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Chromebooks - latest news and discussion

Just picked up a direct replacement for the work Chromebook I had to give back (a basic HP machine) for the princely sum of £130 from Argos. Well, I also had a £100 credit/voucher thing, so I actually only shelled out £30.

It's not a cutting edge Chromebook by any means. You can get better. But it does me for 90% of what I need. For £30. :thumbs:
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
They are super good value!

How you getting on with yours campanula?
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A bit slowly cos sweetheart is learning to use it too (he is currently writing a wedding speech on google docs). We didn't get a manual either so floundering a bit with touchpads (like sweeping doghairs off it and doing something annoying to the screen). I have downloaded a simplified manual on my old PC (marginally useful) but getting there, more or less. What are apps...and how might I use one? I am really interested in downloading books and music - something I used to do on Pirate Bay and such. I seem to have lost touch with torrents (or whatever is being used now)when I got my crappy ancient Dell, cos I sort of stopped bothering...but I would like to get maximum use out of my CB.

However, both the dog and grand-daughter have trodden on it and it remains unscathed.
 
campanula said:
A bit slowly cos sweetheart is learning to use it too (he is currently writing a wedding speech on google docs). We didn't get a manual either so floundering a bit with touchpads (like sweeping doghairs off it and doing something annoying to the screen). I have downloaded a simplified manual on my old PC (marginally useful) but getting there, more or less. What are apps...and how might I use one? I am really interested in downloading books and music - something I used to do on Pirate Bay and such. I seem to have lost touch with torrents (or whatever is being used now)when I got my crappy ancient Dell, cos I sort of stopped bothering...but I would like to get maximum use out of my CB.

However, both the dog and grand-daughter have trodden on it and it remains unscathed.
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Google docs has some amazing speech recognition built in so worth having a go with that.

Also worth googling about using the track pad (doghair with standing) as it has more features then your average windows one.

Apps are typically ones written for a phone that run on the laptop. I tend not to use many as mine is just a portable machine, but I'm sure others can advise, but for me almost everything I need can be done on what it comes with.

Torrents you can do, although I don't do it on the Chromebook, you can get a torrent client. There's a great private site for books and as you mentioned Pirate Bay gets all sorts. Urban has a few threads on torrents.
 
I posted a separate thread to ask about internet too, but might as well cross post this since I'm getting directed here anyway..

iona said:
Assume I know nothing about any of this :oops: Any advice appreciated; specific product recommendations or just suggesting things I might want to/not've thought to consider...

Laptop
Budget: around £300-400, willing to spend slightly more for something noticeably better

Use: mostly general browsing, emails, typing stuff up etc. I do some very basic design stuff (posters, leaflets etc) for work and would like to learn to do more/use specific programs rather than the free website I use now. Don't really do music/TV/films atm but I want to be able to watch stuff on Netflix/iplayer etc.

Don't need a huge screen but don't want something tiny. Needs to be fairly tough as I'm bound to drop it/drop something on it occasionally. Preferably light enough to carry around in my rucksack, though for work I could store stuff online and use the staff laptop there. Not sure if I'd use those convertible laptop/tablet things. Definitely want something that should last a while. All the numbers and stats mean nothing to me: what should I be looking for?

I'm aware of chromebooks but not sure what differences I need to consider, other than they store stuff mostly online. (Can I use an external hard drive with one and if so do I need a certain type, like some say they'll only work with windows or mac?)

Thanks!
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Being nit picky. Browser hijacks that announce your system has a virus and the only way to get rid of the annoying announcement is to force close the browser. (Or click the link if you’re dumb) Chromebooks don’t get those? The advert suggests so. As you certainly still do in the chrome itself on other systems.
 
cybershot said:
Being nit picky. Browser hijacks that announce your system has a virus and the only way to get rid of the annoying announcement is to force close the browser. (Or click the link if you’re dumb) Chromebooks don’t get those? The advert suggests so. As you certainly still do in the chrome itself on other systems.
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Thing is, with a Chromebook you can fix anything with a quick powerwash reboot and everything is back when it boots back up again. Easy peasy.
 
alcopop said:
You also get dodgy extensions with chrome don’t you.
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I've never come across one but I dare say if you get in the habit of installing any old crap, you may come across some dodgy ones. But that has little to do with the fact that Chromebooks are easier to maintain and generally safer than any other OS to the average user.

So, if you want to browse the web and not worry about your system being infected by random malware, the safest thing to do is get a Chromebook. There's nearly zero chance of it getting infected because the attack surface is really, really small. There's a very low chance of targeted malware evolving because the OS design means there’s no native local data to exploit.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/...kind-of-computer-is-most-secure/#76dd28b61632
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alcopop said:
You also get dodgy extensions with chrome don’t you.
Click to expand...

Never come across one myself.

editor said:
I've never come across one but I dare say if you get in the habit of installing any old crap, you may come across some dodgy ones. But that has little to do with the fact that Chromebooks are easier to maintain and generally safer than any other OS to the average user.
Click to expand...

this
 
alcopop said:
Look Out: Chrome Extension Malware Has Evolved
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Do you own a Chromebook or are you just going to post up random scare stories?

From your own link:
The crucial thing you can do to protect yourself from malicious Chrome extensions is to choose what you download carefully and only use extensions from trusted sources, whether you're in the Chrome Web Store or getting an extension from a specific developer.
Click to expand...
So don't install dodgy extensions from dodgy sources. Simples. And it's still the safest platform.
 
Good piece here:
Major security flaws for Chrome OS, like ones that would give an attacker complete control, are so rare that Google offers rewards up to $200,000 to anyone who can hack the system.
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"If you want prehardened security, then Chromebooks are it," said Kenneth White, director of the Open Crypto Audit Project. "Not because they're Google, but because Chrome OS was developed for years and it explicitly had web security as a core design principle."
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Google Chromebooks are a hit with security experts, and it's not by accident
 
Eldest's Toshi CB2 (2014 edition) is dead. I can't tell if it's the screen itself, or the connector to the screen that's toast. I'm not really willing to spend the £50 and effort to get a new screen and find out the connector's toast. To be honest, both ends of it look fried.

Been looking at a Costco deal where you get the Acer CB14 (4GB/1080p version) in a bundle with a carry case and a wireless mouse. £299, and Costco ups the warranty to 2 years. I'm hesitant because it's not a touchscreen, but the Boy (ok, young man) says he doesn't care about that. He definitely wants something in the 12-14" range, watches a lot of media so Full HD. Would like it to not perform worse than the old CB2. (Which sounds obvious, but even that Acer is only 5-10% faster per core. It just has 4 cores instead of 2.) It sort of grates that it's much the same as the old one but now with a metal frame and costing more. But then I don't really see any better deals out there.

Opinions?
 
It's a lovely machine, although the price does seem to have risen on them this year, rather then dropping. The metal chassis certainly gives it a premium feel.
 
CPU-wise, it does seem like you need to spend £400 for a Goldmont powered one, while the old Airmont cores are at £300. I don't think they're that much faster to justify it. Chromebooks don't seem to go on sale as regularly as other laptops, so I can't just predict when the old ones are getting dumped for cheap. The Acer does seem the best all-rounder at £300 if you want a 1080 screen on it.

The way the pound's been lately is certainly to blame for the price not dropping.
 
Chz said:
CPU-wise, it does seem like you need to spend £400 for a Goldmont powered one, while the old Airmont cores are at £300. I don't think they're that much faster to justify it. Chromebooks don't seem to go on sale as regularly as other laptops, so I can't just predict when the old ones are getting dumped for cheap. The Acer does seem the best all-rounder at £300 if you want a 1080 screen on it.

The way the pound's been lately is certainly to blame for the price not dropping.
Click to expand...

Not sure if Chromebooks ever get thrown into these things, and I'm certainly not sure what CostCo do, probably nothing, but with August bank holiday upcoming, no doubt electrical stores will be pulling the 'back to school, new term, new laptop etc offers. No doubt Currys/Argos at the very least will have offers, money off codes doing the rounds. Maybe worth waiting? If he of course, can wait that long?
 
This is a fantastic price for a fantastic Chromebook!

asu-c302ca-gu010a.jpg


ASUS C302CA-GU010 12.5" Chromebook with Intel Core M3 4GB RAM 64GB HDD in Silver
 
An update on my Mum's converted HP Stream.

She's using it without issue so far, come across nothing she did before that she can't do now. Which in all fairness I'm pretty sure was just use Chrome anyway....

First real test this week was that she purchased a dash cam. The cam saves files in mov format, and I was expecting some problems, but no, insert the SD, double click file and it played it. Showed her to drag and drop the file to get google drive to save it, I doubt she'll remember that bit if we ever do have to get footage off, but she's only a mile away so not the end of the world.

I probably should have looked into if there's a way to remote desktop, pretty sure there's a chrome extension for that anyway.
 
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