Reasonably priced chromebooks are perfect for 95% of what non-professionals or gamers need. If you aren't a gamer and not a working professional hat requires some sort of dedicated software, a good chromebook easily does pretty much everything you need. The amount of people that I know that buy $1k+ Macbooks to check RU-vid and Gmail is insane.
I use a Duet 5 Chromebook for my business and personal use. No issues with malware, viruses drivers. No extra software subscriptions for documents , spreadsheets. It just works well.
I own an Acer Spin 714 Chromebook Plus and it’s just a buttery smooth experience. Of course, it’s no power horse, but it just works. Of course, this applies to my work and personal experience. I just turn it on and in less than 10 seconds, I’m up and running. I have my high-end desktop for gaming anyway.
I would consider buying a Chromebook, but it doesn't have enough support for even basic games like Roblox. If you're just a student who needs a computer, Chromebooks will save you lots of money while giving you a good experience.
@splinter_ true. No native gaming on Chromebooks. Unless they're streamed. For that, you'd need a laptop that's 2 or 3 times the price. It's certainly not for everyone!
If your budget can only stretch to a Chromebook or a low end Windows laptop I would highly reccommend the used market, you will get a much faster machine for the same price.
problem is lack of reputed resellers , most listings are hit or miss and even if u get a decent one there's pretty much no after sales service like warranty or refunds.
So much of this.. 1 or 2 gen old comes with significant discounts, or even new. Especially if you watch the market after sales or x-mass when many get upgrades / unwanted presents. Just bagged a pixel 8pro for 30% off retail. Just beware the scammers. The number recently has sky-rocketed, especially on fb marketplace. If you can travel a few hrs away, there are so many not willing to ship and in less active areas for the used market that you can save a bunch / haggle a bit harder. If you have some time and money doesn't come easy.. buy used.
i bought a "premium" chromebook (the asus c302) back in 2017 and its been my daily driver for the past 6 years. its fanless, has 2 USB C ports and microSD, making it still viable to today. its very good for google docs like you said, and i complement it with my new Galaxy Tab for taking hand written notes. when i need more compute power, i remote desktop into my gaming PC at home. one of my favorite features is instant tethering between my android and chromebook for data anywhere
ChromeOS is a good home OS. I just pay bills, email, docs, collect music and watch YT. Being a nerd I have Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS machines. ChromeOS main advantages are fast boot, easy updates, runs well on lower end hardware so good battery life. My work I do on a company provided laptop so I am tempted just to go ChromeOS for a personal machine.
I wish my company would just use Chromebook, its so easy to use, and i dont need or see those messages "your device might be in danger" YES i am looking at you windows. Chromebook is plug and play device and super easy to use and working together
I have used a chromebook as my main device for about 5 years. I have a windows machine I use for MS Office, particularly MS Access. But for most daily activities, the Chromebook is just easier. I have become very used to using the Cloud. In fact I use local storage very little. I like being able to run Android apps. Navigation apps from my phone run mostly just fine on the Chromebook. I think the reality is that excluding gaming and video-editing, most things are just fine on the Chromebook. I'm picking that CB plus will be OK for simple video-editing. Important to get a touch screen IMHO.
I also love how light chromebooks are, how I can annotate easily, and they auto update! I still have my first one from five years ago and I just brought my brother and I two new ones
I bought a Chromebook a couple of years back just to mess around with and was pleasantly. I paid under $300 for it during Black Friday, and it's been a great laptop. I've even played hames via emulation and easier to run stuff like the original BioShock and the Sims 4 via Steam locally on it with no issues. Chromebooks have really come a long way.
@@mjs28s Your brain doesn't work too good, does it? It was a very simple concept to understand and it just went over your head. No one said because a video was sponsored by someone that a product was automatically bad. Learn to think.
"As a creator, I obviously can't edit videos on a chromebook." Meanwhile, the Chrome Unboxed guys fully edit and run their entire channel on a chrome book. There are still so many false narratives about the full capabilities of these devices. Don't get me wrong, I fully respect people who have preferences, but fundamentally, there's almost nothing that cannot be accomplished on a chrome book, outside of perhaps gaming. I suspect that as game streaming platforms gain in popularity, even this narrative will cease to hold water. I'm a Mac book user, currently looking to replace a machine Apple fully stopped supporting in 2022. While I like Apple kit, I'm struggling to justify spending well over $1000 dollars to purchase another Macbook. Chrome book plus models will be supported for 10 years. (my 2014 macbook pro saw only 6 OS updates, with 2 years of security patch. That's 8 years on a Mac which costs me over $2K...not good) That's absolutely the best support in computing, when we consider price, hardware performance and software longevity. I'm going with a chrome book to replace my laptop. My only question is which one do I choose?
It's wasting time but it seems like in this case he was talking about his past not about the Chromebook in the first almost 2 minutes, so it's not unethical and deceitful.. its more ethical than the videos that wait until the end to get to the point
You do realise that a Chromebook is just a normal cheap laptop with a OS installed on it, nothing stops you from downloading Linux on it so I don’t really understand how you „Own Nothing“
@@maxderdax6117 I do not think that such a low spec laptop will last long in the hands of an average user; even if they are running Chrome OS. I give it max 36 months of life span. A core i5 or AMD equivalent CPU running Windows can last much longer. An average user even has the option to run "Windows Reset" and give it an extra year or so if he or she has a limited budget (or pay someone to get it done for him or her in the worst case scenario). Purchasing a core i3 or lower (like those infamous Intel N series) is both a waste in terms of money and it is also bad for the environment. Edit: I hope I have covered you in this longer comment.
8 месяцев назад
Like @maxderdax6117 said, you still own the hardware so no?
@ Would you purchase a glass cup to drink water from or cheap one use plastic ones? You can keep the plastic one for a couple of days if you wash it and take very good care of it, but ultimately it is better both for your pocket and your environment to go get a glass cup Edit: I am trying to convey a message (or purchasing attitude) so don't take my analogy too literally
Well.... guess what? There is a Linux mode on the chrome laptops, just have to activate it and download some code. Unless you want to run Linux on the hardware itself, you will lose ChromeOS, but it is possible. The hardware in this range of Chromebooks is getting up to the midrange windows laptops.
what a lot of people overlook with chromos machines is if it has a decent enough cpu you can use the "development" features (get access to a linux shell) to install literally any application, tool, or script that is available to other linux distros (chromos uses the debian repositories, unsurprisingly). and the performance hit to graphical applications is not really that bad and with a simple compatibility layer program like bottles you can run almost any windows application given its not an arm cpu (windows applications generally dont play nice with arm and need another emulation layer like box86 which would hit performance quite a bit on a chromebook).
Would never use, buy, or recommend a chromebook as a daily or work laptop even if all I do is use youtube on chrome, it's like getting rid of your other arm (literally for any practicality), can you live with just one arm? Yeah sure but many would prefer to keep both. TLDR: "Better to have something and not use it rather than not have it when you need it"
I am a university student (pharmacy ), i wanted to write my thesis on google doc , it was very inefficient, table management is not intuitive , you can not properly change layout of one page in the middle (for wide tables), writing chemistry formulas were a pain . Table of contents is built in but table of figures and tables are not included (it is a pain to do manually) . Long story short google based office apps are not enough or ready
ChromeOS certainly has come a long way, especially with the introduction of the "plus" chromebooks (i believe the one in the video is one). Obviously there still are cheap chromebooks out there using eMMC storage, and very slow processors and small amount of RAM but the device shown in the video is such a good middle ground: it's not too expensive for a laptop (iirc like $400) but pretty much has everything you need. My one gripe is that it's not a 360 hinge device, which I think is a must for media consumption. I just upgraded from a duet 5 to an x360 and I must say even the software has gotten much better. The onscreen keyboard (in tablet mode) is finally usable, the extra plus features like noise cancellation and webcam stuff is just amazing - especially because it's done at an OS level so it's independent of whatever application of website you are using. Want to go on a call with a therapist that uses a random video call service because it's what is approved for healthcare use? Sure, why not, all the audio and video clean up and effects are done by chromeOS! And honestly, with Linux support it's by FAR the best device for carrying around and daily use. I can even ssh from the linux terminal, no janky ssh programs I do wish for a few things though: there's too many models with very similar names that have different features. And many still use emmc storage, or 45% NTSC panels. Hopefully with the introduction of the "plus" program some of these will go away soon. Lastly, both google and the manufacturers need to make more Tablets and/or cater to Tablet mode more. While there are a good number of 360 hinge devices that can switch to tablet mode, the UX isn't as polished in tablet mode. My phone or a good android tablet still feels more polished. Also the speakers. Speakers firing upwards next to the keyboard is great, but this is the arrangement on many devices that have a 360 hinge...isn't the whole point of that to flip the thing around to watch stuff? in that case the speaker fires INTO the tablet or whatever. For 360 hinge/2-in-1 devices having the speaker firing in the same direction as the keyboard rather than on the other side is really dumb
I use my Pixelbook from 2017 for virtually every part of my day to include work (and to type this). I am a systems admin and use Mosyle, ABM and Workpsace every day so I love the security that comes with it and that it will be supported for 3 more years. ChromeOS has come so far in the past 3 years alone and I think it is, as you said in the video, a worthy daily driver for virtually anyone.
@@leviandhiro3596past Chromebooks allow native use of MS Office on Playstore. It's since been removed. I know you can open office docs on the web but sometimes it's not able to show everything properly, such as tables are out of alignment etc
How do people in 2024 not understand that 95% of people don't do anything on their laptop but email, office suite type work, and watch videos/streaming services? The entire point of people saying chromebooks are viable now is that they are excellent for the basic tasks that most users do. Obviously if you are a niche user who does a specific type of work like video editing or coding or gaming, maybe this isn't the OS/device for you. But outside of people with jobs centered around specific technology/programs, a chromebook is perfect for most users.
I edit 4K video using Shotcut on my Acer Chromebook Spin 713. It has 8 GB RAM and I don't need proxy files to do so. So the idea that you can't professionally edit video with a Chromebook is 🐂💩
I don’t pay for GeForce now Because I have a gaming desktop But sometimes I don’t wanna be sweaty at my desk so I’ll sit on the couch with my Chromebook and use Moonlight
so tell the world, what in the video is not true? He gave his opinions and not everything was "oh man, this is the best!" that said, I have used a CB for years when I am away from my main PC. I have done some front-end dev on it, python coding, 3D CAD work, run my investments from google sheets, monitor the LLCs that I manage, the obvious emails and daily office type tasks and even some light gaming via steam (I have linux enabled which is easy and anyone can do it). When I need more power I simply remote(simple chrome extension and maybe 2 minutes to set-up in total on both machines) into my work station over any internet connection and off to the races I go like I am sitting at my desk rather than at a coffee shop or public library. For something that I might need to do that is not on my workstation or CB there are also cloud solutions as well. Whether he is biased or not Chromebooks are a fantastic tool for nearly everyone that is cheap and if you lose it, BFD. Walk into a local walmart and buy some $180 replacer, login and in a few minutes it will be setup how your last machine was (less your linux installed tools but those are free to find). Every time I had to replace a PC or even a HDD that died, looking through files for stupid program keys, install disks, etc. Total nightmare. Chromebooks today are not chromebooks of 10 years ago, quincy. For my use, it is like having a thin client with me everywhere when I am not sitting at my work station. And, even then, how many people do much more than web browsing, media streaming, emails, basic office document stuff, and some basic gaming (but even then you can stream AAA titles via a couple of gaming services) so why not a Chromebook especially when it is also a linux machine that you can do practically whatever you want on it, including running PC programs.
Once the price point exceeds $200+, it becomes much less compelling. Hard to stomach paying more than that for a device that's so much more limited compared to a traditional Windows/Mac laptop.
people pay for a lot of things, such as hardware features such as better screens, touch screens, backlight keyboards, better trackpads, SSD storage, better sound quality, better webcam, and overall more storage and of course better specs for an overall better quality experience. the days of Chromebooks being mainly for the cheap market is long past, like with any other laptop, people will buy the premium tier for premium quality. Even then, a premium Chromebook still comes in cheaper than a Windows device with similar specs, Apple simply doesn't offer many hardware features.
Its not that "limiting" beyond special software (gaming, creative apps,........). Basically everything beyond such special apps is possible on chromebooks
Put in a good video editor and photo editor. That was the one gap that existed for me. The web apps and Android editors were either too slow or not stable enough. The Linux alternatives (gimp & open shot etc ) were smoother faster and more stable.
My wife has been using a Chromebook for her primary computing needs for years and it works just fine for what she needs. Email, Facebook, RU-vid, web browsing, light doc editing. Done!
With COVID and WFH, Chromebooks took off but have seen massive sales fall lately as people regret buying them. The market may also be saturated. But having used them, I concluded that Windows/Mac is so far ahead, even if you can do all your stuff on a Chromebook. Where are the OLED, 120Hz, and 32GB models? The 16-inch versions? The few out there need to be better for someone looking for a premium Chromebook versus Windows alternatives. Even Google still needs to update the Pixelbook Go as the market is dead. I realise this is an ad, but people could do better buying a Windows machine or a Mac.
The issue with Chromebooks lately is they've gone up in price, and at the same time budget laptops has been getting better and better, so there's not much reason left to buy Chromebooks imo
Dude, at the $500 - $700 range, Chromebooks' hardware are still better than any Windows laptop out there. Obviously I'll take the MacBook Air any day over the HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook (even if I'll add more thanks to Apple's horrendous base model with 8GB ram), but at like $700, only the ASUS Zenbook 14 gets at that price with good specs.
@@diwaalejandrogalvez796 Maybe it's different in the US, but here in Europe there's no price difference for a Chromebook with an i3 and 1080p and a ordinary laptop. Basically the same hardware and price, they both are around 5-600€. If you want lower price than that for a Chromebook it's only Mediatek and Celeron and probably 4GB ram
Spec for spec Chromebooks and PCs are not much different in price, but the Windows market is bigger. The savings come when you can use lower spec hardware because ChromeOS is of lighter weight.
I'm still waiting for the day when google rolls out an over the air update for steam support since the chromebook has to be an 11th gen intel cpu. I don't know about the amd requirements for steam support on chromebooks since chrome os will run steam games similar to the steam deck. That's what one of the articles that I read about said about running steam games on chrome os. There is also the winlator emulator for an android app for playing windows games on android when getting games from gog games. I wonder how the winlator emulator will perform and run on chrome os with the android app since chromebooks support android apps. Lumafusion is also available on the google play store for video editing. I have the samsung chromebook with the 4k super amoled display but it uses the 10th gen intel i5 cpu and does not support games for steam since steam requires an 11th intel cpu for chromebooks for the minimum requirement.
i think companies and schools should just hand out Chromebook as the default working learning solution so people could focus on the job and studies instead of playing games
This channel appears to just do sponsorships lately and it is hard to take them seriously anymore. If you are looking for this then it will help, but not really deep-diving to make it useful for most.
Well you forgot to mention what OS and platforms you used to get the benchmarks so you can put in Google Sheets, and what editing software and OS it ran on to produce the videos after you've pitched your ideas on Google Meet. Chromebooks are for basic tasks as always 😎
These things are a nightmare to deploy. I work at a college and so many consumers get duped into thinking these will work for classes and productivity and then get mad when they can't do anything on them except browse the internet and a few apps from the app store. Just more e-waste.
I have a Pixelbook and a Pixelbook Go. Typing this on the Pixelbook right now. I wish that Chromebooks were weirder and they weren't trying so hard to be serious. They all just look like cheap windows laptops. When exactly did tech design become completely joyless? Did everyone chasing after Apple's modern milk toast vibe led us down the path? Chromebooks don't need crazy cooling or giant batteries why do they look so awful?
They are mostly cheap and cheerful. No one can make money selling premium Chromebooks as they do not compete well with Windows or even Macs. I have a Pixelbook Go, but I rarely use it as I found I could get an MB Pro 13 M1 for a similar price, and it is a much better Chromebook. I mainly use the browser and I can choose Chrome, Safari or Edge on the Mac.
I wish they were cheap and cheerful. They are just cheap and drab. My used pixelbook go was 140, I took advantage of the terrible resale. That said, I adult on a 15 inch M2 air and do 3d design on a legion. I do use the pixelbook go often. It's the perfect laptop to take when you don't want to worry about your laptop. @@andyH_England
That's really a well timed review! I am looking for a laptop at the moment, and I would like something light for my light tasks to compliment my desktop setup. I also use Lighroom mobile on my tablet to quickly edit photos, so this fits my need even better. Heck, I even have an 8BitDo controller like that in the video, so I guess it's a sign haha
I own a Chromebook Plus and they are great. The only thing I miss is OBS. It is possible to edit videos on a Chromebook Plus, I use PowerDirector and my Lenovo Chromebook Plus will even handle 4k video.
How are these for streaming services? I currently have a laptop running my big screen TV for all my streaming services and the fans get quite loud at times. It's only ever used for streaming media so a Chromebook would work great there if it runs Netflix etc. just fine, although was the output to a 2nd monitor 1080p only?
Too many drawbacks for me. You cant watch DVDs or Blue Rays, cant install software you need for productivity, Data management is just ridiculously bad and not configurable at all, too many android apps not working properly or displaying right
Sure. The average chromebook plus (400$) is a faster, better experience than an equally priced Wintel laptop, both in my opinion and objectively. Anyone who says otherwise is a greasy nerdy PC fanperson.
Chromebooks are great. I have 3 of them. Only problem is MS Office is no longer available on Playstore in Chrome OS. Opening web office has some compatibility issues. Hopefully, MS or Google can support Office in Playstore again.
While some are compatible, you will need to deal with the difference in screen sizes. It's the same as larger Android tablets, but a laptop is harder to put in portrait mode.
been using the lenovo duet for 4 years and its my main media consumption device. Crunchyroll, Yt, and light browsing is all i really need. Probably wont have to get a new device for a couple more years
I have the HP Chromebook X360 14c from 2023 and I really enjoy it. Everything works as it should and it's a great everyday computer. The only addition I'd really like to see from Chromebook plus models is a 300 nit screen because the 250 nit screen on the x360 is decent but not great.
I love ChromeOS, and i use it daily as a professional developer. The linux environment (a debian VM, basically) works great, actually more seamless than WSL on windows is. Chrome is chrome and does everything i need there. I personally love being able to be logged into my personal and work accts and swap between with a keyboard shortcut. Great isolation of those two profiles but allowing for quick swapping makes me happy If you use lots of special apps, hate learning anything slightly new/different, its not for you. But for most ppl, a Chromebook can do whatever you want. And they are cheap, portable, and have great battery life.
I suspect that for the majority of people a Chromebook is all they need. I actually prefer something with a detachable keyboard as I think the tablet mode on Chrome OS has the most user-friendly UI. I love how Chrome OS adapts whether on desktop mode (using multiple screens) or tablet mode even on really small screens.
A range of bizarre comments below. Chromebook is a really sensible choice for users who work mostly in the cloud, and aren't doing anything very processor intensive. Google's apps do everything most people need - I have even run a couple of simple (but effective) charity websites using Google Sites, Forms, Sheets, Mail and Docs, using my Chromebook. I just bought a Lenovo Flex 5i, and plan to use Ibis Paint with a stylus to get into digital art. So far it looks awesome!
If they just put HDMI in on these, they would be fantastic portable monitors that could do simple work on their own, or plugged into a better PC for serious work. Put a top quality screen andn speakers, save on the processor and ram, and I think there's an elite product there.
I think the Chromebook Plus models do have hdmi ports. My Chromebook does not have hdmi, but I have a USBC to 2 hdmi adapter. This lets me use two external displays.
My 5 yo Acer C732 can connect a second screen via USB-C and an appropriate cable to HDMI input on a screen. Works fine. I think it is pretty standard functionality on Chromebooks. But are you talking of HDMI-in ? How would that be useful?
I don't care that the video is sponsored by Google, Chrome OS is an underrated masterpiece. With Android apps and Linux it can probably do 100% of what 99% of people do and need. It does everything I need to continue my studies in cyber security and python scripting. Plus, insanely fast boot times, beautiful user interface, far greater system security than Windows and Mac, and I've never had a single issue with peripherals not working, drivers, slowdowns, random restarts and system crashes which definitely cannot be said for Windows and Mac. You always hear it can do 80% of what I need, then the person never mentions what the 20% is. More and more software is moving to the cloud (where it should be if you ask me), like a lot of CAD engineering software so people don't need to lug around 10lb laptop with discrete graphics cards. We're only see this trend more and more with wider adoption of Saas and less people buying and installing a software license. What has always cracked me up is seeing people on $3000 Macs in a cafe using a Chrome browser and Spotify. Laptops have become pick-up trucks, 90% will never tow or have anything other than groceries in the bed.
What is your monitor stand setups? I really want to have some sort of monitor below like you have at an angle, but I havent found peripherals that would give me that function.
ChromeOS excels for everyday tasks, but it currently has limitations for content creators who need specialized software for music, art, video editing, and game development. Windows and Mac systems are still preferred in these areas due to their wider range of powerful native applications. While Adobe is expanding web-based options, having providers like Affinity offer similar solutions would be a game-changer. For users desiring open-source tools, a well-specced Linux distro like Fedora or Pop could be a better fit than ChromeOS, potentially offering better performance with locally-run applications. ChromeOS remains a fantastic choice for cloud-based workflows. However, if you're a content creator relying on software unavailable in web-based formats, other operating systems might be a better investment.
Parents revolve around their Google account. Their Windows laptops are now at a point where their tablets/phones just outperform. This may be time for a new laptop errr, chromebook.
I have a Lenovo chromebook that keeps dropping wifi connection. The chromebook was my primary laptop for a couple of years until this issue started and I could not find a fix. I went back to a Windows laptop.
I think Chromebook should switch to arm based snapdragon soc rather than intel, since there is already a arm version of chrome os, and it’s going to be more power efficient
