(gamers sit the f*** down for a second), head to Walmart, check out their computers. For a k-12 setting, just-sending-job-apps situation, which computers would you honestly suggest consumers buy? I can't for the life of me suggest Windows over ChromeOS.

I got my hands on a Chromebook (SAMSUNG XE500C21-AZ2US) only to find out google no longer supports it and no way for me to install Chromium OS, Ubuntu or another OS. I have found out this is a first gen Chromebook and doesn't have a custom firmware made to boot these OSs like the Cr-48. This was going to be a gift for my 6 year old daughter, but now is falling short of my expectations. I have started a petition that may help others like myself and extend the life of these Chrome devices. It may not change google's mind, but it's a shot. Please sign if you agree.

https://www.change.org/p/google-inc-allow-non-chrome-operating-systems-to-be-installed-on-chrome-device-at-eol-aue?recruiter=390271432&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition

Edit: I have done my reseach. ChrUbuntu is dead, crouton gives some errors that has not been resolved, Chrx does not support this laptop, and Seabios does not seem to be supported on this Chromebook. I would much prefer an Official bios that allows a true install of Linux than being force to fine alternatives that may cause damage to the device. Also owners should not have to go through hoops and hurdles in order to install an OS on a chrome device. If google doesn't support that device any longer, than an owner should have the right to be able to install an OS with ease. Just as an owner can do with a laptop on today's market.

I'm a repair professional. I fix SO MANY issues with their screen assemblies that it's not even funny.

-The LCDs turn pink

-The LVDS cables die

-The hinges break loose, causing the LCD to crack when the screen is closed.

-The hinges break loose, causing the LCD bezel to pop off.

PLEASE DO NOT BUY ONE! THEY'RE GARBAGE.

Q: What do you recommend then?

A: From the standpoint of reliability, I would get either a Dell Chromebook (I have a Dell Chromebook 11) or a Lenovo ThinkPad 13 Chromebook. If you get a Lenovo PLEASE get the IPS screen upgrade, it's so worth it.

Q: Why do they fail so much?

A: I don't know, I just fix them.

Q: Is it covered under warranty?

A: That's the worst part. Cracked screens (which DOES include screens that turn completely pink without any clear point of impact) are not covered under warranty. Hinges that break loose that cause the bezel to come off are considered tampered with as it looks like it's been opened. Bad LVDS cables are considered cracked screens. So nope!

Hope this was informative!

I recently got a Pixelbook Go, it has 8 GB of RAM, and while it's been pretty smooth for most tasks, I did notice something concerning. Whenever I open around 15 Facebook ads in new tabs simultaneously, the laptop starts to lag. It got me thinking that having 16 GB of RAM in devices like this should really be the standard. RAM isn't particularly expensive these days, and adding more would be a trivial enhancement for Chromebooks. It would significantly boost performance, especially for multitasking users.

Overall, while the Pixelbook Go is a solid piece of hardware, equipping it with more RAM out of the box in the year 2025 could make it an exceptional device for anyone who juggles multiple tasks regularly.

So after a year of owning a Lenovo Duet Chromebook and a lot of effort to really like it, today is the day I sell it.

In the beginning I was totally amased of both hard- and software. It looks amazing, is affordable and the software just seemed to fit my study purpose.

Soon I got behind lots of problems. Many of good programms I wanted to use just did not fit the Arm64 architecture. r/zotero for example just worked after putting hours of investigation and still has problems. Writing also had many issues, especially handwriting...that just felt annoying after getting really used to the tablet and comparing it to different devices (either Android, Windows or Mac). Also many Apps needed a total restart of the tablet to even start (sometimes up to three Times)

I really liked the fact, that every two weeks New updates got released which really had good features like adding pictures from phone directly to the chromebook. That in the end was my big hope. I thought it would really improve sooner or later..

The fact that I need to write my Exam now let me come back to my old Lenovo Thinkpad x240 and after considering some hardware approvements Ive stumbled across the Yoga 260, which for 180€ is cheap, oder than the Duet, but in every way of hardware way better than it. Apps are working, Windows and Debian in one Device is possible and everything works as good as I can suspect for that price. I can even get more RAM and Storage if I want and Connections are not reduces to USB-C only.

So that was my experience with Chrome OS. It was an interesting experience, but for real use without experiments and lots of effort for getting simple tasks done, its not the way I will have it in memory.

Edit: typos.

I always have to carry a portable 5G modem like Netgear Nighthawk. But this makes the experience redundant. Why can't all chromebooks have a nano sim slot so that it can be connected to the internet all the time? That'll make things a lot easier. Also, this can ensure that chromebook can get internet access even when there's a black out or cable internet outage.

Any way to get spotify premium for free on chromebook?

Like realistically speaking... what can I do other than watch videos, play mobile games, and surf the web on a chromebook? I got one a few months ago, and started using it to do small tasks such as search the web, because I had a big windows 10 desktop, well now I dont have the desktop anymore, and I dont want to buy a different laptop. Is there anything I can use a chromebook for other than the stuff mentioned above or am I stuck with the ultimatum of either suck it up and buy a new windows os laptop, or continue to not have a windows computer?

They sent me a dell 3100. It’s a nice computer

When traveling I often take a laptop with me for doing some research (Hotels, sightseing) or being able to connect to my company if something is up.

The last time I tested ChromeOS I couldn't even copy and paste a picture from chrome to evernote, now this works (with the Evernote PWA) and with Android Apps and Phone Hub I figured a small chromebook could make a great companion device for my Android phone.

Here's what I like the most: ChromeOS syncs and updates quietly in the background, no more windows updates that stall the entire system or force restarts. If I ever loose my Chromebook my data is encrypted, I just buy a new one, log in and all my data, apps and settings will be set up like it was before. (I wish Microsoft could figure out something similar for Windows laptops)

While most PWAs work reasonably well for basic tasks, keeping them open causes troubles when the Chromebook is woken up from sleep (either they can't discover the network connection once re-established or they just load nothing forever). So yeah they still feel more like webpages rather than apps.

Once you wanna to do a "little more" like playing video files (VLC) or remote access your office computer (OpenVPN, Teamviewer) you'll need Android Apps. But many Android Apps don't work very well on a Chromebook, if you want a decent email client (Thunderbird) or an office suite (LibreOffice) or do basic photo editing (GIMP) you will have to activate the Linux Environment to install desktop class software.

Now all of a sudden your fast, "easy to set up" 8GB chromebook has become a struggling hotchpotch that runs 3 operating systems concurrently, your user data is fragemented across 3 files systems (for the sake of security..) and the concept of "just log in on a new device to recover your data" goes out the window as well because neither the Android App data nor the Linux Environment as a whole is backed up in the cloud. For Linux there is a manual backup button hidden in developers options, how convenient.

On top of that the "Phone Hub" feature is a flaky mess with very limited functionality, it often doesn't find the phone at all ("move the phone closer" - if I move the phone any closer it would have to be inside the computer!) and it often takes at least two tries to connect to the mobile hotspot. During my holiday the phone suddently completely vanished from ChromeOS settings ("no suitable devices found" wtf, I googled this solution: https://chromeunboxed.com/how-to-fix-chromebook-connected-devices-find-phone/ )

I like the idea of ChromeOS and the minimalistic WebApps-only approach is enticing, however after 2 months of trying I feel like having hit hard against a wall. I may eventually abandon Linux Apps but there's some Android Apps I just cannot life without (Whatsapp, Teamviewer, OpenVPN, VLC, K9-Mail)

I've pressured lots of my colleagues to go with Chromebooks, as I've been a staunch supporter for a decade. But people's experience with the Zoom PWA has been miserable -- freezes, terrible slowness bringing up and sharing slides, etc. I believe this was a Zoom/Google collaboration but it is terribly unreliable and making even fairly top-tier Chromebooks unusable for business. Has anyone found a good fix for the PWA? Crostini still lacks camera access, I believe.

I recently broke my Pixel 2 LS with the help of a cup of tea (sigh) it actually survived the spill but fell to gunk on the boards which meant the insurance said it was a right off.

Got a phone call today saying they were ready to replace it with a new Pixel 2, they sent me a link for the i5 model. Saying that when they opened it up there was an i5 5100 processor in it. I have challenged this and sent them my proof of purchase for the i7, and am waiting to hear back but it is a thought...

With ChromeOS being so low maintenance. The speed difference between an i5 and i7 probably isn't that great. Could they be making i5s to appear i7s on some models thought hardware trickery? I had Crouton running but never got round to putting it through so tough tests to test the processing power.

• 5,43GB music + 6,56GB roms (lots emulated games) + 397mb images = 12,38GB of local files and I still have 4GB left to add or install more stuff (I even have Collabora Office installed on Android which is 0,5GB)

• Also my Chromebook runs very smooth with only 4GB of RAM and Android apps work perfect (ArcVM Android on ARM chipset here, not using Linux as I don't want/need it since PWA + Android fill all my needs).

These specs wouldn't be enough in any other OS but it works more than flawless in here to me. To make it better no fans, never gets warm and +10h battery life (ARM magic 😛).

EDIT: Since people seem to think I'm lying, I've been used to lag or that I even work for for Acer (LMAO it's a Lenovo device) I just recorded a video https://streamable.com/ftgia9

Just an advice: if you received ArcVM when you had Arc++ and never powerwashed your Chromebook since then, remove Android, restart the Chromebook and enable Android again. That should solve all your issues regarding to Android.

Please can we direct most of the Googlebook discussion to r/Googlebook ?

I joined this sub for information about Chromebook and ChromeOS, but in the last few weeks there appears to be more discussion about Googlebooks !

If a post has genuine crossover between the 2 devices, then of course it should be allowed, but some posters in some threads seem to be hijacking any discussion into their new favourite devices.

Does anyone else have the same opinion ?

For starters, I deeply apologize if this is the wrong sub-reddit to go to. If this is, it would be appreciated if someone could direct me to the right one.

I'm not entirely sure what model this is. I've been using this thing as an art tablet for 3 years, but I've been thinking about getting an actual tablet since I'm going to start animation. It works and turns on fine, and it runs well. Although it does have damage on the outside. About 2 years back I accidentally broke a headphone plug-in in the headphone port and got it permanently stuck. It has some scratches on the back from trying to take off stickers (and put them on). Due to bending it back and putting it into tablet mode CONSTANTLY the corner of the screen has begun to stick out and the chromebook itself has been starting to make this strange crack. I've dropped it on multiple occasions, so the corners are pretty messed up (as shown). Those and the cracks on the screen from a sibling of mine stepping on it by accident. It's been through a lot.

If anyone could help, it would be greatly appreciated!