Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook

Re:Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook by richardpetersen on Sunday November 10, 2013 @04:27PM (#6708514)

The reason I purchased mine today is that I will never purchase a Windows 8 machine because I hate them and I can't afford a Mac. So the only other OS and that is supported and is cheap is ChromeOS. Its all well and good saying Linux, However you have to buy a Windows 8 laptop before you can even put Linux on it.

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Re:Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook by jseliger on Sunday November 10, 2013 @06:18PM (#6708942)

I can't afford a Mac

Consider buying used, either from Craigslist or a dealer; three-year-old Macs are still very nice and cost about half to a third of new ones (I know, because I sell my firm's old Macs on Craigslist).

If you're proficient with hardware, it's also possible to dramatically improve performance by installing a cheap SSD.

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Re:Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook by richardpetersen on Sunday November 10, 2013 @06:46PM (#6709054)

I did - I got a PowerPC G4 or G5. The problem was I couldn't upgrade it past os 10.5 and the latest version of chrome at the time wouldn't run on anything less than 10.6 or something like that so nothing would work properly.

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Re:Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook by o_s_m on Sunday November 10, 2013 @04:32PM (#6708536)

They have opened up there BIOS, and putting Linux on it is just as easy as any other laptop. Been using one for 1.5 years now.

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Re:Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook by richardpetersen on Sunday November 10, 2013 @04:39PM (#6708562)

what in chrome or windows 8?

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Re:Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook by judk on Sunday November 10, 2013 @04:46PM (#6708581)

Chromebook. See Crouton.

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Re:Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook by richardpetersen on Sunday November 10, 2013 @05:48PM (#6708822)

Wow love it :-)

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Re:Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook by davidgerard on Sunday November 10, 2013 @06:10PM (#6708913)

Yep. I'm on work's Windows 7 laptop right now and hating it. (Linux Toshiba brightness bug is too annoying to live in Ubuntu.) Next netbook I buy will likely be one of these.

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Re:Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook by jotm on Sunday November 10, 2013 @06:46PM (#6709055)

Or go with a 'Hac' - get a cheap laptop that can run Mac OS X, they work surprisingly well, updates and all...

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Re:Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook by CSDude on Sunday November 10, 2013 @04:58PM (#6708625)

You could object and get your Windows(~$200) money in pre-Windows 8 era. Not sure about how it works now.

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Re:Low-end laptops:The rise of the Chromebook by freehunter on Sunday November 10, 2013 @06:10PM (#6708914)

No OEM is going to pay $200 for Windows, so they're not going to refund you $200 for Windows. $40 is more realistic.

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