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Chromebooks - latest news and discussion

Best advice I can give you Orang Utan is this: If you can do everything you want to use it for in the Chrome browser or with an Android app it's perfect for you. Make sure you buy one that runs Android apps though!
 
chandlerp said:
Best advice I can give you Orang Utan is this: If you can do everything you want to use it for in the Chrome browser or with an Android app it's perfect for you. Make sure you buy one that runs Android apps though!
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I only every use my (Chrome) browser, anti-virus programmes, and occasionally a video player on my laptop.
Oh wait, might not be able to use Soulseek, but can crank up an ancient laptop to use that if necessary
 
Chromebooks don't offer a lot of customisation, but in terms of what's important to get in order of importance:

1 - 4GB of RAM, not 2. This is important, the rest are nice to have.
2 - Touchscreen over non-touch. (because Android apps are much easier with it)
3 - 1080p+ screen resolution on anything over 12". Under that, it's not such a big deal.
4 - maybe more local storage? I don't know. They all come with an SD slot, so far as I've seen, so it's not a big deal at all.
 
Chz said:
Chromebooks don't offer a lot of customisation, but in terms of what's important to get in order of importance:

1 - 4GB of RAM, not 2. This is important, the rest are nice to have.
2 - Touchscreen over non-touch. (because Android apps are much easier with it)
3 - 1080p+ screen resolution on anything over 12". Under that, it's not such a big deal.
4 - maybe more local storage? I don't know. They all come with an SD slot, so far as I've seen, so it's not a big deal at all.
Click to expand...

Mine didn't, but I got one of those super small USB sticks and that's fine.

Tbh local storage is far less an issue then I thought it would be. Same as Android apps. I've found I've just changed the way I do things.
 
cybershot said:
Chromebooks will soon be able to run your favorite Linux apps
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Announcement here:

This year we’re making it possible for you to code on Chromebooks. Whether it’s building an app or writing a quick script, Chromebooks will be ready for your next coding project.

Last year we announced a new generation of Chromebooks that were designed to work with your favorite apps from the Google Play store, helping to bring accessible computing to millions of people around the world. But it’s not just about access to technology, it’s also about access to the tools that create it. And that’s why we’re equipping developers with more tools on Chromebooks.

Pixelbook_Android_Terminal.max-1000x1000.jpg

Support for Linux will enable you to create, test and run Android and web app for phones, tablets and laptops all on one Chromebook. Run popular editors, code in your favorite language and launch projects to Google Cloud with the command-line. Everything works directly on a Chromebook.

Linux runs inside a virtual machine that was designed from scratch for Chromebooks. That means it starts in seconds and integrates completely with Chromebook features. Linux apps can start with a click of an icon, windows can be moved around, and files can be opened directly from apps.

A preview of the new tool will be released on Google Pixelbook soon. Remember to tune in to Google I/O to learn more about Linux on Chromebooks, as well as more exciting announcements.
Click to expand...
 
Wow, this is huge. I have been on the fence about Chromebooks for a while. They sound almost perfect for me (non-gamer, don't use Windows apps) but the ability to code on them now means they can do literally everything I need.

Do the features that are exclusive to Pixelbooks or whatever the latest machine is eventually trickle down into the other, cheaper Chromebooks available?
 
Fez909 said:
Wow, this is huge. I have been on the fence about Chromebooks for a while. They sound almost perfect for me (non-gamer, don't use Windows apps) but the ability to code on them now means they can do literally everything I need.

Do the features that are exclusive to Pixelbooks or whatever the latest machine is eventually trickle down into the other, cheaper Chromebooks available?
Click to expand...
I'd say most definitely unless you're on a really ancient machine. Android support started on a select few laptops before being implemented more widely.
 
Fez909 said:
Wow, this is huge. I have been on the fence about Chromebooks for a while. They sound almost perfect for me (non-gamer, don't use Windows apps) but the ability to code on them now means they can do literally everything I need.

Do the features that are exclusive to Pixelbooks or whatever the latest machine is eventually trickle down into the other, cheaper Chromebooks available?
Click to expand...

I think the article I linked too says they will. The disc space potentially becomes an issue depending on what you'd use it for!

Personally, I'd let the feature release, mature, and then purchase if it's meeting the need.
 
editor said:
I'd say most definitely unless you're on a really ancient machine. Android support started on a select few laptops before being implemented more widely.
Click to expand...
Great stuff.

I wouldn't be able to get away with a really cheap model, but I also can't afford the actual fancy beast machines. Will definitely be keeping a [closer] eye on these now though :thumbs:
 
cybershot said:
I think the article I linked too says they will. The disc space potentially becomes an issue depending on what you'd use it for!

Personally, I'd let the feature release, mature, and then purchase if it's meeting the need.
Click to expand...
Oh, definitely.

Not worries about disk space, more power/grunt. If this thing is running a VM (and it is) then that's going to take a non-trivial amount of memory. Some of the cheap Chromebooks can get away with piddly memory because it's so simple - I'd need something a fair bit beefier, but they're all $$$...for now.

Can see this becoming a MacBook replacement for web devs, and if so we'll see a lot more high powered machines being made. Hopefully for less money :)
 
It sounds 'docker' esque, in the fact it runs the app in a virtual instance. Makes you wonder if you'll be limited to the apps they make available, when they use the phrase 'favourite linux apps'
 
cybershot said:
It sounds 'docker' esque, in the fact it runs the app in a virtual instance. Makes you wonder if you'll be limited to the apps they make available, when they use the phrase 'favourite linux apps'
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Nope, it's a full version of Debian running in a VM. I don't think it's running in a container, but it's possible. Would make sense if ChromeOS has enough underlying Linux bits to share - I know it is Linux under the bonnet, but it might be stripped down which means it's a full VM needed for this...
 
cybershot said:
It sounds 'docker' esque, in the fact it runs the app in a virtual instance. Makes you wonder if you'll be limited to the apps they make available, when they use the phrase 'favourite linux apps'
Click to expand...
Have just read your link (I read a different link initially) and it seems like it is definitely a full VM rather than Docker or whatever, and my fears about performance are justified:
Of course, since we're talking about a virtual machine here, performance limitations aren't out of the question. Google is confident that running most Linux apps within Chrome OS shouldn't pose too many issues, but Kan Liu, director of product management for Chrome OS, concedes that running elaborate apps like the GIMP, for image editing, may slow down some less powerful Chromebooks. No wonder the Pixelbook is the first model to officially get Linux app support.
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The good news is that means it is Linux. Everything will work, not just "your favourite apps". :)
 
Any chance I could actually use run Google bloody Drive or rather a Linux a client on Googles own machine? It's the one thing I totally assumed would be there and so didn't check before I bought one.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
That doesn't sync your Google drive, just your most recently worked on files. I want it to mirror my drive like it does on my Windows machines.
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I guess that's not going to happen because you'll run out of space rapidly if you got a half ton of stuff in your Drive?
 
editor said:
I guess that's not going to happen because you'll run out of space rapidly if you got a half ton of stuff in your Drive?
Click to expand...

I can see why google don't for that reason, although I bought a 128gb SD card at the same time as the Chromebook kinda assuming if be able to store things locally...Maybe with Linux support I can bodge it with a third party app.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
I can see why google don't for that reason, although I bought a 128gb SD card at the same time as the Chromebook kinda assuming if be able to store things locally...Maybe with Linux support I can bodge it with a third party app.
Click to expand...
AFAIK, there's no native Linux GDrive app, and the 3rd party ones that do exist don't do what you want...not automatically, anyway.

It's more of a manual thing. You have to open a terminal and type a command to sync. But then it does do the full thing.

I was looking into this recently, which is how I know, but I didn't look too hard, so there might be other options out there.
 
Fez909 said:
AFAIK, there's no native Linux GDrive app, and the 3rd party ones that do exist don't do what you want...not automatically, anyway.

It's more of a manual thing. You have to open a terminal and type a command to sync. But then it does do the full thing.

I was looking into this recently, which is how I know, but I didn't look too hard, so there might be other options out there.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my cursory Google shows there is no native app, hadn't looked into it enough to realise the third party apps didn't work quite like that.

It's not the end of the world or owt, but would be handy from time to time. It's not just in times of no Internet, when Internet is slow it's much nicer to have local files that are updated to the cloud quietly in the background.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
Yeah, my cursory Google shows there is no native app, hadn't looked into it enough to realise the third party apps didn't work quite like that.

It's not the end of the world or owt, but would be handy from time to time. It's not just in times of no Internet, when Internet is slow it's much nicer to have local files that are updated to the cloud quietly in the background.
Click to expand...
I'm sure, being linux, you could just script it.

1) Find a 3rd party GDrive app for Linux
2) Add a cron job to sync every x minutes
3) ??????
4) Profit!!!
 
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