chromebook?

[msbarnes]

OK this has very little/nothing to do with photography.

I want to carry a small/light/inexpensive laptop on me over the weekends if I want to do work at say a coffee shop or something.

My 15.4" laptop is too bulky and so i was thinking of getting a new smaller/thinner laptop or just a chromebook/netbook. I read that netbooks are limited because of a stupid Microsoft agreement or whatever and so chromebooks are more attractive to me. My thinking was that I can remote access my personal computer or my work computer and technically work off of those computers virtually as that is where my files will be stored.

Anyone ever do this? or does anyone have experience with chromebooks?

The reason why I want a chromebook/laptop over a tablet is because I want to do work. I want a keyboard and a mouse (I'm fine with a touch mouse as with most laptops). I want to type documents, write emails, browse RFF, photoshop, and do engineering work (my full-time job). The latter two items I'd do remotely.

 

[Boris Stupak]

Eventually, you will rue the day when you decided to put your personal information and documents into the "cloud".

I cannot believe how the average idiot has fallen for this en masse.

 

[msbarnes]

I'm not a computer wiz but my personal files will be on my personal computers and I will access my personal computer remotely. Isn't that technically different -- more secure?

 

[Boris Stupak]

No, it is not.

I'm not a computer wiz but my personal files will be on my personal computers and I will access my personal computer remotely. Isn't that technically different -- more secure?

 

[willie_901]

There are a slew of 11" and 13" laptops.

I'm not sure how you would work from other computers with a Chromebook.

I thought the Google world worked like this:

Chromebook <-------> Google's Cloud <-------> Sync to computers integrated to Google's Cloud.

But I am not a Google/Android/Chrome customer/user so perhaps a direct internet connection is possible with a Chromebook.

 

[msbarnes]

There are a slew of 11" and 13" laptops.

I'm not sure how you would work from other computers with a Chromebook.

I thought the Google world worked like this:

Chromebook <-------> Google's Cloud <-------> Sync to computers integrated to Google's Cloud.

But I am not a Google/Android/Chrome customer/user so perhaps a direct internet connection is possible with a Chromebook.

I think that is the way that they are intended to be used. My thinking was that I can just access my personal computer directly using remote access. This may not be possible, but this is my thinking.

There are a slew of inexpensive 11"-13" laptops too (PC's atleast) and so spending a few more hundred dollars for one of those might be a more straightforward approach.

 

[arseniii]

I would go for it. I think cloud is a secure and accesible way of doing things and will dominate in the future. It's like with electric cars, people will rejecte it just for being 'non-conventional'. If you have a good wi-fi or 3g coverage your chromebook will serve you well!

I am sure there is an app in google store that will let you connect to you pc from chromebook ( something like logmein.com). However the idea of chromebook is different: you files and programs are stored in the cloud, as well as your operating system. Meaning no internet=no workflow 🙂

 

[segedi]

If you leave the work at work, and photoshop at home, then the Chromebook would be great for surfing. But when out and about, take more photos and enjoy the time not spent working.

 

[helvetica]

I was an early adopter of Chromebooks, and they are awesome for browsing the internet - as the name might imply. They have all of the instant-boot up and portability of a tablet, but more power and more responsiveness. Light weight too. Throw in a real keyboard, and you have the advantages of both a laptop and a tablet. For surfing the internet.

Photoshop? Lightroom? Forget it, don't even bother. Doing work? Eh, I'd rather not. I am rather invested into the google system (docs, gmail, analytics, etc) so I already use web pages for most of my work, but I would rather have a Macbook Air if I was going to want to be doing programming or using MS Office.

 

[Photo_Smith]

I've never used one but aren't Chromebooks basically a thin client, run through a broadband connection?
I would buy a tablet and a bluetooth keyboard at least your apps will be on your device.
I also worry about data storage who owns your data? Is it searchable, what is the back-up recovery like should you delete something "in the cloud' etc
For working remotely try the Citrix app, that is if your OS will let you install the app.

 

[Jockos]

I read that netbooks are limited because of a stupid Microsoft agreement or whatever and so chromebooks are more attractive to me.

Limited in what way? Get a computer with the real Windows 8, not the RT version, and you wont have any limitations. It'll be a lot more versatile than a chromebook, due to the enormous library of software compatible with the Windows environment.

Any consumer printer, scanner or other peripheral manufactured in the last 5 years will most likely work with a windows computer. You can even access your Google drive, and your skydrive, and your dropbox.

Additionally you could remote control your home PC with RDP, whereas the chromebook would be limited to VNC.

To top it of: you can also do photoshop locally on a Windows PC. If the specs are really low, simply use an older version, like CS2 or PS7.

 

[Linkert]

OK this has very little/nothing to do with photography.

I want to carry a small/light/inexpensive laptop on me over the weekends if I want to do work at say a coffee shop or something.

My 15.4" laptop is too bulky and so i was thinking of getting a new smaller/thinner laptop or just a chromebook/netbook. I read that netbooks are limited because of a stupid Microsoft agreement or whatever and so chromebooks are more attractive to me. My thinking was that I can remote access my personal computer or my work computer and technically work off of those computers virtually as that is where my files will be stored.

Anyone ever do this? or does anyone have experience with chromebooks?

The reason why I want a chromebook/laptop over a tablet is because I want to do work. I want a keyboard and a mouse (I'm fine with a touch mouse as with most laptops). I want to type documents, write emails, browse RFF, photoshop, and do engineering work (my full-time job). The latter two items I'd do remotely.

Let's say you want to chop down a tree (photoshop, engineering) in a efficient manner (work). Would you start by chopping at the stem with a dull bread knife (chromebook, netbook, notebook, ultrabook) or invest in a chainsaw (Macbook Air) or just a good old regular axe (Lenovo laptop)? 😛

 

[Jockos]

Let's say you want to chop down a tree (photoshop, engineering) in a efficient manner (work). Would you start by chopping at the stem with a dull bread knife (chromebook, netbook, notebook, ultrabook) or invest in a chainsaw (Macbook Air) or just a good old regular axe (Lenovo laptop)? 😛

It's a matter of price as well, no?

Interesting that you would call the ultrabooks "dull bread knives". At the time of purchase, there was no better mobile CPU on the market than the i7 in my UX31 🙄

 

[sevo]

Let's say you want to chop down a tree (photoshop, engineering) in a efficient manner (work). Would you start by chopping at the stem with a dull bread knife (chromebook, netbook, notebook, ultrabook) or invest in a chainsaw (Macbook Air) or just a good old regular axe (Lenovo laptop)? 😛

Photoshop is more like a workshop for cabinet making - and the axe or chainsaw equivalent is a DSLR. Would you bring a plane into a forest? And do you regularly recommend chainsaws to someone asking for a carving knife for camping use?

There are very valid points why the Chromebooks (along with Windows RT tablets) won't do at all for on the road image editing - notably their complete lack of offline capable raw photo software. But as long as "work" boils down to internet research and basic text editing, it would do.

As far as systems with less restricted software choices go, that is, where (Windows or Linux running) Netbooks, Ultrabooks or iOS and Android tablets are concerned, it is very much a matter of individual requirements which of them will be sufficient.

 

[thegman]

I used to have a Chromebook, quite liked it. A netbook running Windows is a lot more powerful, even if it runs a Starter Edition of Windows (the vast majority do not).

Less powerful than just about everything, but quick, cheap, and pleasant to use.

 

[nongfuspring]

What programs does your engineering work involve? I'd only really use a Chromebook for surfing, which is what they're designed for.

For CAD, 3D visualisation, Rhino, etc. I'd go Lenovo, for PS/bitmap software then Macbook Pro (last time I looked a 13" pro is better value and barely any thicker than an air). Cloud computing for photo editing/grunty stuff is probably the future, but definitely not yet.

 

[Mablo]

As mentioned many times above, Chromebook is great for surfing and for browser based apps. Unfortunately there are only a few browser based image processing applications around and features they offer are still quite simple (exposure, cropping, contrast etc). Then again, browser based office applications (Google docs) are good enough for most of us.

Personally, I like to pick up used and inexpensive Lenovo ThinkPads and usually install a fresh version of Linux operating system in them. It's a cost effective solution for my laptop needs.

 

[msbarnes]

Limited in what way? I'm not sure if this is still relavant but...

http://www.techspot.com/news/31996-microsoft-retains-1gb-ram-limit-on-netbooks.html

Microsoft put hardware restrictions on netbooks in the past. I'm not sure if these restrictions are still present as I barely researched netbooks. Chromebooks just sound cooler.

Additionally you could remote control your home PC with RDP, whereas the chromebook would be limited to VNC.

What is the difference?

This is what is most important to me and what I don't really understand. I plan on working on my home PC remotely. I wouldn't get a tablet/chromebook/netbook JUST to browse the web/ play with apps. I don't plan on doing any serious work either. I just want to work casually, sometimes. Like to check up on some things at work when I'm away and to maybe touch up on some images when I have some time.

 

[msbarnes]

What programs does your engineering work involve? I'd only really use a Chromebook for surfing, which is what they're designed for.

For CAD, 3D visualisation, Rhino, etc. I'd go Lenovo, for PS/bitmap software then Macbook Pro (last time I looked a 13" pro is better value and barely any thicker than an air). Cloud computing for photo editing/grunty stuff is probably the future, but definitely not yet.

I'm a structural engineer and so some analysis software and maybe some CAD. I don't plan on installing/running this stuff on my computer. I'd rather access my work computer remotely. Same with photoshop. I'd rather keep my raw scans on my home laptop and just edit photos from there. If I were doing serious work or image editing, then I'd rather use the respective PC's.

 

[msbarnes]

The reason why I wasn't looking into a new laptop is because I figured that I can just access my home laptop remotely. A new PC/Mac/whatever might be an option but I figured that I didn't need all of those capabilities all of the time. But maybe I do?