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Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

14" laptop is pretty large by 2019 standards, especially if you'll primarily be using it while traveling, imo

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Dark Solux
Dec 8, 2004

Old School Saturn God

iastudent posted:

Planning on getting a chromebook to use as a travel companion for some article writing and video/stream viewing.

Getting close to pulling the trigger on this one, any thoughts from those that have used this one?
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-2-i...p?skuId=6301869

I picked this one up a few weeks ago when it went on sale, I don't regret it at all. Checked all my boxes - flip / touch, 1080p ips display,Intel i3, over 12hr battery life, 8gb ram, local storage. Only thing to note is it is kinda heavy and the fan noise may bother you. It only really spins up during gaming or other heavy use. Feels premium but the tension in the hinge is light so sometimes the screen moves when you move the laptop. I just use it for farting around on social media and hearthstone / other Google play games. Apparently it can run Linux but I haven't tried that.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



For those interested, it looks like some older CBs are getting Crostini support after all! :toot:

Bizarro Kanyon
Jan 3, 2007

Something Awful, so easy even a spaceman can do it!


I am a teacher and have became our school’s de facto tech guy. I got an email earlier from a teacher asking why she cannot Open a PowerPoint. She says that she gets this screen when trying to open it:


It says that it cannot open the file and then it talks about internet connection. Before I check it out tomorrow, I wanted to make sure:

A PPTX file can be opened in google drive through Slides, correct? I will not have to set up some extension to push it through, will I?

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



Is this the only time this issue has arisen? Is it a problem just with that file, or all PP files, etc.? I use Docs and Sheets but not Slides, but I'm pretty sure that Google's suite is indeed compatible with MS's file formats. I'm wondering if it will work as expected if she downloads the file first and then opens it in Slides? You might need to explore the conversion/import options here.

Bizarro Kanyon
Jan 3, 2007

Something Awful, so easy even a spaceman can do it!


She has never emailed me it before so I assume that this is new. Thanks for the link. I will check those out before school today.

Worf
Sep 12, 2017

If only Seth would love me like I love him!

"Defacto IT guy" are 3 words that would probably have me touch up my resume

at least with a chromebook you can just remote in with zero difficulty :shrug:

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

Thanks whoever suggested Cloudready a few pages back. I set up my old T60 Thinkpad for my grandfather and it works pretty well but he still didn't get completely used to it and mostly uses an old Android tablet.

Is it possible to set up Skype to use a USB headset for calls but rings and other notifications to go through speakers? He has to use a headset and crank up the volume to hear, but with the headset connected, he can't hear if somebody calls him.

There are a few other things I couldn't work around for convenience so I'm considering installing Windows back when Zim visiting him later. This is definitely a big one as he'd have to unplug the headset every time.

Raymond T. Racing
Jun 11, 2019

Bizarro Kanyon posted:

I am a teacher and have became our school’s de facto tech guy. I got an email earlier from a teacher asking why she cannot Open a PowerPoint. She says that she gets this screen when trying to open it:


It says that it cannot open the file and then it talks about internet connection. Before I check it out tomorrow, I wanted to make sure:

A PPTX file can be opened in google drive through Slides, correct? I will not have to set up some extension to push it through, will I?

Just looking at it, that doesn't look like the graphical design language of Google. My uninformed guess without seeing more is that they've actually installed some janky .pptx viewer extension/app and it's barfing on that one (because it can't send all the contents to China/Russia/Atropia/take your pick).

Bizarro Kanyon
Jan 3, 2007

Something Awful, so easy even a spaceman can do it!


I got to look at it today. It is some website called Kessler Science or something like that. I clicked the download button on their website for the PowerPoint but it will not even download anything.

I told the teacher that it must be on their website and her best bet is to contact them and either ask for a refund or for them to email some resources to her. We will see if they go for either.

mystes
May 31, 2006

Bizarro Kanyon posted:

I got to look at it today. It is some website called Kessler Science or something like that. I clicked the download button on their website for the PowerPoint but it will not even download anything.

I told the teacher that it must be on their website and her best bet is to contact them and either ask for a refund or for them to email some resources to her. We will see if they go for either.
It's just aws and I can access that exact powerpoint file from the url in the screenshot so it's probably not their website. I don't currently have a chromebook to test it on but it's most likely either a problem with your network or you have something weird installed in chrome as Buff Hardback said.

SurgicalOntologist
Jun 17, 2004

My company is looking into getting 2-3 chromebooks for people to check out for taking into meetings, on trips, working from home, etc. Most of our stuff is in the cloud already but most people have mini pcs and it can be limiting. I use my personal pixelbook so I've been evangelizing chromebooks a bit.

My question is, is the managed device enterprise service thingy necessary? We use gsuite already but trying to find info it just directs us to resellers. We're in Europe so some options are limited. Any reason not to just order something? I'd rather not have to deal with some sales guy.

Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

Managed device stuff lets you remote wipe the chromebook and if the person quits while it's in their possession the device is perma-locked* so they can't use it as a personal laptop which minimizes theft/"loss"

Having loaner chromebooks is a good idea for any office. A couple of jobs ago anyone who wasn't an engineer had a managed chromebook and it worked out really well for all the obvious reasons. You have to be firmly committed to a cloud-first IT solution though

*Technically if you pull apart the laptop and floop the widget you can bypass this but it's usually more trouble than the laptop is worth

Worf
Sep 12, 2017

If only Seth would love me like I love him!

https://chromeunboxed.com/acer-debuts-four-budget-friendly-chromebooks-at-ifa-berlin/

the 11 inchers sound particularly interesting to me, in particular the spin 311

Ryuga Death
May 14, 2008

There's gotta be one more bell to crack
Fun Shoe
What are the chromebook models worth looking at in general? The OP with the model recommendations hasn't been updated since 2017 so I'm sure there must be some new stuff out since then. This isn't really me looking to buy one right away, I'm just curious what are considered the good models around now since the last time I bought a chromebook was too many years ago.

Bone Crimes
Mar 7, 2007

So I need to figure out a computing solution for an older family member who can't be trusted with passwords and the like, and the chromebook solution is looking promising. I can't seem to find any recent guides out there for setting it up to make sure they can't install rogue extensions or otherwise lock it down. Is G--Suite the only option for this depth of management, or can that now be configured locally? Also is there an alternative to G-suite for unattended management?

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



Ryuga Death posted:

What are the chromebook models worth looking at in general? The OP with the model recommendations hasn't been updated since 2017 so I'm sure there must be some new stuff out since then. This isn't really me looking to buy one right away, I'm just curious what are considered the good models around now since the last time I bought a chromebook was too many years ago.

I stopped adding specific models because they've rapidly expanded in number (beyond my ability to keep track of them all nowadays) and they're all nearly functionally identical. Plus, CBs are basically either the really cheap, low-end ones that aren't worth using (e.g. insufficient RAM, etc.) or beyond that they're all at least good enough, with more features available (e.g. touchscreen) depending on your budget. Just keep my recommendations in mind (4+ GB RAM, 4-core CPU, and then note the display aspect ratio of your preference while making sure the resolution is appropriate for the display size.)

So if you're looking for a decent midrange recommendation (~$400-500) the current version of the ~12" Asus Flip is always well-liked, and the Pixelbook is even nicer if your budget is higher (they're also available cheaper as refurb'd, especially on eBay.) Beyond that I'd suggest looking at the latest reviews on Chrome Unboxed, and there's even apparently a discount on the Asus Flip I mentioned, the C434.

Nostalgic Cashew posted:

So I need to figure out a computing solution for an older family member who can't be trusted with passwords and the like, and the chromebook solution is looking promising. I can't seem to find any recent guides out there for setting it up to make sure they can't install rogue extensions or otherwise lock it down. Is G--Suite the only option for this depth of management, or can that now be configured locally? Also is there an alternative to G-suite for unattended management?

I haven't used G-suite but it may be your only option for full management. You might also be able to sign into it with an account as the owner, then add the family member's account as secondary; the latter I believe has more restrictions, although honestly I don't think your relative would be able to do too much damage to the CB anyway.

Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

The problem I have with Chromebooks is that each Chromebook has a slightly different model number depending on region it was originally intended for and there's a bunch of grey market Chromebooks out there so it's hard to figure out what the hell it's buying

If you manage to figure out what the model you want to buy, roughly matches up with on developer info on chromium.org, now you know which baseboard version it has (effectively the OS release feature-set you're stuck with for the life of the laptop) and then you need to cross reference that baseboard version ( could be "octopus" or " maple" or "fizz" or "coral" or who the hell knows which one is most recent it's not alphabetical in any way shape or form) with the features you want, in particular, "does this laptop have crostini support for Linux apps?" And "is this laptop going to stop receiving updates in the next six months, which would suck since I just paid $200 for this yesterday"

Good luck

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



That's true, but: $200 is pretty bargain basement for a laptop, so you're not out too much, and I'd bet most CB users don't care about Crouton and/or Crostini. That's not to say there's anything wrong with devs/power users wanting access to Android/Linux apps, it just likely puts you in the minority. You're totally right about the end-of-support thing, which even I think is more of an issue because even though a 5-year-old PC is probably worth replacing regardless, ChromeOS is pretty solid on any hardware so it will work fine on basically any CB you buy for far longer than the official support period. The fact that the support period is based on the platform origin date is even more ridiculous, but I digress.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!

Atomizer posted:

I stopped adding specific models because they've rapidly expanded in number (beyond my ability to keep track of them all nowadays) and they're all nearly functionally identical. Plus, CBs are basically either the really cheap, low-end ones that aren't worth using (e.g. insufficient RAM, etc.) or beyond that they're all at least good enough, with more features available (e.g. touchscreen) depending on your budget. Just keep my recommendations in mind (4+ GB RAM, 4-core CPU, and then note the display aspect ratio of your preference while making sure the resolution is appropriate for the display size.)

So if you're looking for a decent midrange recommendation (~$400-500) the current version of the ~12" Asus Flip is always well-liked, and the Pixelbook is even nicer if your budget is higher (they're also available cheaper as refurb'd, especially on eBay.) Beyond that I'd suggest looking at the latest reviews on Chrome Unboxed, and there's even apparently a discount on the Asus Flip I mentioned, the C434.


I haven't used G-suite but it may be your only option for full management. You might also be able to sign into it with an account as the owner, then add the family member's account as secondary; the latter I believe has more restrictions, although honestly I don't think your relative would be able to do too much damage to the CB anyway.

Are the USB C ports on the c434 display port compatible? The only thing this CB lacks is a hdmi out port.

Worf
Sep 12, 2017

If only Seth would love me like I love him!

Hadlock posted:

The problem I have with Chromebooks is that each Chromebook has a slightly different model number depending on region it was originally intended for and there's a bunch of grey market Chromebooks out there so it's hard to figure out what the hell it's buying

Good luck

That's my problem with the form factor period, not to detract from your post. Made me think of Acer in particular

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

mobby_6kl posted:

Is it possible to set up Skype to use a USB headset for calls but rings and other notifications to go through speakers? He has to use a headset and crank up the volume to hear, but with the headset connected, he can't hear if somebody calls him.
...
To answer my own question, I go chromeos running on another thinkpad I had around and yes it's possible to set Skype to ring the speakers even when the headset is connected and is being used for call audio.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



Rhyno posted:

Are the USB C ports on the c434 display port compatible? The only thing this CB lacks is a hdmi out port.

This is a question that's not easy to answer on any USB-C system, regardless of manufacturer or OS: they don't commonly clearly state which Alt-Modes they support (in this case, either DP or HDMI, or both,) although when TB3 is present that's usually advertised. It's likely that a given laptop supports some form of video-out over USB-C especially if it doesn't have the dedicated ports, unless it's specifically noted that the USB-C port is "data only" or "charging only" (or "doesn't charge over USB-C.") In this case, I'd just contact one of the guys at Chrome Unboxed and ask them to test it out, I'm sure they'd be happy to do so.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!
I will do that, thanks!

autism ZX spectrum
Feb 8, 2007

by Lowtax
Fun Shoe
I don't want to make a separate thread for this, but I've recently been loving around with my HP Chromebook 11 G4. I tried dual-booting Gallium. When I ran it from an image on a usb stick everything worked fine. I installed Gallium to its own usb stick, but for whatever reason the power manager stopped working. I tried installing then reinstalling the power manager but I got hung up on missing libraries/dependencies. I rebooted back into chrome and now my battery manager is missing from chrome as well.

I doubled down, installed Gallium right onto the hard drive then managed to reinstall the xfce power manager. It would read the battery at 0% all the time. I've now recovered Chrome OS, and on initial boot up before logging in/connecting to wifi the power manager was working but after logging in I no longer have a battery listed under my power options.

I'm at a lack, really.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



I don't have experience with GalliumOS, but if you have the same issue after restoring ChromeOS then that suggests you coincidentally ran into a hardware failure while experimenting. I'm not sure what component would fail that would incapacitate the voltmeter portion while allowing everything else to function (including drawing power from the battery as normal.) That's the only thought I have, you might want to try one of the hardware/troubleshooting threads.

Tankakern
Jul 25, 2007

hmm

i don't like gallium os that much. i guess it just got hidpi support since xfce just got it, but basing a chromeos replacer os that didn't have hidpi support until very recently shows that they do a lot of questionable technical choices

i'd just test if fedora worked on it

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!
Looks like the C434 can indeed do hdmi through USB-C. But while reading up on it there are numerous mentions of the Acer 315 being a good budget option. Any thoughts on that device?

TITTIEKISSER69
Mar 19, 2005

SAVE THE BEES
PLANT MORE TREES
CLEAN THE SEAS
KISS TITTIESS




15" screen with a 768p resolution and a dual core CPU? No thanks.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!

TITTIEKISSER69 posted:

15" screen with a 768p resolution and a dual core CPU? No thanks.

Yuck, I swore it had the same screen resolution as the Asus. Nevermind.

autism ZX spectrum
Feb 8, 2007

by Lowtax
Fun Shoe

Atomizer posted:

I don't have experience with GalliumOS, but if you have the same issue after restoring ChromeOS then that suggests you coincidentally ran into a hardware failure while experimenting. I'm not sure what component would fail that would incapacitate the voltmeter portion while allowing everything else to function (including drawing power from the battery as normal.) That's the only thought I have, you might want to try one of the hardware/troubleshooting threads.

That's been the consensus on other sites as well but it's very hard to believe. Gallium was able to communicate with the battery hardware and get me all my battery information except for the charge/discharge info.

I don't know why, but right now in Chrome OS after leaving it off overnight the battery indicator works normally. I ran battery test through crosh and my battery is at 62% health. Yesterday it was unable to locate the battery entirely.

Between it breaking and working again I've:

-uninstalled mr. chromebox dual boot script
-restored Chrome OS (x2)
-booted Chrome OS without a battery, powered down, booted again with battery connected
-attempted to use a script to install stock BIOS/firmware (write screw is still in place, so it didn't work)
-reinstalled the dual boot script
-run gallium off a live usb
-restored chrome OS again

It's all very strange, it would be a strange mode of failure for a battery too. I've visually inspected the battery and it's not bulged or damaged. The connectors all seat normally. If the battery fails fully on a chromebook the OS will be unable to find a battery, but it wouldn't make sense for a dead/damaged cell to regain charge overnight. I've never experienced intermittent battery failures on this laptop, battery life has been declining predictably with age.

The especially weird part is that the battery indicator was functioning in Gallium when it was on the live USB before installation. Same with the first Chrome OS restore. It showed an operating battery indicator while booting from the USB but not after install.


Tankakern posted:

hmm

i don't like gallium os that much. i guess it just got hidpi support since xfce just got it, but basing a chromeos replacer os that didn't have hidpi support until very recently shows that they do a lot of questionable technical choices

i'd just test if fedora worked on it

I still want to run linux on this thing. I was leaning towards ubuntu if Gallium didn't work as it's what I'm more familiar with. What are the upsides of running fedora?

autism ZX spectrum fucked around with this message at 16:08 on Sep 8, 2019

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



Rhyno posted:

Looks like the C434 can indeed do hdmi through USB-C. But while reading up on it there are numerous mentions of the Acer 315 being a good budget option. Any thoughts on that device?

If you're talking about the "CB315" then it does come in FHD versions; one of the things I've warned people of in the past is that Acer makes a ton of variants of each of it's laptops. For a given model you might have different combinations of RAM capacity, storage, display resolution, and CPU, so you have to be very certain of what specs you're buying. That being said, as long as you hit those minimum recommended requirements (4 GB RAM, 4C CPU, FHD res) then that or any other CB will be just fine.

Specifically though, that CB is basically solely for a user who specifically wants a 15" display, which is quite uncommon in CBs. The version in that link above is totally fine but otherwise unremarkable. It has a touchscreen, but of course isn't a convertible, so I wouldn't have assumed that you'd be in the market for two fairly dissimilar CBs. I've used the first gen Acer 15, and it's exactly as you'd expect, with a slightly larger display in exchange for a decrease in portability. If that's what would work for you then there's no reason not to go for it.

autism ZX spectrum posted:

That's been the consensus on other sites as well but it's very hard to believe. Gallium was able to communicate with the battery hardware and get me all my battery information except for the charge/discharge info.

I don't know why, but right now in Chrome OS after leaving it off overnight the battery indicator works normally. I ran battery test through crosh and my battery is at 62% health. Yesterday it was unable to locate the battery entirely.

Between it breaking and working again I've:

-uninstalled mr. chromebox dual boot script
-restored Chrome OS (x2)
-booted Chrome OS without a battery, powered down, booted again with battery connected
-attempted to use a script to install stock BIOS/firmware (write screw is still in place, so it didn't work)
-reinstalled the dual boot script
-run gallium off a live usb
-restored chrome OS again

It's all very strange, it would be a strange mode of failure for a battery too. I've visually inspected the battery and it's not bulged or damaged. The connectors all seat normally. If the battery fails fully on a chromebook the OS will be unable to find a battery, but it wouldn't make sense for a dead/damaged cell to regain charge overnight. I've never experienced intermittent battery failures on this laptop, battery life has been declining predictably with age.

The especially weird part is that the battery indicator was functioning in Gallium when it was on the live USB before installation. Same with the first Chrome OS restore. It showed an operating battery indicator while booting from the USB but not after install.


I still want to run linux on this thing. I was leaning towards ubuntu if Gallium didn't work as it's what I'm more familiar with. What are the upsides of running fedora?

I've never heard of that failure mode before so I can't give you more insight, but I'm assuming it's some sort of temporary sensor failure because it apparently works normally now.

I'll just remind you that ChromeOS is Linux, and you have some options available to you in the form of Crouton and Crostini for running Linux software. Personally, I experimented with Crouton (to install Ubuntu) early on, but ended up abandoning it because I had no need; most of what I do day-to-day is Web-based, so ChromeOS natively does everything I need it to, and beyond that I have a Windows system for gaming and Plex (server.)

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!
I've no real need for a touchscreen or convertible I guess. I also saw this one, the C425 which appears to be a clamshell version of the C434?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VT254P6/?coliid=I3DINNA90LEFY6&colid=1SBRL8QFZ9X4E&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

While I wish it had a 15" screen I think this might be the better option for me.

autism ZX spectrum
Feb 8, 2007

by Lowtax
Fun Shoe
After a lot more reading, I discovered some people had a problem where ChromeOS would improperly detect remaining battery life. My battery life has increased by about 2 hours since I reinstalled chrome and messed with the other stuff. Last week I was unable to leave the chromebook on all day without needing a charge, now it was on all day yesterday and I'm at 51% today.

Anyway, the reason I was trying to get linux running was so I could gently caress around with mongoDB which I'm not sure will run on Chrome OS itself.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



Rhyno posted:

I've no real need for a touchscreen or convertible I guess. I also saw this one, the C425 which appears to be a clamshell version of the C434?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VT254P6/?coliid=I3DINNA90LEFY6&colid=1SBRL8QFZ9X4E&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

While I wish it had a 15" screen I think this might be the better option for me.

The C425 appears to be Asus' current version of its 14" CB, and it actually looks pretty nice for that price: the CPU is better than the typical Pentium/Celeron options for lower-end laptops and it has 8 GB of RAM. If you really do want a 15" CB then go for it, but this Asus seems like a really good option for $400.

autism ZX spectrum posted:

After a lot more reading, I discovered some people had a problem where ChromeOS would improperly detect remaining battery life. My battery life has increased by about 2 hours since I reinstalled chrome and messed with the other stuff. Last week I was unable to leave the chromebook on all day without needing a charge, now it was on all day yesterday and I'm at 51% today.

Anyway, the reason I was trying to get linux running was so I could gently caress around with mongoDB which I'm not sure will run on Chrome OS itself.

As I said, I hadn't heard of that battery issue and I've been using a variety of CBs for several years (since basically the first retail models came out) so I wonder if it's model specific.

Anyways, if you were willing to check out Crouton, you could install Debian or Ubuntu or whatever distros are supported nowadays and then that DB app should work fine in the full Linux environment.

MC Hawking
Apr 27, 2004

by VideoGames
Fun Shoe
My only and largest consistent problems with the much lauded predecessor (cb302) is frequently when coming out of sleep mode the keyboard and/or trackpad will be unresponsive until I close the lid again or reboot it. If the 434 doesn't have that problem and is a modest hardware upgrade otherwise I'd heartily recommend the brand family for overall value and broad spectrum usefulness.

I write a lot and it's pretty fantastic for research projects.

Tankakern
Jul 25, 2007

autism ZX spectrum posted:


I still want to run linux on this thing. I was leaning towards ubuntu if Gallium didn't work as it's what I'm more familiar with. What are the upsides of running fedora?

fedora is made mostly by redhat. redhat is responsible for making linux work on modern laptops, so they're the standard for how other distros are measured. thunderbolt, firmware updates, usb-c, flicker free boot graphics, hidpi etc etc, redhat employs the people who's making this stuff work. so if fedora works on the chromebook, you'd get the best linux experience.

mystes
May 31, 2006

Redhat does contribute a lot to linux, but I don't think that automatically means that fedora will run the best on your chromebook.

Tankakern
Jul 25, 2007

it's more like _if_ it runs it runs the best. but google is pretty good about keeping stuff upstream, so your chances getting it running shouldn't be that low.

just try and see

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Takoluka
Jun 26, 2009

Don't look at me!



Did the Chromebit ever go anywhere?

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