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waffle iron
Jan 16, 2004
What price range?

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khy
Aug 14, 2005

The lower the better, I'm not looking for a gaming laptop or anything fancy. My C720 was like $250ish and sticking around there seems like it'd be nice. But of course if there's a good special I'm always willing to consider going up or down depending. I'd normally say "I'm going for longevity to get the most use out of it" but since my current Chromebook stopped receiving updates before it ever faltered, I suspect the amount spent and specifications won't likely affect it as much as the manufacture date would.

waffle iron
Jan 16, 2004
Acer Chromebook 314. 14 inch, 1366 x 786, 4GB ram, 64GB storage. Support through June 2026.

Staples has it for $219:

https://www.staples.com/acer-chrome...roduct_24435827

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 16, 2004

Or a 1080p alternative, also $219 (on sale): https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-14-chromebook-intel-celeron-n4000-4gb-32gb-emmc/6460276.p?skuId=6460276

I have basically that same chromebook for some very basic bedroom laptopping, and it's fine. 32GB of storage only but if you're like me, then you'll never end up using even half that anyway. edit: updates through June 2029

Dr. Video Games 0031 fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Sep 13, 2021

khy
Aug 14, 2005

With the cloud local storage on the chromebook would be 100% a nonissue. I'll look into that Best Buy one though since it'll be updated longer - both will likely suit my needs and then some but having updates longer is more appealing. Thanks for the rec!

Alarbus
Mar 31, 2010

Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:

Or a 1080p alternative, also $219 (on sale): https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-14-chromebook-intel-celeron-n4000-4gb-32gb-emmc/6460276.p?skuId=6460276

I have basically that same chromebook for some very basic bedroom laptopping, and it's fine. 32GB of storage only but if you're like me, then you'll never end up using even half that anyway. edit: updates through June 2029

Thanks for posting this, it's a perfect replacement for the 7 year old my Mom had that just bricked itself. I had forgotten that one was that old! A decent run for a cheap old Chromebook. 🙂

Really glad they opted for a new Chromebook rather than an actual laptop. My Mom likes reading artist blogs which as far as I can tell are all unpatched word press sites. Yikes. I think I was redoing windows quarterly last time she had a full laptop

Worf
Sep 12, 2017

i'm OBSESSED with quibbling over minutiae!!!!!!!!
7 years out of a Chromebook owns lol

Out of any device at this point I suppose.

My oldest is from nov2017 and I missed the window to grab a new battery before they went poof, which sucks, because a 4/8 i7 with 16gb doesn't exactly struggle these days, esp with qhd+ display.

Could even put wifi6 on it if I wanted. Rip

RichterIX
Apr 11, 2003

Sorrowful be the heart
Has anyone tried a USI stylus on the Duet? The advent of Cursive has me mildly interested in it but I don't want to drop the money on a stylus if it's just going to be annoying. I also don't know if every USI stylus of dubious provenance on Amazon is fine, or if I need to drop the dough on, say, the HP one (I've heard the Lenovo one is kind of crummy).

nonathlon
Jul 9, 2004
And yet, somehow, now it's my fault ...

RichterIX posted:

Has anyone tried a USI stylus on the Duet? The advent of Cursive has me mildly interested in it but I don't want to drop the money on a stylus if it's just going to be annoying. I also don't know if every USI stylus of dubious provenance on Amazon is fine, or if I need to drop the dough on, say, the HP one (I've heard the Lenovo one is kind of crummy).

+1 for this. I like the idea of handwriting on a tablet, just never had the setup where it worked well. If cursive comes together, that would be great

Sterf
Dec 31, 2004

RichterIX posted:

Has anyone tried a USI stylus on the Duet? The advent of Cursive has me mildly interested in it but I don't want to drop the money on a stylus if it's just going to be annoying. I also don't know if every USI stylus of dubious provenance on Amazon is fine, or if I need to drop the dough on, say, the HP one (I've heard the Lenovo one is kind of crummy).

I just bought a Duet for drawing, works pretty great. The included Lenovo pen got some issues sometimes with registering before touching the screen though. I got myself an Andana (same as Penoval I think) pen and that one works perfectly.

I don't use a lot of note taking apps though. Just trying out cursive it seems to pan/zoom a bit when you initially rest your palm on it but seems fine afterwards. Wish more apps like this would use the pen-only mode of Autodesk Sketchbook where only 2 or more fingers register for any action, effectively eliminating the problem. Plus three-finger undo is great for drawing!

edit: testing cursive out some more it actually works pretty well suddenly for some reason. Just a maybe/sometimes slightest movement when you rest your palm on it initially but very ignorable.
There's no pressure levels in it though, but for handwriting notes it's probably not the most important factor.

Sterf fucked around with this message at 18:02 on Sep 19, 2021

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



https://computers.woot.com/offers/hp-11-6-chromebook-your-choice?ref=w_ngh_dd_cp

There's a Woot link (so it's only on sale for <24 hours from the time of this posting) to a cheap but reasonable CB for those who've recently made requests for a cheap-as-possible option. It's a HP 11 with a satisfactory MediaTek CPU, amount of RAM, and display resolution. $110 or $130 with touchscreen.

Sterf posted:

I just bought a Duet for drawing, works pretty great. The included Lenovo pen got some issues sometimes with registering before touching the screen though. I got myself an Andana (same as Penoval I think) pen and that one works perfectly.

I don't use a lot of note taking apps though. Just trying out cursive it seems to pan/zoom a bit when you initially rest your palm on it but seems fine afterwards. Wish more apps like this would use the pen-only mode of Autodesk Sketchbook where only 2 or more fingers register for any action, effectively eliminating the problem. Plus three-finger undo is great for drawing!

edit: testing cursive out some more it actually works pretty well suddenly for some reason. Just a maybe/sometimes slightest movement when you rest your palm on it initially but very ignorable.
There's no pressure levels in it though, but for handwriting notes it's probably not the most important factor.

If I remember correctly, I had the same issue with the Duet and the Lenovo stylus, which I'd traced to it being plugged in and charging. I've had similar digitizer issues with Android smartphones where the input tracking gets all wonky while they're charging. I'm not sure if it has to do with the power source, but only some devices are affected and I've never been able to figure out why.

waffle iron
Jan 16, 2004
Wrong thread.

mdxi
Mar 13, 2006

to JERK OFF is to be close to GOD... only with SPURTING

Atomizer posted:

There's a Woot link (so it's only on sale for <24 hours from the time of this posting)

Nah, it's good for a month or until it sells out. The original woot was one-thing-per-day, but currently woot is just Amazon's discount/refurb outlet store.

hooah
Feb 6, 2006
WTF?
I recently picked up an HP Chromebook 14 from a neighbor, and have been trying to figure out if the RAM is upgradeable, should I desire to do so. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure this out for my particular model (14a-na0020nr). Short of opening or up, is there any way I can figure this out?

TITTIEKISSER69
Mar 19, 2005

SAVE THE BEES
PLANT MORE TREES
CLEAN THE SEAS
KISS TITTIESS




Tried looking up that model at crucial.com?

Dr. Video Games 0031
Jul 16, 2004

hooah posted:

I recently picked up an HP Chromebook 14 from a neighbor, and have been trying to figure out if the RAM is upgradeable, should I desire to do so. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure this out for my particular model (14a-na0020nr). Short of opening or up, is there any way I can figure this out?

I am like 98% sure the memory is gonna be soldered in.

hooah
Feb 6, 2006
WTF?

TITTIEKISSER69 posted:

Tried looking up that model at crucial.com?

Not yet, but I'll try to find some time. Does Crucial supply all Chromebook RAM or something?

Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:

I am like 98% sure the memory is gonna be soldered in.

Yeah, me too, but it'd be nice to know for sure.

Clark Nova
Jul 17, 2004

crucial has a fairly comprehensive and reliable RAM compatibility database

hooah
Feb 6, 2006
WTF?
So if my model isn't on this page the RAM is definitely not upgradeable?

Clark Nova
Jul 17, 2004

HP specs page for your model number:

quote:

Memory, standard
4 GB LPDDR4-2400 SDRAM (onboard)

And here's a video showing the motherboard, with no RAM slots evident, I don't think it is upgradeable

hooah
Feb 6, 2006
WTF?

Clark Nova posted:

HP specs page for your model number:

And here's a video showing the motherboard, with no RAM slots evident, I don't think it is upgradeable

Ok, thanks. Like I said, not surprised, just mildly disappointed. It's still doing much better with dev stuff than my ~2015 Yoga 2 Pro with Fedora on it, so I really can't complain, especially since I got it just to gently caress around with.

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

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


The HP 11 X2 has been going on flash sales for hundreds off and while I was a bit lukewarm on it for the full $599 price, $379 is a steal (it was recently $220 off at Best Buy.)

Fortunately I was still in my return period so I was able to get them to price match it for me.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



hooah posted:

I recently picked up an HP Chromebook 14 from a neighbor, and have been trying to figure out if the RAM is upgradeable, should I desire to do so. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to figure this out for my particular model (14a-na0020nr). Short of opening or up, is there any way I can figure this out?

In general, Chromebook RAM and storage are soldered, and that appears to be the case with your model as well. It's rare to have the storage be an m.2/mSATA slot, and Chromeboxes are more likely to have DIMM slots.

Martian Manfucker
Dec 27, 2012

misandry is real
I think the latest Chrome OS update has broken all the android apps I use on my Duet. Mostly YouTube and Netflix. YouTube hangs when trying to load a video and Netflix won't even get past the profile page before crashing. Is there a way to roll back an update?

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



Martian Manfucker posted:

I think the latest Chrome OS update has broken all the android apps I use on my Duet. Mostly YouTube and Netflix. YouTube hangs when trying to load a video and Netflix won't even get past the profile page before crashing. Is there a way to roll back an update?

Not that I know of, but you could try uninstalling and reinstalling the apps as a mostly-painless first shot at troubleshooting. One thing that happens on my HP 13 occasionally (and long before the latest update) is that sometimes Android apps, and the Play Store itself won't launch at all; the icons on the task bar get the spinning loading indicator forever, and I have to reboot (as the quickest way I know of) to get them functional again. That doesn't sound exactly like what you're experiencing, but a reboot would be another suggestion to see if the behavior is any different afterwards.

Also, does it really make sense to use the Android apps for those streaming services in particular over the web versions? I can understand if you use them for their local downloading functionality, but other than that I think the web versions have exactly the same functionality, and I think they navigate fine via touch when using the web interface with a touchscreen-equipped laptop.

I mean it's perfectly fine to want to use those apps and expect them to work like they used to, I just think they're superfluous given the platform and that it would be more of a concern if other, otherwise irreplaceable Android apps were malfunctioning instead.

silence_kit
Jul 14, 2011

by the sex ghost

Martian Manfucker posted:

I think the latest Chrome OS update has broken all the android apps I use on my Duet. Mostly YouTube and Netflix. YouTube hangs when trying to load a video and Netflix won't even get past the profile page before crashing. Is there a way to roll back an update?

Yeah, the Netflix app crashes on my Chromebook as well, I just checked. I guess the moral of the story is to not rely on the Android functionality on Chromebook. It must not be a high priority for the ChromeOS developers. I warned posters in this product recommendation thread about this before . . .

You'll probably want to use your device mostly with the keyboard attached--interacting with ChromeOS apps just using a touchscreen is not that great--ChromeOS is not really designed around being navigated by a touch interface.

Martian Manfucker
Dec 27, 2012

misandry is real

Atomizer posted:

Not that I know of, but you could try uninstalling and reinstalling the apps as a mostly-painless first shot at troubleshooting. One thing that happens on my HP 13 occasionally (and long before the latest update) is that sometimes Android apps, and the Play Store itself won't launch at all; the icons on the task bar get the spinning loading indicator forever, and I have to reboot (as the quickest way I know of) to get them functional again. That doesn't sound exactly like what you're experiencing, but a reboot would be another suggestion to see if the behavior is any different afterwards.

Also, does it really make sense to use the Android apps for those streaming services in particular over the web versions? I can understand if you use them for their local downloading functionality, but other than that I think the web versions have exactly the same functionality, and I think they navigate fine via touch when using the web interface with a touchscreen-equipped laptop.

I mean it's perfectly fine to want to use those apps and expect them to work like they used to, I just think they're superfluous given the platform and that it would be more of a concern if other, otherwise irreplaceable Android apps were malfunctioning instead.

I'll be honest I only bought this thing to use as a faux-Android tablet. The keyboard has been sitting in the box since I opened it. The web version of YouTube/Netflix is fine but it's slow to navigate on the Duet, feels like I'm using my old Nexus tablet with how it freezes up when trying to fullscreen. Probably a byproduct of all the extensions and poo poo I have that carried over from my desktop version of Chrome browser. I tried rebooting the device and have reinstalled the apps but no go. I did see some post from a Google dev saying they're aware of the issue and are working on a fix so I guess I'll just wait for that if I can't roll back the update.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



Martian Manfucker posted:

I'll be honest I only bought this thing to use as a faux-Android tablet. The keyboard has been sitting in the box since I opened it. The web version of YouTube/Netflix is fine but it's slow to navigate on the Duet, feels like I'm using my old Nexus tablet with how it freezes up when trying to fullscreen. Probably a byproduct of all the extensions and poo poo I have that carried over from my desktop version of Chrome browser. I tried rebooting the device and have reinstalled the apps but no go. I did see some post from a Google dev saying they're aware of the issue and are working on a fix so I guess I'll just wait for that if I can't roll back the update.

Oh, that's basically all the Duet is anyways! I've always said that AndroidOS devices are better for content consumption and ChromeOS is better for content creation (partially because of higher performance but also because they typically have hardware keyboards) but the Duet is in this weird no-man's land in-between the two. It's not as powerful as the typical CB, but not as compatible with apps as the typical Android device. Its real strength lies in is ability to do stuff from both worlds: it can run many Android apps pretty well, and it can run the full desktop version of Chrome rather than the mobile version. The performance won't blow you away but it definitely has a niche in the mobile computing space.

Ham Equity
Apr 16, 2013

The first thing we do, let's kill all the cars.
Grimey Drawer
Best Buy currently has an ASUS C536EA for $399; given that I want a 15" Chromebook (mostly for Netflix and light productivity while traveling), this seems like a good deal? Any red flags I should be aware of?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-2...76&gclsrc=aw.ds

EDIT: you all did recommend this to me last time I asked at $150 more, I just want to make sure there's not some new hotness I should be looking at instead.

Ham Equity fucked around with this message at 18:28 on Oct 21, 2021

biglads
Feb 21, 2007

I could've gone to Blatherwycke



Thanatosian posted:

Best Buy currently has an ASUS C536EA for $399; given that I want a 15" Chromebook (mostly for Netflix and light productivity while traveling), this seems like a good deal? Any red flags I should be aware of?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-2...76&gclsrc=aw.ds

EDIT: you all did recommend this to me last time I asked at $150 more, I just want to make sure there's not some new hotness I should be looking at instead.

I'm far from an expert on this, but I got my wife one of these a couple of weeks ago and it's a nice piece of kit (CX5500FEA - same machine but for a different market I think). Some of the reviews have said the screen could do with being brighter but we haven't found any problems with it at all. $399 is a steal for one of these I think.

waffle iron
Jan 16, 2004
If I was a 15.6 laptop person, I would definitely pick that one up. I have an Asus C434 (13.3 almost, almost 2 years old, paid 600 some dollars) and I am a big fan. The two-in-one is a bit ridiculous in tablet mode on my 13.3 screen -- too 16:9, but it does give you a flat fold hinge.

Edit: And that is a fantastic price for a chromebook that will last for many years. I'm used to only seeing the Atom descended Pentium/Celerons at that preice point so an i3 is very nice.

Ham Equity
Apr 16, 2013

The first thing we do, let's kill all the cars.
Grimey Drawer

biglads posted:

I'm far from an expert on this, but I got my wife one of these a couple of weeks ago and it's a nice piece of kit (CX5500FEA - same machine but for a different market I think). Some of the reviews have said the screen could do with being brighter but we haven't found any problems with it at all. $399 is a steal for one of these I think.


waffle iron posted:

If I was a 15.6 laptop person, I would definitely pick that one up. I have an Asus C434 (13.3 almost, almost 2 years old, paid 600 some dollars) and I am a big fan. The two-in-one is a bit ridiculous in tablet mode on my 13.3 screen -- too 16:9, but it does give you a flat fold hinge.

Edit: And that is a fantastic price for a chromebook that will last for many years. I'm used to only seeing the Atom descended Pentium/Celerons at that preice point so an i3 is very nice.

Okay, this looked like a great deal, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Also, I crave external validation.

Trigger pulled, they're even shipping it out for delivery tomorrow.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



Yup, that's a perfectly reasonable price for a new laptop, especially a CB with those specs (including a solid CPU, 8 GB RAM, and 15" FHD display.)

For anyone looking for a more budget option, here's a very good price on a much lesser convertible CB.

Ham Equity
Apr 16, 2013

The first thing we do, let's kill all the cars.
Grimey Drawer
Okay, that was a great loving deal. Love this thing, totally a steal at $400. Didn't realize it has both a numpad and a touchscreen.

waffle iron
Jan 16, 2004

Thanatosian posted:

Okay, that was a great loving deal. Love this thing, totally a steal at $400. Didn't realize it has both a numpad and a touchscreen.

Glad you like it. Let us know what you think of the touchpad. I see reviewers having strong opinions on those, but I'm happy most of the time with a large glass one.

Ham Equity
Apr 16, 2013

The first thing we do, let's kill all the cars.
Grimey Drawer

waffle iron posted:

Glad you like it. Let us know what you think of the touchpad. I see reviewers having strong opinions on those, but I'm happy most of the time with a large glass one.

I hate touchpads with a fiery, burning passion; this one doesn't really feel any different to me. I bought a trackball I usually use with my Chromebook (because trackballs work well even with limited space that would be a problem for a normal mouse).

biglads
Feb 21, 2007

I could've gone to Blatherwycke



Thanatosian posted:

I hate touchpads with a fiery, burning passion; this one doesn't really feel any different to me. I bought a trackball I usually use with my Chromebook (because trackballs work well even with limited space that would be a problem for a normal mouse).

A fellow trackball user, think we are a dying breed.

I blame Atari for Missile Command and Centipede.

zachol
Feb 13, 2009

Once per turn, you can Tribute 1 WATER monster you control (except this card) to Special Summon 1 WATER monster from your hand. The monster Special Summoned by this effect is destroyed if "Raging Eria" is removed from your side of the field.
Minor trip report, I got this Lenovo 3 14" when it was on sale for $130 and so far it's doing fine after a week of messing with it.
It was mostly an impulse purchase, I'd assumed I could wipe it completely and install some sort of Linux, but it turns out doing that on the MT8183 is way more of a hassle than I imagined. Surprisingly, the default Linux thing is working fine, for example VS Code runs how I anticipated. I'm assuming there are plenty of programs that won't be fine, though, like I'm not planning on installing GIMP on this. Also, I'm really happy I got a 64gb model, since apparently 18 gigs are filled with system files.
Some programs look pretty jank with weird gradients, though. My experience trying to navigate Linux UI setup is basically nil, is there a way to actually change how the Debian VM container app things are handling UI? Or is this a per program thing and I should be searching for some kind of skin for LibreOffice itself?

Anyway the only complaint I have so far with the hardware itself is that the viewing angles on this panel are kind of poo poo.

Atomizer
Jun 24, 2007



zachol posted:

Minor trip report, I got this Lenovo 3 14" when it was on sale for $130 and so far it's doing fine after a week of messing with it.
It was mostly an impulse purchase, I'd assumed I could wipe it completely and install some sort of Linux, but it turns out doing that on the MT8183 is way more of a hassle than I imagined. Surprisingly, the default Linux thing is working fine, for example VS Code runs how I anticipated. I'm assuming there are plenty of programs that won't be fine, though, like I'm not planning on installing GIMP on this. Also, I'm really happy I got a 64gb model, since apparently 18 gigs are filled with system files.
Some programs look pretty jank with weird gradients, though. My experience trying to navigate Linux UI setup is basically nil, is there a way to actually change how the Debian VM container app things are handling UI? Or is this a per program thing and I should be searching for some kind of skin for LibreOffice itself?

Anyway the only complaint I have so far with the hardware itself is that the viewing angles on this panel are kind of poo poo.

That's a totally solid CB for that price, (and for that price, the mediocre display is unsurprising,) but the issue you're running into is that it's got an ARM CPU, so even though you've installed Linux on it, you need ARM not x86 software to run on it. I'm not sure if the UI issues are related to that, but it wouldn't surprise me if they are.

So that CB isn't so great for someone who'd intended to run Linux on it, but it's a better choice if you were more interested in running Android apps, which are basically all available in an ARM version, with presumably less than that offering an x86 version (but those packages are indeed out there, because at least in the recent past devices were released with Android running on those older Atom x86 CPUs.)

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zachol
Feb 13, 2009

Once per turn, you can Tribute 1 WATER monster you control (except this card) to Special Summon 1 WATER monster from your hand. The monster Special Summoned by this effect is destroyed if "Raging Eria" is removed from your side of the field.
Yeah, this is going to stick around as my actual Chrome OS Chromebook, even though I didn't really need one.
I didn't fully think about the Android apps, there's definitely some more use there.

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