Brokenlink
Well-known member
If that help is to tell me to get a pizza when I ask if tacos or burritos are the way go, then by all means feel free NOT to help.
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Chromebook or Windows?
- Thread starter Brokenlink
- Start date
If that help is to tell me to get a pizza when I ask if tacos or burritos are the way go, then by all means feel free NOT to help.
Brokenlink
Well-known member
Chromebook, Macbook, Windows laptop — I have them all, I use them all. Macbook is the best long-term. Chromebook is the biggest bang for your buck. Windows laptop is meh.
Chromebook. It just works. $220 Asus survived a couple years of kids abuse and its hinge wiring failed and display died. At that point it was out of warranty and not worth the repair. Beefed-up replacement, another Asus, in $500 range, works for my wife's tasks since 2019 and she's happy with it: it can flip the keyboard around, has touchscreen, etc. The OS ecosystem is very meh. Basic stuff works fine, but if you want any extra (image editing, any coding), you have to be ok with some inventive approaches or some compromises. I wouldn't buy premium Chromebook, because at that point the limiting ecosystem and OS not worth it. But up to $500-$600, it's very hard to suggest anything better than Chromebook. However, if your budget gets to $500+, consider iPad (see next).
iPad is actually pretty decent alternative to mid-range Chromebooks, depending on the circumstances. My parents prefer iPad over any laptop mostly for "can't accidentally mess it up into unusable state". Web browsing, taxes, you can do all that on iPad for sure. Me personally is a sucker for physical keyboards, and iPad+keyboard propels prices to uncomfortable range of Macbooks
Macbook. I've used a bunch of Macbooks for work. I have one personal Air with M1. Expensive, silent, fast, works great, great ecosystem, good support from 3rd party developers. If you're using other Apple products, they place nice together.
Windows laptop. I have HP, priced between Chromebook and Macbook, somewhere in $700-800 range but its performance is about as my Asus Chromebook that is 1/3 cheaper. The OS is needy, fans are spinning for mundane things. The only reason I content with it is that there's some stuff me or my kid need which works on Windows only.
Based on my experience, $300 Windows laptop is going to be not great. You mentioned you were happy with your previous Chromebook. I strongly recommend to buy Chromebook, you will get better overall result than discounted Windows laptop.
Thank you.
I have a chromebook, a Lenovo Duet (first version). But it is not my only computer. I agree with idk: Chromebooks' best bang-for-buck is the niche he described. If I were to have only one OS it would have to be Windows, because every once in a while I need to do something that can only be done from Windows. But my desktop goto compute-intensive OS is Linux, currently Fedora. But for every thing else I use my Chromebook.
There are at least two areas where ChromeOS shines.
1. As far as I am aware, ChromeOS has NEVER been infected with maleware. I use my Chromebook whenever security is important. Anything I do online that requires security (finances, banking, etc) I use my Chromebook. Windows is ALWAYS playing catch-up when it comes to security. And Linux, though nowhere near as susceptible as Windows, has suffered from malware in the past. ChromeOS is VERY secure when it comes to maleware.
2. Chromebooks are easily restored. Chromebooks can easily be set to sync your account (all or partially) so that you can very quickly get things back to where they were. In your case, if you set your current Chromebook to completely sync everything, when you buy your next Chromebook you can easily sync it with your current Google account. I've done it out of of curiosity: it's simple and easy. If you're ever away from home and relying on your Chromebook, if something happens, you drop it or it gets stolen, you can go to the nearest store (Bestbuy?) buy an inexpensive Chromebook and within minutes be up and running again and ready to go. The same situation with Windows (or Linux or MacOS) would just be horribly time consuming and likely impossible to do away from home.
More recent Chromebooks can run Android apps from the Google Play Store. If you have an Android cell phone and depend on certain Android apps, you can install and run them on your Chromebook. It's very convenient.
Also, recent Chromebooks have a Linux-Mode where you can run Linux apps if you must.
Keep this in mind when it comes to Android apps and Linux apps: Android phones use ARM type processors, and Linux machines mostly use Intel type processors. Chromebooks can be bought with either. If you are more concerned with battery life and can't tolerat a noisy fan, buy an ARM type Chromebook. If you intend to run Linux programs, buy one with an Intel processor. It will have significantly less battery life and probably a noisy fan. And you should get a more expensive one (more RAM, better CPU) to support the Intel/Linux requirements.
My Duet has a 10" screen with a detachable keyboard. It's very useful with the keyboard when I'm sitting, stationary. But detaching the keyboard and using it as a tablet is also very useful. It has an ARM processor, no fan, and the battery charge lasts somewhere near forever.
If you're a Reddit user, check out the ChromeOS subreddit.
rodr
Well-known member
That's good, testosterone can cause a lot of trouble!
Seriously though, your post was very informative. Thank you.
Brokenlink
Well-known member
Thank you. This is very helpful
Blankpage
alien
Anyone suggest a Macbook?
MC BumSlap
Big Belly Bum Scud
What's your budget? What do you want to do with it? As long as you are not doing heavy photo, music or video work, M1 MBA is still a great machine.
You can look at Apple Refurb site to save a bit as well. Same one-year warranty and you can still get 2 more years of AppleCare as well. You just don't get the shiny graphic box. I've purchased refurb's from Apple's website in the past with zero issues.
nakedape
Well-known member
Saurus and idk, thank you! I bought a ten key hp windows laptop and it’s not great. Now I know why. Since the SO is fully g-suite committed, one of the Costco Chromebooks is going to be coming soon. Our new student machines are chrome books and they are awesome.
Brokenlink
Well-known member
MC BumSlap
Big Belly Bum Scud
You must be a blast at parties. Or were you always picked last at kickball?
ScarySpikes
tastes like burning
Short answer, If you can swing a little bit more than $300, this one is good, and should last you a while.
https://www.newegg.com/classic-black-msi-modern-14-c7m-049us-work-business/p/N82E16834156445
Long answer: whether you go for Chromebook or Windows, there are a few specs that I think are important:
Core count: IMO, 6 cores will probably be sufficient for another 5 or 6 years for normal use cases, 4 will be sufficient for 2 or 3, 2 cores are not sufficient now.
Memory: DDR4 3000+ speed, or DDR5 6000+ speed. 16 GB should last for years without too much issue, 8 GB will give you some problems with day to day tasks but will be OK, anything lower than that should be avoided.
Storage: You should get something with an NVME SSD, it is one of the biggest difference makers in a computer feeling sluggish or feely quick and snappy. Size really depends on what you think you sill need.
Materials/build quality: In my experience most laptops made of plastic fell apart after a few years, most laptops made of aluminum/magnesium/ etc. don't.
The laptop in the link hits all of the specs I mentioned, aluminum body, 6 core/12 thread CPU, 16 GB DDR4 3200, and NVME storage.
I'm not a big fan of going for older hardware. Some people have the idea that web browsing and other pretty basic tasks aren't demanding and thus older hardware is no big deal. There is some truth to that, but even basic productivity software, web browsers, and web pages get updated to take advantage of technical advances in hardware. Going too cheap on specs will lead to frustration and disappointment in a few years.
On worries about security. ChromeOS has security through obscurity. Windows, as long as you keep up with updates, is actually pretty secure now. Microsoft has improved the built in security massively.
btw, not exactly what you are looking at, but I have a very nice iMac desktop so I went the chromebook route since I only need minimal computing at a low price.
It's lasted 4 years and if it cracks up, I'll buy the same model (albeit the current version).
It's lasted 4 years and if it cracks up, I'll buy the same model (albeit the current version).
justanotherg20
Member
Not *nearly* as plugged as I used to be, but with the refurbs would there be a concern that they can't run Win11 or will stop getting Chrome updates within the next year?
I hear you, but I'm also daily-ing a 2012 laptop with a 3rd gen i5 and 6gb of RAM. Still handles forum browsing and the Youtubes just fine (but I've moved off Windows)
I hear you, but I'm also daily-ing a 2012 laptop with a 3rd gen i5 and 6gb of RAM. Still handles forum browsing and the Youtubes just fine (but I've moved off Windows)
FWIW, i would not buy MSI again after getting this:
https://www.newegg.com/p/2WC-000C-0FHP4
HW failures after 5 months of light use, unstable SW (MSI center comes to mind), and very poor customer support.
https://www.newegg.com/p/2WC-000C-0FHP4
HW failures after 5 months of light use, unstable SW (MSI center comes to mind), and very poor customer support.
Brokenlink
Well-known member
I'm surprisingly good at kicking balls. I was usually the captain. I assume you were the ballboy
ScarySpikes
tastes like burning
If I were to blacklist products from companies where I've had bad experiences in the past, I would be writing this on pen and paper, and If I were to only pick ones that I didn't have bad customer support experiences with, My only choice would be Apple because EVGA doesn't make laptops.
MC BumSlap
Big Belly Bum Scud
I'm surprisingly good at kicking balls. I was usually the captain. I assume you were the ballboy
You into ballboys? Do you invite them to see your rectory?
Eldritch
is insensitive
Windows is great if you like Microsoft trying to shove Bing and Edge down your throat constantly. It really doesn't matter what you do, they constantly have some new creative way to harass you. Last night I was browsing the web, and a window with some rando content popped up in front of Chrome and couldn't be minimized or closed until I clicked on it (which then launched in Edge.) MS really are a bunch of assholes that never change.
