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Chromebooks - latest news and discussion

editor said:
I've very much used to having a touchscreen laptop. Using a non touchscreen laptop now feels like a real step back, like using Windows XP or something!
Click to expand...

I know what you mean to some degree - but in all honesty, I hardly used the touchscreen on the Asus before it went wonky. Used it in tablet mode a handful of times. A 12.5in tablet is too much. Hardly ever used the touch screen in laptop mode either unless I was showing someone else summat and the laptop was between us - then it is easier to point and drag. You live and learn. I have an iPad and will use that for those 'touchy' moments I suppose. I mainly read/browse/write on my Chromebooks so I'm not missing much I reckon.

Just tried the Word app. Utter shite.
  1. £5.99 per month!
  2. Cut down interface version - fuck off!
Cancelled and uninstalled in under 15 minutes.
 
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Throbbing Angel said:
I know what you mean to some degree - but in all honesty, I hardly used the touchscreen on the Asus before it went wonky. Used it in tablet mode a handful of times. A 12.5in tablet is too much. Hardly ever used the touch screen in laptop mode either unless I was showing someone else summat and the laptop was between us - then it is easier to point and drag. You live and learn. I have an iPad and will use that for those 'touchy' moments I suppose. I mainly read/browse/write on my Chromebooks so I'm not missing much I reckon.

Currently installing LibreOffice 5.4.7.2 via that CrossOver app - so will have a Word-like wp installed. Just tried the Word app. Utter shite.
  1. £5.99 per month!
  2. Cut down interface version - fuck off!
Cancelled and uninstalled in under 15 minutes.

docs.google.com
writer.bighugelabs.com

Writer, the Internet Typewriter

Writer is a cool, fast, distraction-free writing app. No fonts, no bold, no italics — just you and your words.
writer.bighugelabs.com writer.bighugelabs.com
and Libre Office via CrossOver Chrome OS Tutorials | CrossOver Support | CodeWeavers will be more than enough
Click to expand...
I switched to Google Docs and have never looked back. Can't be arsed with third part apps, although I also use Keep and Simplenote for making notes.
 
Throbbing Angel said:
I know what you mean to some degree - but in all honesty, I hardly used the touchscreen on the Asus before it went wonky. Used it in tablet mode a handful of times. A 12.5in tablet is too much. Hardly ever used the touch screen in laptop mode either unless I was showing someone else summat and the laptop was between us - then it is easier to point and drag. You live and learn. I have an iPad and will use that for those 'touchy' moments I suppose. I mainly read/browse/write on my Chromebooks so I'm not missing much I reckon.

Currently installing LibreOffice 5.4.7.2 via that CrossOver app - so will have a Word-like wp installed. Just tried the Word app. Utter shite.
  1. £5.99 per month!
  2. Cut down interface version - fuck off!
Cancelled and uninstalled in under 15 minutes.

docs.google.com
writer.bighugelabs.com

Writer, the Internet Typewriter

Writer is a cool, fast, distraction-free writing app. No fonts, no bold, no italics — just you and your words.
writer.bighugelabs.com writer.bighugelabs.com
and Libre Office via CrossOver Chrome OS Tutorials | CrossOver Support | CodeWeavers will be more than enough
Click to expand...

Does it play nice with Google Drive. As in it easy enough to open and save docs there without extra faff.

I'm actually quite tempted. Would prefer a different word processor to docs, but am not paying for Office and didnt get far with the Linux mode.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
Does it play nice with Google Drive. As in it easy enough to open and save docs there without extra faff.

I'm actually quite tempted. Would prefer a different word processor to docs, but am not paying for Office and didnt get far with the Linux mode.
Click to expand...


Have just discovered that CrossOver only works with Intel processors - so Libre office won't work - it installed but I couldn't see the program - just a black&white window with interferebce in it - like when your graphics card failed.

My old Asus had an M3 intel processor - this is AMD and the S330 was a Mediatek so it wouldn't work with that either.

Gonna try WPS office and Polaris Office from the play store - both free

I haven't tried the Linux Mode yet - will look into that, though.
 
Polaris office is the same as ^^^

struggling to find the spell checker, though, and the FAQ's suggest it is only available on a phone/tablet when using the Android version - which is weird.
 
fucthest8 said:
Cock, went to buy it today as I've been paid, back up to £205!
Click to expand...

S330 £145 on eBay - high quality refurbished it says
“This is a customer cancelled order return which will have had very little use. The item will have been tested and where required may be professionally refurbished by our engineers. Will come with at least 12 months warranty.”

Seller is Techsave2006 | eBay Shops - not a recommendation - never used them


1580412878427.png
 
Throbbing Angel said:
S330 £145 on eBay - high quality refurbished it says
“This is a customer cancelled order return which will have had very little use. The item will have been tested and where required may be professionally refurbished by our engineers. Will come with at least 12 months warranty.”

Seller is Techsave2006 | eBay Shops - not a recommendation - never used them
Click to expand...

I should have said, got one last week, found a returned one on Amazon that was in perfect condition for £170 again. Was surprised to see when it arrived that it really was perfect condition! Thanks for the heads-up though :)

As you said above, battery life is excellent - from full charge I've used it for an hour or two every day for six days and it still reckons it has about 5 hours left (as of yesterday lunchtime)
Screen is as good as I expected/needed.
So simple to start up and use.
I'm really, really happy with it.
 
In lieu of being able to install CrossOver as my new Cbook doesn't have in intel processor, I looked into other solutions for a proper offline word processor.
This was exacerbated by my being unable to get wifi at a creative writing thing I go to at the weekend - no wifi - no access to the umptillion bits and pieces I have in google docs, ho-hum (yes , I know I can use gdocs offline but I don't want 500+ docs on my machine, that's what the cloud is for).

I tried Word and it's not worth the price imho. Uninstalled and subscription (sub-fkn-scription!) cancelled.

So, I have enabled Linux Beta on the Chromebook and then looked around for summat suitable and I have found LibreOffice 5 which I have used in Windows just fine.

I followed the instructions here and it works brilliantly. Near Word experience, free, offline, docx's, pdf's etc etc.

You can't save directly to the Chromebook's file system or the sd card (unless there is a way I haven't found) you have to save to the Linux partition/bit/thing... but...
if you search from the Chromebook on the document name from My Files - it locates the document! I can just drag it to the sd card then and it copies it over - no problems at all. So I will prefix/suffix all docs with zzz or summat so that they are easy to locate

Loving it so far.

Set up Linux (Beta) on your Chromebook

tagged: UnderAnOpenSky as you've mentioned wanting another WP and trying Linux mode








1580678370756.png
 
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Thanks. Will definitely look at that :)

Actually I've found no decent way to sync my Google Drive to my Chromebook. I'd be very happy with the whole lot local as well as the cloud. Yes I can download the whole lot to a SD/USB, but not synced. I can do it on Windows, but not Chrome OS. Which is fustrating as even if an alternative office suite works, I still want it to play nice with my desktop and at a push my phone.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
Thanks. Will definitely look at that :)

Actually I've found no decent way to sync my Google Drive to my Chromebook. I'd be very happy with the whole lot local as well as the cloud. Yes I can download the whole lot to a SD/USB, but not synced. I can do it on Windows, but not Chrome OS. Which is fustrating as even if an alternative office suite works, I still want it to play nice with my desktop and at a push my phone.
Click to expand...
Google Docs syncs perfectly.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
Thanks. Will definitely look at that :)

Actually I've found no decent way to sync my Google Drive to my Chromebook. I'd be very happy with the whole lot local as well as the cloud. Yes I can download the whole lot to a SD/USB, but not synced. I can do it on Windows, but not Chrome OS. Which is fustrating as even if an alternative office suite works, I still want it to play nice with my desktop and at a push my phone.
Click to expand...
 
editor said:
Google Docs syncs perfectly.
Click to expand...

I'm talking about for offline use, maybe I wasn't clean, but thought it was obvious from the rest of my post.

Yes you can download indervidual documents There's no way to do what it does on Windows and keep a local copy of everything and have it sync back when you get Internet again. We've talked about this before, but if its changed I'd be happy to hear about it.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
I'm talking about for offline use, maybe I wasn't clean, but thought it was obvious from the rest of my post.

Yes you can download indervidual documents There's no way to do what it does on Windows and keep a local copy of everything and have it sync back when you get Internet again. We've talked about this before, but if its changed I'd be happy to hear about it.
Click to expand...

You should be able to. Check the settings in Google Drive, there's a checkbox to work on Google Docs etc offline.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
I'm talking about for offline use, maybe I wasn't clean, but thought it was obvious from the rest of my post.

Yes you can download indervidual documents There's no way to do what it does on Windows and keep a local copy of everything and have it sync back when you get Internet again. We've talked about this before, but if its changed I'd be happy to hear about it.
Click to expand...


if you visit chrome://extensions/ and look for the Google Docs Offline extension is that turned on?

1580749503044.png

apologies if I'm teaching you to suck eggs here
 
Down to just £200

81tDtHAag4L._SL1500_.jpg

ASUS Chromebook C423NA (Silver) (Intel Celeron N3350, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC, 14 Inch HD Screen, Chrome OS): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Buy ASUS Chromebook C423NA (Silver) (Intel Celeron N3350, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB eMMC, 14 Inch HD Screen, Chrome OS) at Amazon UK. Free delivery and return on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk
 
I am now Chromebook-less.
Back on Win10 on a Thinkpad.
I will probably go back to a Chromebook at some point.
I wasn't prepared to pay what they want for a decent enough machine.
The 2 cheaper machines I tried were OK but not good enough for me ultimately so back they went after some weeks of not feeling completely happy.
 
Throbbing Angel said:
I am now Chromebook-less.
Back on Win10 on a Thinkpad.
I will probably go back to a Chromebook at some point.
I wasn't prepared to pay what they want for a decent enough machine.
The 2 cheaper machines I tried were OK but not good enough for me ultimately so back they went after some weeks of not feeling completely happy.
Click to expand...

All the newer decent machines do seem to have crept up in price...
 
I know! Expected I suppose as they became more mainstream but that does tend to go hand in hand with the basic models getting better specs.

The machine that failed was an Intel M3 and dropping down to a Mediatek processor was very noticeable from a performance POV - so I swapped that for an AMD A4 (was it?) model which was a bit better but still noticeably slower generally. Plus all the other stuff they can't do as well (Android Apps, running Linux and Windows apps).

C'est la vie. Going backward was always going to be problematic I suppose. But I didn't have another £2-£300 lying around to get the better machines.

I may get a Pixelbook Go if/when the price drops - the keyboard is great - as it is on this Thinkpad - but they are completely different.

Keep on Chroming.
 
I picked up a i5/8gb pixelbook go in January and its easily the best laptop I've ever owned. If it wasn't the lack of good audio/video editing options in the cloud I'd never buy a mac or windows pc again. It doesn't have some weird omissions like lack of biometric login but for 90% of what I do online it is perfect.

In May (I hope) the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet is launched which I'll also pick up.
 
bemused said:
I picked up a i5/8gb pixelbook go in January and its easily the best laptop I've ever owned. If it wasn't the lack of good audio/video editing options in the cloud I'd never buy a mac or windows pc again. It doesn't have some weird omissions like lack of biometric login but for 90% of what I do online it is perfect.

In May (I hope) the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet is launched which I'll also pick up.
Click to expand...
I'm so tempted by the Go. It's a lovely looking machine.
 
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