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Super-NintendoUser
Jan 16, 2004

COWABUNGERDER COMPADRES
Soiled Meat

Ethereal posted:

Base model pixel book is available for $250 off until June 17th. That’s a drat good deal.

https://store.google.com/product/google_pixelbook

I picked this up. Also another 10% if you sign up for a Best Buy student discount emailer. There's no validation, you just give them an email address.


I'd like to switch from my 2013 Macbook over to this for work. I work in 100% Linux, so having this would be a cool thing. I see they have a Fortinet VPN client for Chrome, should that work?

Also I'm curious about running maybe a Windows VM in the new environment. I suppose I could run KVM as a container and then the Windows VM in that right? I have to use Windows once in great while, so I have VM I could spin up should it be necessary. I looked around, I couldn't find anything about that, just people that dual boot into straight up Linux and run a VM in that. But I'd like to keep Chrome/Android around for most of my use, especially if the Fortinet client works fine.

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Thermopyle
Jul 1, 2003

...the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. —Bertrand Russell

I'm not really answering your question, but just in case you've not thought of this...

I have a windows VM running in KVM on one of my servers and when I need to use Windows for some reason and I'm at a not-Windows machine I RDP into that VM. I do this from my Chromebook once in a blue moon.

Ethereal
Mar 8, 2003
Ugh my last blocker for moving over to a Chromebook is the inability to migrate over albums from Apple Photos to Google Photos. :(

Super-NintendoUser
Jan 16, 2004

COWABUNGERDER COMPADRES
Soiled Meat

Thermopyle posted:

I'm not really answering your question, but just in case you've not thought of this...

I have a windows VM running in KVM on one of my servers and when I need to use Windows for some reason and I'm at a not-Windows machine I RDP into that VM. I do this from my Chromebook once in a blue moon.

I do this now. My work is 100% Linux, but we have a Windows desktop app I need to test from time to time. The problem is that I need to VPN from the windows laptop to reach the client networks sometimes so my headless windows box is sometimes cut off from the internet so I can rdp into it. I can work around it by instead running a VM on my windows pc that I then access through the VM console and VPN through that. Its infrequent enough that its not a big deal.

I'll probably just setup chroot and install qemu and do a Windows VM there. Is that feasible? I see some people saying that is broken at the moment though.

fivehead
Jul 11, 2017

Americans Need Cash Now
Really frustrating how slow new CPUs enter the chromebook supply chain and thus how slowly new chromebooks seem to enter the market.

The kaby lake celerons have been out for about a year and AFAIK I can't buy a chromebook with the Celeron 3865U. The Acer C771 introduced the Skylake celeron like two years after it came out and then proceeded to be unavailable for months and I can't find it for retail price.

ugh.

fatman1683
Jan 8, 2004
.
My wife is in need of a convertible Chromebook that can run Android apps for doing schoolwork and reading e-textbooks. I was looking at a Lenovo 500e for her, but looking at reviews it seems like it's pretty poo poo.

Any recommendations on a convertible that would be suitable for this use? Rugged is a priority, a screen that's good in daylight is important too, and I'd like to stay around the $300 mark.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



fivehead posted:

Really frustrating how slow new CPUs enter the chromebook supply chain and thus how slowly new chromebooks seem to enter the market.

The kaby lake celerons have been out for about a year and AFAIK I can't buy a chromebook with the Celeron 3865U. The Acer C771 introduced the Skylake celeron like two years after it came out and then proceeded to be unavailable for months and I can't find it for retail price.

ugh.

The C771 seems not to be widely available as it's apparently an EDU model, but you can certainly find the Celeron model at MSRP.

The reason CBs often don't have the absolute latest CPUs is because they don't matter. Aside from battery life improvements, performance is good enough with pretty much any CPU that's not a low-end Atom or ARM.

fatman1683 posted:

My wife is in need of a convertible Chromebook that can run Android apps for doing schoolwork and reading e-textbooks. I was looking at a Lenovo 500e for her, but looking at reviews it seems like it's pretty poo poo.

Any recommendations on a convertible that would be suitable for this use? Rugged is a priority, a screen that's good in daylight is important too, and I'd like to stay around the $300 mark.

Recommendations are in the 2nd post. The Acer R11 is a suggestion for your criteria.

fatman1683
Jan 8, 2004
.

Atomizer posted:

Recommendations are in the 2nd post. The Acer R11 is a suggestion for your criteria.

Thanks, wasn't sure if those were still accurate or if there were new and better things out.

How hard is it to find an 11ish inch Chromebook with a FHD or better screen? I know Samsung has one, but it seems like all the others are WXGA or thereabouts. Also, how big a deal is it at that size to not have a higher resolution?

Eletriarnation
Apr 6, 2005

People don't appreciate the substance of things...
objects in space.


Oven Wrangler

fivehead posted:

Really frustrating how slow new CPUs enter the chromebook supply chain and thus how slowly new chromebooks seem to enter the market.

The kaby lake celerons have been out for about a year and AFAIK I can't buy a chromebook with the Celeron 3865U. The Acer C771 introduced the Skylake celeron like two years after it came out and then proceeded to be unavailable for months and I can't find it for retail price.

ugh.

Kaby Lake is pretty much slightly overclocked Skylake already and considering Celeron is the slowest tier, the distinction means particularly little there. Even comparing to the 3765U Broadwell I don't see many differences that could ever matter on a Chromebook.

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


Based on the way I've seen ChromeOS handle DPI, FHD at that size probably isn't going to be much of thing. 1:1 scaling at that resolution and size would be too small for most people. Scaling that down would yield 960x540 which would be terribly constrained.

So, 1280x720 or 1600x900 are probably going to be the limits of what you see at that size (with even the later being a bit small.)

sector_corrector
Jan 18, 2012

by Nyc_Tattoo
I'm considering this for a work laptop:

https://computers.woot.com/offers/samsung-12-3-qhd-touchscreen-chromebook-plus-10?ref=w_cnt_wp_4_14

Is that a decent price for the capabilities? And should I be wary of the refurb status? I know that a lot of 1 star reviews refer specifically to dodgy components, so I don't want to get something that I'll just be returning for work within a month or two.

NewFatMike
Jun 11, 2015

As long as you're comfortable with Chrome OS (i.e. working just off a browser), it's one of the better ones out there, certainly at its price point.

Woot sales get pretty frequently recommended, so I wouldn't be overly apprehensive.

Super-NintendoUser
Jan 16, 2004

COWABUNGERDER COMPADRES
Soiled Meat
What's the recommended dock for the Pixelbook? I see the D6000 Dell dock is highly recommended, it's $140, but seems like a safe bet.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



fatman1683 posted:

Thanks, wasn't sure if those were still accurate or if there were new and better things out.

How hard is it to find an 11ish inch Chromebook with a FHD or better screen? I know Samsung has one, but it seems like all the others are WXGA or thereabouts. Also, how big a deal is it at that size to not have a higher resolution?

I mean there are always newer CBs coming out but there aren't any that are particularly notable other than the Acer tablet and the HP detachable. I think there's an HP 360 CB that's functionally an updated equivalent to the Acer R11, but in order to fit within your budget a refurb'd/used R11 is still the best recommendation.

I can't recall an 11" (or smaller) CB with a resolution higher than HD/WXGA (other than the aforementioned upcoming Acer Tab 10.) What bull mentioned about scaling is accurate: high-res on a small display will require scaling (I think it's technically zooming in ChromeOS) in order to be usable; I've found FHD at 13" to be difficult to read and I have devices with higher resolutions on smaller panels on top of all that (i.e. the QHD+ displays on the HP 13 and CB Pixel are effectively quartered to their native resolutions.)

If you're talking about "11ish" as in 12-13", then higher resolutions at those sizes are more common, namely the various ~12" 3:2 2400x1600 devices like those from Samsung and Google (and the upcoming HP x2.)

Otherwise, WXGA is an acceptable resolution for a CB at 11", and you shouldn't require scaling/zooming for accommodation. You'd be happy with such a device for the price.

sector_corrector posted:

I'm considering this for a work laptop:

https://computers.woot.com/offers/samsung-12-3-qhd-touchscreen-chromebook-plus-10?ref=w_cnt_wp_4_14

Is that a decent price for the capabilities? And should I be wary of the refurb status? I know that a lot of 1 star reviews refer specifically to dodgy components, so I don't want to get something that I'll just be returning for work within a month or two.

The Samsung Plus is a solid CB, especially for that price. I wouldn't be concerned about refurbished status; I've purchased that exact model, refurbished, from Woot, for that price, and it's like-new. CBs have few moving parts (hinges, keyswitches, maybe a cooling fan) and they generally have very little to fail on them.

The main point to get across is that all CBs work the same, so the different models give you various levels of performance and a few extra features like the convertible design or backlit keyboard, for example. The 4 GB of RAM on the Plus is my firm minimum requirement for any PC, and the hexa-core ARM CPU is fast enough. The only point to note is that the keyboard on the Samsungs is a little awkward: the keys actually depress below the deck, so if you have a fingertip on the edge of a keycap it will get stuck on the deck as you type*. If you keep your fingers centered then you probably won't experience this, and it may not bother you either way (plenty of people are happy with their Plus/Pros regardless of the keyboard.) If you were using this from work, mostly at a desktop, you could add an external keyboard for the bulk of your typing; a cheap mechanical keyboard will be far better than any laptop keyboard anyway, and you can get a wireless/BT and backlit model for ease of use.

*Unrelated, but as an anecdote I've noticed recently that the keyboard on the original Asus Flip C100 is the same way. More significantly is the fact that it's compressed to fit in a 10" footprint so that makes it more difficult to type normally in the first place, but after shelving the device and then taking it out again the keyswitch/deck situation was more obvious.

fivehead
Jul 11, 2017

Americans Need Cash Now

Atomizer posted:

The C771 seems not to be widely available as it's apparently an EDU model, but you can certainly find the Celeron model at MSRP.

The reason CBs often don't have the absolute latest CPUs is because they don't matter. Aside from battery life improvements, performance is good enough with pretty much any CPU that's not a low-end Atom or ARM.


Recommendations are in the 2nd post. The Acer R11 is a suggestion for your criteria.

I understand the reasoning, but its still baffling. Provantage has it at $20 above MSRP.

Kaby has improvements to videoplayback features and the improved implementation of SpeedShift. I'm a dork, and these are things that I want.

FWIW I've been using my Acer C720 and C740 for years but they're getting long in the tooth.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



fivehead posted:

I understand the reasoning, but its still baffling. Provantage has it at $20 above MSRP.

Kaby has improvements to videoplayback features and the improved implementation of SpeedShift. I'm a dork, and these are things that I want.

FWIW I've been using my Acer C720 and C740 for years but they're getting long in the tooth.

The C771 CB we're talking about is ~$4 under MSRP, not $20 over. The MSRP is listed on that product page right above the red price, dude! :psyduck: Here it is on Acer's own listing for proof! That same model however is only $237 here if you're OK with a refurb', which you totally should be.

Newer CPU revisions certainly add more features, but nevertheless totally aren't necessary for ChromeOS. If anything, CBs get the old, surplus, previous-gen hardware because they're just fine with it and potentially are cheaper because of it.

The Acer C7xx line is indeed a fine set of 11" devices; my 2nd-ever CB was the C710 with the 160 GB HDD and extended battery. Nevertheless, while they're solid choices they're fairly basic and boring compared to some of the other devices with more features, like convertible hinges and touchscreens, backlit keyboards and ruggedized construction, which is why I don't have any listed as recommendations in the 2nd post.

Pyroclastic
Jan 4, 2010

I'm borrowing a Chromebook from work to take on an international flight. I want to load up some backlogged TV and movies from Vudu and Movies Anywhere, and I keep running into roadblocks.
I moved the CB to an OU where it doesn't have to enroll, then powerwashed and signed in personally. Installed the Android stuff, inserted an 128gb SD card, and moved to the beta channel and updated.
Both Vudu and MA are Android apps. Vudu will download, but it refuses to see the SD card as writable. MA says I have to update Google Play Services, but it's the most recent one available. Amazon Prime Video can download, but I can't seem to make it see the SD card. Going into Storage Manager, and Android, it sees the SD card, but that's about it.

One site says I need to use crosh to fool it, but the very first command it says to use doesn't work.

Various sites claim that beta ChromeOS will let Android apps use the SD card, but unless it's just the apps fault, I haven't been able to get it to work. Any thoughts?

Dell Chromebook 11 3189, running 67.0.3396.78 beta channel kefka.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



I do recall reading that indeed Android apps will gain access to external storage, but haven't heard anything since. Generally what happens is that new features roll out on a device-specific basis first, so if your Dell 11 doesn't explicitly have Android external storage R/W access in Beta then unfortunately it's not going to work yet. :(

Pyroclastic
Jan 4, 2010

Atomizer posted:

I do recall reading that indeed Android apps will gain access to external storage, but haven't heard anything since. Generally what happens is that new features roll out on a device-specific basis first, so if your Dell 11 doesn't explicitly have Android external storage R/W access in Beta then unfortunately it's not going to work yet. :(

drat. I suppose I can put some of this poo poo on my phone. And find...other methods to get videos onto the SD card.

silence_kit
Jul 14, 2011

by the sex ghost

fivehead posted:

I understand the reasoning, but its still baffling.

It's not baffling. Since Chromebooks are the cheap computers, they are probably intentionally manufactured with old, reject computer chips to keep costs down.

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


https://www.engadget.com/2018/06/13/google-windows-10-pixel/

So, that's a thing. I wonder if this is a serious planned strategy or just some idle project by someone.

unruly
May 12, 2002

YES!!!

bull3964 posted:

https://www.engadget.com/2018/06/13/google-windows-10-pixel/

So, that's a thing. I wonder if this is a serious planned strategy or just some idle project by someone.
I don't think I'd want to run Windows 10 on a large variety of Chromebooks. I installed Linux on mine (thanks for the tips, everyone) and it's good, but there is a reason ChromeOS is stripped down to basically nothing.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



bull3964 posted:

https://www.engadget.com/2018/06/13/google-windows-10-pixel/

So, that's a thing. I wonder if this is a serious planned strategy or just some idle project by someone.

So basically, Bootcamp for ChromeOS. Not a bad thing per se, but there's nothing I'd want to do in Windows that ChromeOS can't do (or that could be done on CB hardware, namely gaming.) Nevertheless, that'd be a huge selling point for a lot of people!

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


Well, I don't know for all Chromebooks, but I've been saying for awhile that the Pixelbook would make one hell of a Windows notebook as well. The hardware is so insanely good.

Tunga
May 7, 2004

Grimey Drawer
How do I pin an arbitrary website to the shelf? I found many articles, including Google's own documentation, saying to use Chrome -> menu -> More tools -> Add to shelf. But that option doesn't exist on either of the two Pixelbooks I have here. They're both on beta channel so that could be the cause. Can anyone else verify if this option exists? Or anyone know another way to do it?

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



Tunga posted:

How do I pin an arbitrary website to the shelf? I found many articles, including Google's own documentation, saying to use Chrome -> menu -> More tools -> Add to shelf. But that option doesn't exist on either of the two Pixelbooks I have here. They're both on beta channel so that could be the cause. Can anyone else verify if this option exists? Or anyone know another way to do it?



As an alternative, you could also pin a tab up top by opening the context menu on it.

Super-NintendoUser
Jan 16, 2004

COWABUNGERDER COMPADRES
Soiled Meat
So I've had the Pixelbook for a couple days now, and here's my hot take:

  • the hardware itself is easily the best feeling laptop I've ever handled. It's light, well balanced, solid, the keyboard and trackpad are fantastic
  • the screen is absolutely incredible
  • I made a huge mistake, I thought the ChromeOS Forticlient plugin would do VPN, but it's just a content filter, so I had to developer mode it and chroot
  • in chroot I have linux running perfect, and I even setup Steam to run in a tab with xiwi. It's really straight forward and mature enough to use
  • I can use Linux forticlient VPN, and it even proxies all my ChromeOS traffic so it works fine
  • Apparently I can't dualboot Gallium OS on the Pixelbook yet, doesn't seem super compatible, so I can't use Windows at the moment, but with the AltOS developments, and the breakneck pace the Pixelbook has been experiencing these new features, I figure it won't be too long.
  • That said, I think it can replace my Macbook for work. The only problem is the odd times I have to use a Windows client, but work gives me a decent enough Thinkpad, so I can just make sure I have that if I go to a client that requires it
  • I'm going to keep it, even though it's not 100% what I need. For $600 (the best buy deal, plus a coupon, plus CC and Ebates Cashback, its not a bad deal.

MC Hawking
Apr 27, 2004

by VideoGames
Fun Shoe
How do I remove the Office for Chromebook application from Chrome Webstore. It has been updated to requiring Chrome 67, and disabled automatically but it's still enabled when I open a .docx or .pdf file from my Blackboard account. When I go to File>save as google doc it keeps throwing a "you need to sign into your google account" error and it's driving me insane.

I'd really prefer to not powerwash the drat thing right now as I'm balls deep in the school year and have a ton of stuff saved on the device that I don't want to have to reorganize.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



MC Hawking posted:

How do I remove the Office for Chromebook application from Chrome Webstore. It has been updated to requiring Chrome 67, and disabled automatically but it's still enabled when I open a .docx or .pdf file from my Blackboard account. When I go to File>save as google doc it keeps throwing a "you need to sign into your google account" error and it's driving me insane.

I'd really prefer to not powerwash the drat thing right now as I'm balls deep in the school year and have a ton of stuff saved on the device that I don't want to have to reorganize.

If it has an icon to the right of the address bar you can open the context menu on it and "Remove from Chrome..." Or, you can do the same thing in "More Tools" -> "Extensions"

Tunga
May 7, 2004

Grimey Drawer

Atomizer posted:



As an alternative, you could also pin a tab up top by opening the context menu on it.
Yeah I do use pinned tabs too but wanted to set something to run in its own window without browser Chrome. Weird that it's just not there. I guess it's just a bug with the current beta build

Tunga fucked around with this message at 11:02 on Jun 16, 2018

MC Hawking
Apr 27, 2004

by VideoGames
Fun Shoe
It's not listed anywhere under Tools----> Extensions. It only shows up in the Chrome Web Store under the "Library" tab, saying that it has been disabled. Unfortunately it has very clearly not been disabled and there's no option to remove it. There is no icon to the right of the URL bar either.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



I just spotted this on Woot.com; it appears to be the Acer CB 14 for Work, which is the ruggedized Thinkpad (or Dell 13)
alternative. It's the base model, with an acceptable Skylake Celeron (2C2T) but unfortunately only an HD resolution display (at 14" of course.)

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



Tunga posted:

How do I pin an arbitrary website to the shelf? I found many articles, including Google's own documentation, saying to use Chrome -> menu -> More tools -> Add to shelf. But that option doesn't exist on either of the two Pixelbooks I have here. They're both on beta channel so that could be the cause. Can anyone else verify if this option exists? Or anyone know another way to do it?

I just noticed this post and thought of your comment above.

MC Hawking
Apr 27, 2004

by VideoGames
Fun Shoe

MC Hawking posted:

It's not listed anywhere under Tools----> Extensions. It only shows up in the Chrome Web Store under the "Library" tab, saying that it has been disabled. Unfortunately it has very clearly not been disabled and there's no option to remove it. There is no icon to the right of the URL bar either.

Chrome updated and they added the notation that this extension is being now included by default in ChromeOS so there's no real way to disable it, even if you install it standalone from the Chrome Web Store.

It's still broken. :(

Worf
Sep 12, 2017

If only Seth would love me like I love him!

https://slickdeals.net/f/11766623-samsung-chromebook-pro-12-3-laptop-core-m3-6y30-4gb-ram-64gb-emmc-open-box-384-free-shipping

quote:

Samsung Chromebook Pro 12.3" Laptop: Core m3-6Y30, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC (Open Box)
$384

Quixzlizx
Jan 7, 2007
I wish I knew which models other than the Pixelbook and Samsung Plus were eventually going to get native Linux support.

mystes
May 31, 2006

Quixzlizx posted:

I wish I knew which models other than the Pixelbook and Samsung Plus were eventually going to get native Linux support.
You mean linux vm support, right? Didn't they just add this for a bunch more models?

Super-NintendoUser
Jan 16, 2004

COWABUNGERDER COMPADRES
Soiled Meat

Quixzlizx posted:

I wish I knew which models other than the Pixelbook and Samsung Plus were eventually going to get native Linux support.

Don't buy things based on unreleased features.

Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

Still waiting for Android app support on my chromebook :corsair:

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UncleGuito
May 8, 2005

www.ipadbackdrops.com daily wallpaper updates deserving of your iPad
Might be worth checking out your local BB for open box Chromebooks if you're looking for one... found a Chromebook Plus for $180. It's in great condition- just didn't come with the adapter.

UncleGuito fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Jul 6, 2018

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