Google Chromebook

[Cory]

Have you ever owned one or actively used one? I own one but I no longer use it seeing I have a gaming laptop that I actively use now. I admired it for the time being, but I wanted a more powerful PC that could do more, particularly gaming.

 

[synpastel]

I love Google Chromebooks. I've owned a few over the years. I think I'm on my 3rd or 4th? Started in 2012. All of them lasted a good bit of years before finally biting the dust for one reason or another (screen stoped working vs no longer holding a charge vs all touchscreen aspects died, etc.). They're pretty reasonably priced to for what you're getting ($250-500 is where most of them are with pricing). They can also do Nvidia GeForce which is cloud gaming (not directly related to Google but a lot of people see it as a replacement for Google Stadia since Google killed Stadia). Right now I primarily use my Chromebook for gaming and as a drawing tablet. I have the pixel slate and love it.

 

[Cory]

I'm not even sure if my Google Chromebook works at this point, it's been collecting dust ever since I got my last two laptops. It was fun to use when I did actively use it, though.

 

[synpastel]

Coming from Windows - it's SO refreshing to have everything booted up within seconds of logging in, haha

 

[Smokey]

My nephews needed one for school during the pandemic. I set it up for them, but that's the extent i've used a Chromebook for. I too have a much more powerful gaming laptop that I use as my daily driver for everything, including PC gaming. I don't see a need for a Chromebook, personally.

 

[Cory]

Coming from Windows - it's SO refreshing to have everything booted up within seconds of logging in

My Windows computer boots up very quickly, so I guess it all depends on multiple factors on how quickly it boots up.

 

[Smokey]

Coming from Windows - it's SO refreshing to have everything booted up within seconds of logging in, haha

My windows PC is up and usable within about 10-15 seconds from opening the lid.

How fast a system boots up depends on many factors. if your Windows PC is on a HDD (hard disk Drive) and not a Solid State Drive or even an M.2 drive, you'll notice a much slower boot up time as a HDD with movable parts tends to be slower than a solid state.

 

[Cedric]

My windows PC is up and usable within about 10-15 seconds from opening the lid.

How fast a system boots up depends on many factors. if your Windows PC is on a HDD (hard disk Drive) and not a Solid State Drive or even an M.2 drive, you'll notice a much slower boot up time as a HDD with movable parts tends to be slower than a solid state.

I’m guessing an i7 or i9 will load up faster than an i3 or i5, is this true?

 

[Smokey]

I’m guessing an i7 or i9 will load up faster than an i3 or i5, is this true?

Yes, an i7 & i9 are more powerful and efficient than an i3 and i5, to deal with speed also depends on the amount of RAM/memory you have.

 

[Cedric]

Yes, an i7 & i9 are more powerful and efficient than an i3 and i5, to deal with speed also depends on the amount of RAM/memory you have.

Yeah, thought so. My laptop is almost 7 years old, runs an SSD and i7 with 16GB RAM. It's still pretty fast and there's nothing wrong with it. Sadly my processor doesn't allow me to upgrade to WIndows 11.

 

[Shortie]

I have never owned a Chromebook myself but I know my mum owns one as she only needs it for basic web browsing, sending emails, paying bills, and keeping in contact with friends and family. I would love to be able to get on just to use it for posting on forums, web browsing, and such to replace my laptop that is slowly dying on me but at the moment, the time is not right to do that.

 

[Forums Forever]

Chromebooks are good for super basic users who just want to check e-mail and browse the web. You can also install light distros of Linux on them if you want to get out of the Google ecosystem. However, it would probably be best just to get a cheap laptop if you want to do anything remotely sophisticated.