Chromebooks in 2014

[shellylh]

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 December 10, 2014 by shellylh

[nikongod]

I have no idea how the specs compare so they may be crap, but WOOT has had a bunch of Chromebooks recently. 

[postjack]

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.

[shellylh]

The Toshiba looks good but it is sold out at bhphoto and amazon.com (only 3rd parties selling it).  Those two stores and google play are the only places I want to deal with. 

[shellylh]

I just noticed that some of the Acer C720 have an Intel i3 processor.  I wonder if it is worth spending an extra $100 over the Asus to get that.  

 

http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/models/laptops/c720

[cetoole]

For web only, I'd think the celeron is fine. I'd consider the upgraded ram though.

[shellylh]

She will be transferring photos/ videos (from her phone or cheap camcorder, not super high resolution). Would the upgraded processor be useful for this? I'm definitely getting 4GB RAM.

[shellylh]

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 December 11, 2014 by shellylh

[shellylh]

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 December 11, 2014 by shellylh

[shellylh]

One more question.  

 

What speed SD card should I buy for extra storage?  30 MB/s, 40MB/s, 60MB/s, more?

[luvdunhill]

Those two stores and google play are the only places I want to deal with.

Looks like you branched out a bit!

[shellylh]

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).  

[Voltron]

Yay Aunt Shelly!

Alden absolutely loves his new Lenovo laptop too.

[cetoole]

Which did you go with?

[n_maher]

Which did you go with?

Color me curious as well, my wife needs a new machine to pay bills, email, etc.

[Voltron]

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.

• 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

[Dusty Chalk]

 

...with the new 4K screen ...

Want.

Probably not the best choice just for doing bills, etc.

Don't care, still want.

[Voltron]

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

[Dusty Chalk]

I thought they were both asking you.  I was just being rude and not minding my own business.  Didn't realize a 4K screen had trickled down to the reasonable-sized and -priced laptops yet, otherwise I would have gotten one (just bought a laptop a couple months ago).

[MexicanDragon]

Shelly, if your niece is geeky at all, Linux can now be run in a Chrome window.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/linux-apps-chrome-os-window,28293.html#xtor=RSS-998

This should open up stuff like Skype on a Chromebook.

I loved my Chromebook, but it's been passed on to Xavier (who now is 9 with 3 computers).

**BRENT**

[shellylh]

I'll let her know about that.  I think she is happy just having a browser for now.  

[n_maher]

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.  

[Voltron]

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.

Edited January 4, 2015 by Voltron

[luvdunhill]

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

[n_maher]

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.