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Post by MikeMusic on Feb 18, 2018 16:10:56 GMT
Not exactly sure what you mean by *safe* Mike, it's proven software and used extensively by schools and businesses in the US (not sure about UK), to rejuvenate old computers for students use, who are pretty much just going to use the Internet. It's a cloud based operating system - think what a tablet or an android phone does as opposed to a Windows PC and then using that operating system on a powerful laptop or PC. What does it do that Windows doesn't? In a nutshell speed, it's a very lightweight O/S designed primarily for web use. It's an O/S built around a web browser, so you can't use conventional Windows programs or software, just as you can't on an android device. I feel for a novice used to using a smartphone or tablet, it's easier than trying to get to grips with a Linux O/S like Ubuntu I think it's very simple to install, but easy for me to say. This gives an idea, but it is simple . . . honest  Safe enough for a person that only has to be in the same room as tech for it to go wrong. Most of what I do is Interweb these days. Currently on a relatively new laptop with W10. Not sure if I could resurrect an old floorstanding pc. Could be worth a bash if that easy |
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Post by MikeMusic on Feb 18, 2018 16:12:10 GMT
Well I didn't even know what a "Chromebook" was, so at least it inspired me to look. Seems like a really good product but we have 4 iPads between us so an Apple product is more likely when we get rid of the current laptops. Could get an older Ipad working nicely.... |
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Post by Tim on Feb 18, 2018 16:26:38 GMT
Most of what I do is Interweb these days. Currently on a relatively new laptop with W10.Well in this case you wouldn't want to go messing with it. If you have an old laptop or desktop that's unused, then it should breath new life into it, as long as you accept it's primarily for web browsing, just as a Chromebook is. It is fast though, even on old hardware, which is why Chromebooks are affordable, they don't need cutting edge/expensive components to perform well, which they do. But they are not designed or intended to be a replacement for what a Windows or Apple computer can do. They are limited, but if you just want to surf the web, watch YouTube etc., they are hard to beat and easier to use than a tablet. |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 18, 2018 16:30:45 GMT
You won't beat Windows 10 easily for speed. With modern hardware no, but that's not what it's for, its for old equipment you might throw away. That comment could be misconstrued by a novice Martin? You're right, that needed qualification. For old hardware, Chromebook will revive something that would struggle to run W10 well. |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 18, 2018 16:32:30 GMT
Well I didn't even know what a "Chromebook" was, so at least it inspired me to look. Seems like a really good product but we have 4 iPads between us so an Apple product is more likely when we get rid of the current laptops. Could get an older Ipad working nicely.... No, Chromebook can't run on an iPad. |
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Post by Slinger on Feb 18, 2018 17:04:35 GMT
As I said in the first post, mine cost me less than £130.00 used. The O.S. gets regular updates and for general surfing, forum posting, and keeping an eye on eBay and Amazon etc. I think you'd be hard-pressed to beat it at that price. The display is adequate, if not great (11.6" 1,366 by 768 pixels = 135 pixels per inch), and fine for watching YouTube vids etc. I wouldn't use a screen that small for watching anything decent anyway. Oh, and it boots almost instantly.
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Post by Chris on Feb 18, 2018 19:19:31 GMT
Do you use it as a music source Slinger?
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Post by Slinger on Feb 18, 2018 19:31:25 GMT
Do you use it as a music source Slinger? No, the CD player and the Squeezebox feed my needs downstairs and I use a P.C. with JRiver software upstairs. There's not much of a hard drive to speak of in the Chromebook, but you can add storage space via a USB drive, or an SD card. A typical Chromebook has 16 to 32GB of storage space and that's it. The idea is to keep everything as lean as possible, and they're aimed towards cloud computing and storage. |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 18, 2018 20:23:36 GMT
If you run Spotify web version on it, can you control a Spotify Connect device?
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Post by Tim on Feb 18, 2018 20:38:22 GMT
Certain Chromebooks now have access to the Google Play Store, not all I believe, but certainly the new ASUS Chromebooks do. The intention as far as I know is they all will at some point. So you can download the Spotify app from the Play Store and use it as you would on any other Android device, I have seen YouTube videos of folk doing this, but can't find them right now. I don't believe you can use connect with the web player interface, but Slinger should be able to answer that better than me. community.spotify.com/t5/Live-Ideas/Spotify-connect-for-web-player/idi-p/1020533 |
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Post by Chris on Feb 18, 2018 21:19:32 GMT
Do you use it as a music source Slinger? No, the CD player and the Squeezebox feed my needs downstairs and I use a P.C. with JRiver software upstairs. There's not much of a hard drive to speak of in the Chromebook, but you can add storage space via a USB drive, or an SD card. A typical Chromebook has 16 to 32GB of storage space and that's it. The idea is to keep everything as lean as possible, and they're aimed towards cloud computing and storage. It'd be interesting to hear the difference in SQ between that setup and my iPad/Bluetooth setup. |
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Post by Slinger on Feb 18, 2018 23:21:37 GMT
If you run Spotify web version on it, can you control a Spotify Connect device? There's not a genuine Spotify app for Chromebooks. There is this... Although I'm not too sure about the "... feature reach player for Spotify and can be used as an stand-alone application..."  |
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Post by Tim on Feb 19, 2018 1:10:02 GMT
There's not a genuine Spotify app for Chromebooks. Depends on the Chromebook Slinger, not all of them and certainly not older ones, but many newer Chromebooks are now able to access the Google Play Store, so normal Android apps, including Spotify, Netflix etc. My friends daughter has an ASUS Chromebook Flip and she uses a genuine Spotify app on it. She's got this one, recommended by me - it's very good indeed EDIT: Just found this, not comprehensive, but certainly quite a few to choose from Chrome OS Systems Supporting Android Apps |
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Post by Slinger on Feb 19, 2018 1:48:00 GMT
You're right of course, Tim. What I should have said is that there isn't a native Spotify application for Chromebooks.
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Post by Tim on Feb 19, 2018 2:18:16 GMT
Hmmm, developed for the Android platform, from the Play store and running natively within Chrome OS - what dat den' eh? Haha, we can agree to disagree there peeps |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 19, 2018 7:08:13 GMT
I was thinking that an old laptop running Chromebook could be used to control a Spotify Connect device as well as for general browsing. I'm still not sure whether it can do it or not.
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Post by Tim on Feb 19, 2018 10:58:12 GMT
I'm still not sure whether it can do it or not.  me neither! My guess would be no though, if it's not on that list above as a Chromebook with access to the Play Store, then it'll need a fancy workaround. I'd give it a go though Martin if you have an old laptop, if you can't get it to work . . . . ? |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 19, 2018 12:49:15 GMT
Yes, I think I will!
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Post by Slinger on Dec 4, 2018 18:33:31 GMT
My old Chromebook is getting a bit "creaky" and it's started rebooting itself for no good reason on the odd occasion. It was purchased (used) over 2 years ago for just over £125.00 so I can't really complain, especially when it's been hammered used on a daily basis for those 2 years. On to eBay after a bit of research, and armed with a list of Chromebooks that are supposedly able to access the Google Play Store, I've found what looks, on the face of it, to be a major upgrade as well as a great replacement. - one of these. It's used, again, and was priced at just under £160.00. The vendor has 100% feedback over 357 transactions, and every one of those appears to be computer or laptop related. It's got... a HUGE ( ) 16 GB SSD A Celeron N3250U 1.5Mhz processor 4GB of memory A 15.6" screen - (my old one was only 11.6") 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wireless, plus Bluetooth 4.0 And it should be far quicker to boot and much faster browsing the web, than your PC/Laptop/Mac/etc. at home, or at work. I can bung an SD card in it if I feel I need any more storage space, and in fact, I've got a 64GB card in the old machine, which I've never needed to access. That's the beauty of Chromebooks, almost every program you use is accessed via the Chrome browser and is stored on t'internet. I'm looking forward to seeing if it can, in fact, download and use apps from the Play Store as well as directly replace my old machine, but even if it can't it's not a deal-breaker...especially as I've already made the deal.  I love Chromebooks. Did you guess? |
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Post by MartinT on Dec 4, 2018 19:36:05 GMT
I have an old Toshiba laptop that I put Linux on when I was playing with it. I could easily put Chromium on it if I can just remember where it is.
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