Laptop or Chromebook?

retsbed

Hi MSE'ers,

It's time for an upgrade!!

I want to get rid of my troublesome desktop and am looking to replace it with either a laptop or a chromebook...

I am about to buy a good quality NAS drive to store photos, music, docs etc so I was thinking of buying a Chromebook because..

A - they're cheaper than a lappie
B - they start up really quickly
C - storage is not an issue because of the NAS
D - we mostly use the computer for FB, emails, light internet browsing in the evenings and weekends
E - won't need it for catch-up telly as we have the ability to watch on-demand on the actual telly.

What is your opinion of the Chromebook and does it come recommended?

Thanks guys and gals, all opinions welcome :beer:

closed

why is it troublesome?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2436849

if the nas fails, and you have no other backup, you lose the data

There are happy users of the chromebook on here, do a search, laptop would be a better choice imo

retsbed

closed wrote: »

why is it troublesome?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2436849

if the nas fails, and you have no other backup, you lose the data

There are happy users of the chromebook on here, do a search, laptop would be a better choice imo

Thanks Closed, I did try all of that earlier this year and it really did help a lot. It's an 8 year old Dell Dimension 5150 and I love it to bits but I'm not sure that I have the tech head or patience to give it the tlc it needs at the moment.

There are mounting problems with it...a few to mention are...

a. The monitor doesn't turn off anymore
b. The graphics card is on it's way out or it's the monitor that's about to go, not sure which
c. Fan is incredibly noisy
d. Def needs more RAM
e. It has Windows XP & I believe support is ending in 2014
f. The hd makes a 'louder than normal' spinning sound when I start the pc. I've done a health check on it but all is well apparently.

Any advice welcome.

I read somewhere the other day that's possible to turn a pc into a NAS....any thoughts?

closed

a nas is just somewhere to store files which can be accessed across a network, you can do that with xp as it is, or freenas or various other methods including putting the disk in a nas enclosure, but if you have a pc switched on all year around on the off chance you need a file, it will costs £100's in electricity

Nas's are also prone to infection by worms, all your data could go in the blink of an eye.

backup followed by factory restore would cure most things apart from noise, the latter takes about 5 minutes on a dell with xp.

retsbed

closed wrote: »

a nas is just somewhere to store files which can be accessed across a network, you can do that with xp as it is, or freenas or various other methods including putting the disk in a nas enclosure, but if you have a pc switched on all year around on the off chance you need a file, it will costs £100's in electricity

So I'm guessing that a nas uses less electricity?

retsbed

closed wrote: »

Nas's are also prone to infection by worms, all your data could go in the blink of an eye.

What if you used RAID technology?

retsbed

Apologies for the million questions, I'm just trying to educate myself lol

closed

a pc uses more electricity than a nas enclosure, or a laptop, raid adds another disk that needs power.

Don't see any point in raid in home users systems, just adds to the costs/noise/electricity.

maybe post what you are trying to achieve? why nas?

laptop £300+, 1 or more portable hard disks £40+, tub of dvd's £10, macrium reflect free provides a robust home user solution with backup.

Jonboy_1984

The only thing that would put me off a Chromebook as the only computer in the house is I understand it needs a permanent internet connection and routers are prone to failure...needing a laptop/desktop you can start to program a new one.