Chromebook - advice please!

chessfan

Hi guys

I'm travelling to the USA soon and used to take a small netbook running XP but in view of the lack of support for it now, am wondering whether to buy a Chromebook. Would use it for uploading photos, writing notes and internet browsing. Would the Chromebook be okay for this; also, does it have a card slot so I can download photos from my camera to it? Finally, what models can you recommend?

Thanks all.

chessfan

Cisco001

If you already have netbook, Chromebook not worth buying. ChromeOS rely online cloud, it is not a good idea when you travel.

I would recommend you install Linux to your existing netbook for the task.

Or a windows tablet with keyboard may be an alternate solution.

http://www.ebuyer.com/644862-zoostorm-plex-2in1-tablet-pc-7260-9000
http://www.ebuyer.com/579702-asus-t100ta-pc-t100ta-dk002h
http://www.ebuyer.com/655700-acer-aspire-switch-10-tablet-pc-nt-l47ek-004

chessfan

Cisco001 wrote: »

If you already have netbook, Chromebook not worth buying. ChromeOS rely online cloud, it is not a good idea when you travel.

I would recommend you install Linux to your existing netbook for the task.

Or a windows tablet with keyboard may be an alternate solution.

http://www.ebuyer.com/644862-zoostorm-plex-2in1-tablet-pc-7260-9000
http://www.ebuyer.com/579702-asus-t100ta-pc-t100ta-dk002h
http://www.ebuyer.com/655700-acer-aspire-switch-10-tablet-pc-nt-l47ek-004

Thank you, is it easy to install Linux on a fairly old netbook?

chessfan

kwikbreaks

Pretty easy. Try Ubuntu and test the live distro before installing it to be sure the wireless card etc. are supported immediately. You can get around most incompatibilities if you hunt around the web but it can be very frustrating - better to try it out first.

Hydromel

Chromebooks have good battery life and general speed.

They are also have more than competent offline apps. (e.g. viewing local media, offline google doc/sheet etc)

They have SD card slots. (but indeed generally small local hard drives as e.g. 16gb SSD is common)

Cisco001

chessfan wrote: »

Thank you, is it easy to install Linux on a fairly old netbook?

chessfan

It is easy. what you need is a memory stick.
I suggest you try Lubuntu.

But I do recommend you back up your existing XP before you swipe it.

henm2

An enhanced version of lubuntu is LXLE 12.04.4 32bit (revisited)

http://www.lxle.net/download

Another good one is Linux Mint 17 xfce.
To install on a netbook you will download either one of the above and put on a USB stick using windows software called Yumi http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/
Power on the netbook and change the bios setting so that it will boot from the stick. Connect the stick, boot from it and follow the easy steps to install your chosen version of linux.

macman

Unless you are specifically concerned about security, a netbook running XP will be fine for several years to come. A lack of support won't stop it doing those tasks, but you might want to avoid online banking and other financial transactions on it.
I have a Chromebook: an Acer C720, which is fine for travelling-the only restriction I have found is that of course it won't run Skype.
Storage is limited, but that is not for me an issue on a secondary device.
Also be aware of the limitations as to what you can do on it offline, and to incompatibility with conventional MS document formats.