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Chromebooks in 2014


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I'm going to buy my niece (12 years old) a new chromebook for Christmas (her Uncle stepped on her old one and broke it, at least the screen).  She really liked her other one.   Has anyone recently researched them?  I am think of the Asus C200 with 32GB storage and 4GB RAM. It has a SD card reader which will be good for storage expansion.  It's not the fastest but seems to be well built.  Is there another one that is clearly better (and still around $300 or below).  

 

11" would be better (since she doesn't have a lot of room in her bedroom) but 13" might be ok and SD card reader is a must. 

Edited by shellylh
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Shelly I just bought a chromebook for my wife.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00N99FXIS

Toshiba CB35-B3340 13.3-Inch Chromebook 2

It was $329 when I bought it. We both really like it. 1080p screen, lightweight, good keyboard, plastic but still a high quality feel. Everything is smooth and fast. I'm seriously impressed.

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I think I've narrowed it to 3 Chromebooks (all have SD card)

 

1) Acer C720 - 2GB RAM - Haswell Intel Celeron processor - $200 for 16GB SSD, $250 for 32GB 

the build quality isn't as good as the Dell or Asus.  No 4GB RAM option.  Significantly faster than the Asus and other Intel Bay Trail processors. Thousands of reviews on amazon (mostly good but some complaints of wifi connectivity). 

 

2)  Asus C200 - 4GB RAM - Intel Bay Trail processor - $239 for 32 SSD

Slower than the Dell and Acer.  Good build quality for the price. 

 

3) Dell Chromebook 11 - Hawell Intel Celeron processor - $299 for 16GB 

A little faster than the Acer and much faster than the Asus.  Better build qualilty (in reviews) than the Acer (and even the Asus I think).  Cons:  Lack of reviews from customers (on amazon or Dell).  

 

I might just go with the Acer C720 16GB and a 64GB external SD card because it is the most popular and cheapest.  Any opinion?  If the Dell had more reviews from customers I would probably go with it though. 

Edited by shellylh
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If anyone cares, I decided to splurge and go with the Dell Chromebook 11 (bought directly from Dell) because I could get it with the Haswell Celeron processor and 4GB of RAM.  It also has the best build quality of the three.  We've had good luck with Dell products in the past so hopefully this works out. 

Edited by shellylh
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  • 3 weeks later...

If anyone cares, I decided to splurge and go with the Dell Chromebook 11 (bought directly from Dell) because I could get it with the Haswell Celeron processor and 4GB of RAM.  It also has the best build quality of the three.  We've had good luck with Dell products in the past so hopefully this works out. 

 

My niece really loves her new Chromebook.  It also looks really nice (like a real laptop).  

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We got Alden the Lenovo Y50 with the new 4K screen and the specs below. He likes it because he can crank up everything he plays to full resolution, but we like it because it is a solid work laptop too. Probably not the best choice just for doing bills, etc. :D

• 4th Generation Intel Core i7-4710HQ Processor (2.50GHz 1600MHz 6MB)

• Windows 8.1 64

• 15.6'' UHD LED MultiTouch Glossy (3840x2160)

• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M 4GB

• 16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz

• 512GB SSD

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I was assuming Colin was asking me while Nate was actually focused on Shelly and the Chromebook, but who knows. :-)

 

I was asking you.  The wife does not want to switch to a Mac (why, I can't really figure out other than the fear of the unknown) so I'm stuck looking for a laptop that doesn't really have to be capable of doing anything but has to be capable enough to not perform like a turd just doing day-to-day tasks.  The five year old X120 just isn't cutting it anymore despite being rebuilt with a hybrid drive and fresh install of Win7.  So new hardware it is, I guess.  What that is, I really don't know.  

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I was asking you. The wife does not want to switch to a Mac (why, I can't really figure out other than the fear of the unknown) so I'm stuck looking for a laptop that doesn't really have to be capable of doing anything but has to be capable enough to not perform like a turd just doing day-to-day tasks. The five year old X120 just isn't cutting it anymore despite being rebuilt with a hybrid drive and fresh install of Win7. So new hardware it is, I guess. What that is, I really don't know.

Perhaps start with the Apple hardware and install Microsoft OS. Maybe she will get used to the idea :)

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Lenovo Thinkpads and other models seem solid and have a wide range of prices. I had a good purchase experience online and would go with them over Dell any day. Check with grawk who has good knowledge.

 

The existing laptop is a Thinkpad and for the most part it was a pretty good experience.  I blame at least half of the issues that it had on what it is, which is essentially a 2nd/3rd gen netbook made more serious.  By their very nature I don't think those products age particularly well so the fact that I got 5 years out of it is a pretty good sign.  And sadly, for him, I've bothered Grawk with this type of stuff before. :)

 

Perhaps start with the Apple hardware and install Microsoft OS. Maybe she will get used to the idea :)

 

I have given that some consideration but I'm concerned that it'll be one of those things that again, just doesn't work quite right as a result of trying to force something to be what it isn't.

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