[Official] Chromebook SG

[yoriyori]

Looking for a cheaper alternative, chromebook

Hi all,

Im looking for a portable minimalistic device for web surfing, Google drive and web messengers (telegram whatsapp). Heard about chromebooks, did some research an it's the kind of device I'm looking for.

However it seems like it's not available in Singapore. Where should I be looking at to get one for myself or to at least to get a hands on feel.

Models I'm looking at :
Dell chromebook 13 and Acer chromebook 14.

 

[Wyvern8]

I am waiting for Samsung Chromebook Pro...

 

[generalwu]

Hi All,

Just wondering how many of you are have hear of them or are currently using them?

Personally I'm using one and feel that they're a great niche laptop that can help students or seniors to get familiar with the internet.

Currently the government has plans to use Chromebook for their plans.
Link here.

Also Android Play Store is slowing coming into existing and new Chromebook so the future is bright.

So what do you guys think?

Note: If anyone have any questions on Chromebooks please feel free to ask them here, I hope that this thread can be like one of the [official] thread.

Thanks.

 

[Wyvern8]

I am waiting to try on one, Samsung Chromebook Pro.

 

[Bull Runnings]

Hi All,

Just wondering how many of you are have hear of them or are currently using them?

Personally I'm using one and feel that they're a great niche laptop that can help students or seniors to get familiar with the internet.

Currently the government has plans to use Chromebook for their plans.
Link here.

Also Android Play Store is slowing coming into existing and new Chromebook so the future is bright.

So what do you guys think?

Note: If anyone have any questions on Chromebooks please feel free to ask them here, I hope that this thread can be like one of the [official] thread.

Thanks.

May be can list some advantages for newbies like me?

 

[generalwu]

@Wyvern8 Initial reviews are out, have you check them yet? Looks promising.
Hopefully Samsung will bring them here to SG (Praying very hard).

@Bull Runnings Sure things, I'll list them down below (Source: here)

Pros:

• 
  Price: The majority of Chromebooks cost significantly less than your average laptop. Chromebooks can be had for as little as $200 with mid-range models in the $300-400 range.

• 
  Speed: Chromebooks can power on and be ready to use in around eight seconds. They can do this because of their SSD hard drives and the lightweight Chrome OS.

• 
  Battery: Expect to get six hours or more from the battery on an average Chromebook. Some even claim as much as 13 hours. This is often more than you might get on a standard Windows laptops.

• 
  Sync: Chromebooks sync all your apps and passwords with Chrome browsers on other computers. So, if you use the Chrome browser at work, or on another home computer, your bookmarks and other preferences will automatically sync to your Chromebook.

• 
  Cloud Storage: You get 100GB of Google Drive storage free for two years with all new Chromebooks. This is a huge amount of space. Comparable service from Dropbox, OneDrive or Box would cost significant money.

• 
  Updates: Chromebooks update themselves silently, automatically, and in the background. So, your device is always up to date and works just the way you need it to which in turn helps with the security.

• 
  Weight: This varies, but most Chromebooks are lightweight devices that are portable and easy to carry with you when you need them.

• 
  Android Apps: Google have announced that you will soon be able to run Android apps on your Chromebook. This merging of Chrome OS and Android enhances the functionality of a Chromebook. It means you can use Android apps by Adobe, Microsoft and others to play games, create and edit files, or play music and movies.

Cons:

• 
  Office: If you are married to Microsoft Office products, a Chromebook is not for you. Google encourages you to use its own free online suite of Office-like services. Many of these services are comparable to components of Microsoft Office, but they do lack features that you may have come to rely on. Although you can use the Android version of Office apps, they lack some of the full functionality in their desktop equivalents.

• 
  Storage: Chromebooks typically only have 32GB of on-board storage. Limiting storage helps keep the price down because component costs are cheaper. Google wants you to store your data in the cloud, and that is why it often includes 100GB of online storage for free with new Chrombooks.

• 
  Printing: You can print on a Chromebook without too much difficulty, but depending on the printer you have, it might not be as easy as it used to be, because you are required to use Google Cloud Print.

• 
  Compatibility: There is no doubt about it. Windows is the most widely used desktop operating system in existence today. As such, you will find no shortage of apps and accessories to use with a Windows PC. A Chromebook can be more limited in this regard. It has a growing library of software applications, and can be used with a wide variety of accessories, but Windows machines still win in the battle for compatibility.

Hope this helps.

Thanks.

 

[Intrinion]

Hi All,

Just wondering how many of you are have hear of them or are currently using them?

Personally I'm using one and feel that they're a great niche laptop that can help students or seniors to get familiar with the internet.

Currently the government has plans to use Chromebook for their plans.
Link here.

Also Android Play Store is slowing coming into existing and new Chromebook so the future is bright.

So what do you guys think?

Note: If anyone have any questions on Chromebooks please feel free to ask them here, I hope that this thread can be like one of the [official] thread.

Thanks.

Will check through If you would like I can help you rename the thread to the [Official] Chromebook Thread or any naming that you would like

 

[generalwu]

@Intrinion That'll be great. Thanks alot.

How about this Thread name: [Official] Chromebook SG

 

[Intrinion]

@Intrinion That'll be great. Thanks alot.

How about this Thread name: [Official] Chromebook SG

You are most welcome

Looks good on my end.
Let me know if you see the changes on your side.

On a side note, coincidentally, I was looking at the reviews of the Samsung Chromebook Pro over the weekends.

It's currently in beta phase & will be released probably Apr.
Looks promising with the included S-pen!

However some reviewers said that Android apps were unusable / stuttery at best.

What are your opinions on it?

 

[Wyvern8]

Oh... Samsung Chromebook Plus is available already. But I would hold for Samsung Chromebook Pro...

 

[Wyvern8]

Btw, where to get the chromebooks..? I mean I don't see them on retail..

 

[Intrinion]

Btw, where to get the chromebooks..? I mean I don't see them on retail..

Generally not sold in Singapore.
Courts used to sell them :O
Would have to be purchased online via Amazon / Ebay etc.

 

[generalwu]

@Intrinion Yup, as mention it's in beta hence not ready for the general usage.
From what i gathered it's the most likely due to different cpu that is used.

In general, most Chromebook is using x86/intel CPU chipset and most android is using ARM chipset. This led to the Android apps being optimised heavily on ARM processing.

Past Android devices running on Intel chipset has not received much positive feedback and led to manufacturer dropping the support for the chipset.

However if the merging of Chromebook and Android Play store I believe Google will step up the development of it.

There's few comments on the reddit thread that general usage of Android Apps is quite okay, what's is needed is to not set a high standard of expectation of it (I.e. Running as smooth as an Android phone) for now (Especially games).

@Wyvern8 Sadly it's the same everywhere except US. Due to the low demand for the device everywhere it's quite hard to find them locally.

I did see ASUS selling their Chromebox/Chromebit (Forget which one) here in last year but it's not what I wanted and the specs is quite low (lowest end model) which result in less sales and then less incentive for companies to bring them in (A vicious cycle).

With the government tender i hope it might pick up interest and pace.

Also another thing is that the Chromebook here are overpriced. The specs they've and the prices they've just don't match. I can get better deals on Amazon and with shipping it's sometime still better.

 

[86technie]

Cuz of the profit margin that is why retailers don't carry Chromebooks.
However Education sector, some schools are using Chromebooks
for lessons already.
It has been a while already, if you guys really want comments about
Chromebooks can ask me also.
My past project was purchase of two carts of Chromebook
since they are cost effective
for students to do homework and do learning.
However not all environment permit full access to Playstore
featuers and items thus it is one major challenge.

The purchase was the Intel reference based chromebook.
Cost wise I cannot disclosed cuz consumer, education and
commercial pricing varies.

Yes there are local distributor for Chromebooks, however I am not sure
do they sell to consumer or not.
You can Google for them and send a email to them but they mainly sell to schools only.

Hope this hopes.

 

[lordlad0]

i had a budget samsung chromebook (the one using the arm chip) way back and i think it's great for what it is (a machine with just a browser)..

the latest 2017 chromebooks look great though....especially with direct Play Store integration.

like many stated here...The Samsung Chromebook Pro and the Asus Chromebook Flip C302a are both i am currently scouting...

it's too bad that there are still no official news on these items being available officially in singapore (with official warranty). the old samsung chromebook, i had to import from Amazon US

 

[lordlad0]

Cons:

• 
  Office: If you are married to Microsoft Office products, a Chromebook is not for you. Google encourages you to use its own free online suite of Office-like services. Many of these services are comparable to components of Microsoft Office, but they do lack features that you may have come to rely on. Although you can use the Android version of Office apps, they lack some of the full functionality in their desktop equivalents.

Hope this helps.

Thanks.

MS Office are now available via Android apps. Also, the online office apps via MS Onedrive is also sufficient enough. Unless you are truly power excel users that requires spreadsheets with tens of thousands of cells or weird plugins, i reckon most ppl can just work with these version of Office or even Google Drive Sheets.

 

[lordlad0]

@Intrinion Yup, as mention it's in beta hence not ready for the general usage.
From what i gathered it's the most likely due to different cpu that is used.

In general, most Chromebook is using x86/intel CPU chipset and most android is using ARM chipset. This led to the Android apps being optimised heavily on ARM processing.

Past Android devices running on Intel chipset has not received much positive feedback and led to manufacturer dropping the support for the chipset.

However if the merging of Chromebook and Android Play store I believe Google will step up the development of it.

There's few comments on the reddit thread that general usage of Android Apps is quite okay, what's is needed is to not set a high standard of expectation of it (I.e. Running as smooth as an Android phone) for now (Especially games).

@Wyvern8 Sadly it's the same everywhere except US. Due to the low demand for the device everywhere it's quite hard to find them locally.

I did see ASUS selling their Chromebox/Chromebit (Forget which one) here in last year but it's not what I wanted and the specs is quite low (lowest end model) which result in less sales and then less incentive for companies to bring them in (A vicious cycle).

With the government tender i hope it might pick up interest and pace.

Also another thing is that the Chromebook here are overpriced. The specs they've and the prices they've just don't match. I can get better deals on Amazon and with shipping it's sometime still better.

it make alot of sense for education sectors to use chromebook...

first they don't have to worry about security as chromebooks are locked down OS with just browser. Even the Android Apps are sandboxed and easy to manage...so the IT maintenance cost is minimise.

then there's the cost of licensing....for windows PC, the cost to license the OS, the different software (antivirus, office, etc) cost quite abit...those cost are pretty much gone if using chromebook

finally, chromebook are 'disposable' and cloud based...i.e....if the chromebook hardware is faulty and need a replacement, IT can just issue the user a new one and the user just need to login to his/her id and that's it...no need to do those re-imaging of OS, reconfiguration, domain security type of bullsh!t normally needed to deal with traditionally windows machines in corporate domain.

This is the reason why MS decided to release their own 'cloud-based' Windows 10 (http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/31/14450780/microsoft-windows-10-cloud) to combat Chromebooks and Chrome OS as the Education sectors in US and other smaller Asia countries has been adopting chromebooks at a faster rate that really eat into Microsoft's licensing margin.

 

[Ed.YEO]

Btw, where to get the chromebooks..? I mean I don't see them on retail..

https://www3.lenovo.com/sg/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-11e-series/11e-3rd-Gen/p/20GECTO1WWENSG0

唔平！​

 

[86technie]

it make alot of sense for education sectors to use chromebook...

first they don't have to worry about security as chromebooks are locked down OS with just browser. Even the Android Apps are sandboxed and easy to manage...so the IT maintenance cost is minimise.

then there's the cost of licensing....for windows PC, the cost to license the OS, the different software (antivirus, office, etc) cost quite abit...those cost are pretty much gone if using chromebook

finally, chromebook are 'disposable' and cloud based...i.e....if the chromebook hardware is faulty and need a replacement, IT can just issue the user a new one and the user just need to login to his/her id and that's it...no need to do those re-imaging of OS, reconfiguration, domain security type of bullsh!t normally needed to deal with traditionally windows machines in corporate domain.

This is the reason why MS decided to release their own 'cloud-based' Windows 10 (http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/31/14450780/microsoft-windows-10-cloud) to combat Chromebooks and Chrome OS as the Education sectors in US and other smaller Asia countries has been adopting chromebooks at a faster rate that really eat into Microsoft's licensing margin.

Not sure about MS but even if they have they always demand high price especially their license.
Google wise their platform are pretty much cost effective, about the asset management.

Primarily if you need to have a main Google account than you can manage all the asset, deploy software, manage users and etc. using the Google admin tool.

Unlike most asset management/deployment tool which need to be paid Google one is free but that is provided you have the cloud services or G suit in order to tap on such software.

 

[G4]

i would love to have the Chromebook Plus, with S Pen, and with LTE. totally no meaning if no LTE.