wave a hand and say things are on Teams, but tbh it's a mess and it's not quite that simple. Not helped that the staff don't seem to fully understand how it all ties together either. Yes their are Web apps of most of the MS stuff, but I think dessiato could just be making headaches for himself.
 
magneze said:
Try the iPad and keyboard for a few classes before buying anything? It might be fine.
Click to expand...

magneze said:
Moodle and Teams both have iPad apps.
Click to expand...

This & This innit.
I'd try the iPad first tbh.

Having had Chromebooks in the past I stand with editor on their usefulness and compatibility. I was quite sad when my expensive Chromebook bit the dust (screen failure and they couldn't/wouldn't fix it so I got my money back). My main requirement is that I have a good/great keyboard.

I never had an issue running Teams or Word365 on a Chromebook.

During the lockdown, we bought dozens, perhaps hundreds of the things for local schoolkids so they could home-school. We didn't receive one complaint about incompatibility.

YMMV of course.
 
Throbbing Angel said:
This & This innit.
I'd try the iPad first tbh.

Having had Chromebooks in the past I stand with editor on their usefulness and compatibility. I was quite sad when my expensive Chromebook bit the dust (screen failure and they couldn't/wouldn't fix it so I got my money back). My main requirement is that I have a good/great keyboard.
Click to expand...
What model was that? I had an Acer 713 that suffered the same fate, it was only two years old.
 
I'd like a chrome nook with a really good display? I basically use my old mac as a chrome book now as the display is better than the mid range Chrome book I also have. Does such a thing exist?
 
Oldboy said:
What model was that? I had an Acer 713 that suffered the same fate, it was only two years old.
Click to expand...
It was this - bought in 2018, minor but increasing screen failure (dead pixels) at 21 - 22 months into a 2 year gtee/warranty with John Lewis, so i got 100% back - it was a £500 machine at the time, which I thought was expensive. Great keyboard and screen and sound.
ASUS Chromebook C302ca, Intel Core M3, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, 12.5"
 
Sasaferrato said:
A Chromebook is OK (ish) if you have a mouse and keyboard attached, otherwise its pretty much a web browser.
Click to expand...

Absolute nonsense. And why the hell would you have to attach a keyboard when there's already a perfectly good one on the laptop?
 
Throbbing Angel said:
It was this - bought in 2018, minor but increasing screen failure (dead pixels) at 21 - 22 months into a 2 year gtee/warranty with John Lewis, so i got 100% back - it was a £500 machine at the time, which I thought was expensive. Great keyboard and screen and sound.
ASUS Chromebook C302ca, Intel Core M3, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, 12.5"
Click to expand...
I've got that model - I barely used it in the end so if anyone wants to make me an offer!
 
A380 said:
I'd like a chrome nook with a really good display? I basically use my old mac as a chrome book now as the display is better than the mid range Chrome book I also have. Does such a thing exist?
Click to expand...
What size screen/resolution are you looking for?
 
Probably 11/12 inch and of a similar standard to Apple’s Retina displays?
 
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