[ale] Ot: chromebook

Fri Aug 21 19:08:22 EDT 2015

Thanks for sharing your experience DJ--and thank you too Johnny! 

I guess I'm coming from the other direction--I'm currently using an iPad 2 I won with a bluetooth keyboard case, which while much better than the onscreen keyboard, is still a long way from a proper keyboard. It had no function keys, no escape key (kills me in vi or bash over ssh), and no delete key. It also has no network port, but can't even use a USB NIC. Normally that's not an issue, but it would be handy (as a small portable device) for setting up a router or bringing into the server room to diagnose problems. 

I always preferred desktops to laptops for my daily work. I tend to just stay at work late rather than work from home much. I mostly use it at lunch for reading the paper--we like to read and discuss the news while we eat. I also bring it to the pub for those important questions about who was in what 1983 movie or who sang in what year the currently playing song. The smartphone could work, but the iPad w/ keyboard is easier. It is available for occasional emails and to VPN/ssh into systems at work in case of emergency and I've used it to monitor a process running on the weekend while watching TV, but I don't do a great deal of work on it. I'll also watch a movie on it when stuck in the airport for a long layover. So while the power of a full laptop would occasionally be nice, if it gets big and clunky enough I don't take it with me (a low bar), then it's lost it's purpose. 

I would happily accept another new free iPad! But they're pretty expensive for what you get if you're paying out of pocket. The lack of Flash support, and hence the dependence on devoted apps is sometimes an issue. 

I think the lack of memory is an issue with all of these devices these days. It seems like a lot of websites are expecting a lot of memory these days. Some of it may be the browser, but I think it's more the Javascript programming sucking up more and more memory. But then I tend to keep too many tabs open. This one SD Times article titled "The future of Javascript is Now", which I happen to have open at the moment, is taking up 109 MB of memory!!! It displays in several pages, but the one I have open taking 109mb contains 4335 BYTES of actual article text. Some of the difference comes from the ad graphics, but I'd say a lot comes from whatever Javascript framework they're using allocating a ton of memory it doesn't need. 

Dell has a new Chromebook coming out in Sept that might be a possibility. Escape, but no delete or function keys. The memory goes up to 8GB though. It's hard for me to tell about the form factor until I see it in real life. 

----- Original Message -----

From: "DJ-Pfulio" <DJPfulio at jdpfu.com> 
To: ale at ale.org 
Sent: Friday, August 21, 2015 3:23:49 PM 
Subject: Re: [ale] Ot: chromebook 

Been running Ubuntu Server + openbox on a C720 for 18 months. 
I would NOT buy this machine again. 

You can find real laptops, refurb for $140 with normal keyboards. 
The funky chromebook keyboard layout sucks. 
The missing keys suck. 
F11, F12, DELETE are the ones I miss the most, but there isn't any 
pgup/dn, home/end either. 

None of the F1-F10 keys are labeled. I touch type, but sometimes miss those. 

Don't bother with any chromebook is my advice. Took me $140+ to 
"upgrade" the chromebook to make it useful. Out of all those upgrades, 
the missing DELETE key and the 2G of soldered-on RAM were the biggest. 

There are work-arounds for the limited m2-SSD (violate the warranty) and 
lack of ethernet port (USB3 adapter). 

Wish I'd have bought the $280 Dell with the same CPU, 4G of RAM, 500G 
HDD, ethernet port AND normal keyboard, dude. 

Did I mention how much I hate the chromebook keyboard?!!!!!! 

On 08/21/2015 01:38 PM, Scott Plante wrote: 
> I guess that would be this Acer. Also available online at that price till tomorrow (8/22). 
> http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/814044/Acer-Chromebook-11-With-116-HD/ 
> 
> Have any of you had good luck loading regular Linux distros like Ubuntu, Fedora, or openSUSE, on these things? 
> 
> Scott 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> 
> From: "Boris Borisov" <bugyatl at gmail.com> 
> To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts" <ale at ale.org> 
> Sent: Friday, August 21, 2015 1:21:43 PM 
> Subject: [ale] Ot: chromebook 
> 
> I'm in Office Depot on N druid hills and noticed they have chromebooks for $129. Is not on the shelf probably has gone fast. Check your local store. 
> 
> 
> Not an advertisement :) 
> 
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