Chromebooks - latest news and discussion

[Hassan I Sabha]

Depends on what you're looking for. Very few (if any) of the cheap ones support an active stylus. That's the sort that measures angle and pressure, and is what you need for decent drawing and the like.
But a simple capacitive stylus is probably good enough for writing, and anything with a touchscreen will support that.

I am just looking to take notes during calls and meetings, nothing artsy

 

[Hassan I Sabha]

I went for the Flip 311 in the end with the free Wacom pen, so far very impressed. Just need to work out how to get the best out of it. £253 in Curry's.

At the moment I cannot work out how to insert a space using the pen

 

[Throbbing Angel]

I went for the Flip 311 in the end with the free Wacom pen, so far very impressed. Just need to work out how to get the best out of it. £253 in Curry's.

At the moment I cannot work out how to insert a space using the pen

Which app are you note taking in?

 

[Hassan I Sabha]

Which app are you note taking in?

Sheets, I assume (maybe incorrectly) that the interface for the pen is standard across all apps though

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Sheets, I assume (maybe incorrectly) that the interface for the pen is standard across all apps though

Probably is across all the Google apps.

I dunno if this will work in sheets, but in Word the way to insert a gap or space into a word where there wasn't a space was to draw a line downwards at the point you want the space

So ThrobbingAngel would become Throbbing Angel if you inserted a down stroke between the g and A like this ThrobbingAngel.

It might be to do with you working in Sheets, though - number based innit. When using Word or Docs the system seemed to just insert spaces as needed. I think you naturally leave one as if you were writing on paper and the handwriting 'engine' is somewhat intelligent so would recognise Throbbing as a word and expect a space, comma or full stop after it.

Try Docs

 

[Hassan I Sabha]

Probably is across all the Google apps.

I dunno if this will work in sheets, but in Word the way to insert a gap or space into a word where there wasn't a space was to draw a line downwards at the point you want the space

So ThrobbingAngel would become Throbbing Angel if you inserted a down stroke between the g and A like this ThrobbingAngel.

It might be to do with you working in Sheets, though - number based innit. When using Word or Docs the system seemed to just insert spaces as needed. I think you naturally leave one as if you were writing on paper and the handwriting 'engine' is somewhat intelligent so would recognise Throbbing as a word and expect a space, comma or full stop after it.

Try Docs

Docs or Sheets is the same a down stroke just inserts a lowercase L

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Dunno what else to suggest Hassan I Sabha Sorry

 

[Throbbing Angel]

ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook Enterprise down to £449/£499 depending on which model you're after (down from £610/£690).

ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook Enterprise | 2-in-1 powered by AMD

The Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook Enterprise features renowned ThinkPad durability, 360-degree flexibility, and cloud-based manageability.

www.lenovo.com

More savings can be had if you trade summat qualifying in and join Lenovo's PRO programme.

Very well-reviewed model.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

They're shit really. If you have a smart phone just use that.

 

[Orang Utan]

They're shit really. If you have a smart phone just use that.

nonsense. loads of stuff you can’t do on a phone that you can do on a chromebook.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

nonsense. loads of stuff you can’t do on a phone that you can do on a chromebook.

True. You probably can't do Xcel stuff on a phone. But what can you do that's interesting on a chromebook? They're literally hamstrung.

 

[Orang Utan]

True. You probably can't do Xcel stuff on a phone. But what can you do that's interesting on a chromebook? They're literally hamstrung.

dunno what you mean but they are certainly not literally hamstrung. they don’t have hamstrings for a start.
watch things, write things, read things - phones are too small and awkward for doing these things intensively

 

[Magnus McGinty]

dunno what you mean but they are certainly not literally hamstrung. they don’t have hamstrings for a start.
watch things, write things, read things - phones are too small and awkward for doing these things intensively

Fair point. But capable of the same. And many do use their phones for those reasons.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Not that I thought you were diminishing those that do.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

True. You probably can't do Xcel stuff on a phone. But what can you do that's interesting on a chromebook? They're literally hamstrung.

Office type stuff. Which is what a lot of people use computers for.

To me the main reason was price. Cheap Windows machines are an atrocioity, which is bonkers in 2021, where as the low system requirements of Chrome OS means you get decent performance and battery life for a fair bit less.

 

[Orang Utan]

you wouldn’t want to apply for a job on a phone, for example, or watch tv, or write a long email, or sort your finances, etc

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Fair-ish points although I think I’ve been using my phone to sort my finances for close to a decade. Literally the most convenient way to do so.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Fair-ish points although I think I’ve been using my phone to sort my finances for close to a decade. Literally the most convenient way to do so.

Phones are good, but there’s a whole range of tasks where a proper keyboard and large screen make much more sense.

If all you ever use a laptop for is email, web browsing, “office” tasks (word processing, spreadsheets etc) and watching content, then a chrome book is pretty much a no brainer. It’s only when you start getting into specific/specialist software requirements that they become less useful.

 

[Orang Utan]

Phones are good, but there’s a whole range of taste where a proper keyboard and large screen make much more sense.

If all you ever use a laptop for is email, web browsing, “office” tasks (word processing, spreadsheets etc) and watching content, then a chrome book is pretty much a no brainer. It’s only when you start getting into specific/specialist software requirements that they become less useful.

aye, that’s why i got one. i don’t want to be thumb typing all the time on a tiny screen.

 

[chandlerp]

You can use Google's own versions of office software or you can use Office 365 on office.com

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Phones are good, but there’s a whole range of tasks where a proper keyboard and large screen make much more sense.

If all you ever use a laptop for is email, web browsing, “office” tasks (word processing, spreadsheets etc) and watching content, then a chrome book is pretty much a no brainer. It’s only when you start getting into specific/specialist software requirements that they become less useful.

^^^THIS^^^

 

[Orang Utan]

You can use Google's own versions of office software or you can use Office 365 on office.com

i have never had issues with saving those files later as Word documents.

 

[Hollis]

I'm thinking of buying this mainly for using kindle app/web browsing and the occasional note taking..

One thing i have read in reviews it that Android tablets aren't that good with alot of apps compared to ipad.. . I don't recall it being a problem last time I owned a android tablet 4-5 years ago.

Lenova IdeaPad duet

I know there's the Fire HD which is loads cheaper, but I definitely want access to google apps.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I'm thinking of buying this mainly for using kindle app/web browsing and the occasional note taking..

One thing i have read in reviews it that Android tablets aren't that good with alot of apps compared to ipad.. . I don't recall it being a problem last time I owned a android tablet 4-5 years ago.

Lenova IdeaPad duet

I know there's the Fire HD which is loads cheaper, but I definitely want access to google apps.

iPads are the best tablets available. They just are. However, if you don't actually need the latest all singing all dancing tech/apps etc, there's loads of much cheaper android options that will do the job just fine.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

And the kindle is the best for kindle reading.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

I'm thinking of buying this mainly for using kindle app/web browsing and the occasional note taking..

One thing i have read in reviews it that Android tablets aren't that good with alot of apps compared to ipad.. . I don't recall it being a problem last time I owned a android tablet 4-5 years ago.

Lenova IdeaPad duet

I know there's the Fire HD which is loads cheaper, but I definitely want access to google apps.

The Duet is a Chrome OS tablet, not an Android tablet - similar but different.

From memory, there is a Kindle app for ChromeOS. The articles & reviews I've just googled say it can access the Google Play Store.
Lenovo Chromebook Duet review: this has no business costing so little
Great Price and nowhere near as hobbled as a Kindle tablet will be. The Kindle app on Android and iPad is just fine. I use it all the time on my phone and iPad.

I found Kindle tablets pretty frustrating to use for anything other than using Amazon based stuff, and that's for a reason innit (buy our stuff). Browsing was a right pain as their browser (Silk) is shit.

 

[2hats]

The Duet is a Chrome OS tablet, not an Android tablet - similar but different.

It runs Android apps natively (and Linux; is more than sufficient for me as a lightweight backup work device - ssh to key servers - or to take on rambles whilst working in the field).

 

[Orang Utan]

I didn't know that, Throbbing Angel - have only managed to access the Kindle Cloud Reader on Android in the past

 

[Throbbing Angel]

I didn't know that, Throbbing Angel - have only managed to access the Kindle Cloud Reader on Android in the past

On what device? Kindle is on the app store.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

On what device? Kindle is on the app store.

here Kindle – Apps on Google Play