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geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: SmallFry on Tue, 29 May 2012, 22:11:27

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: SmallFry on Tue, 29 May 2012, 22:11:27

I'm in the market for a new computer for school. We use Google for integration into everything, so I thought a Chromebook would be nice, yet just a Chromebook isn't "techy" enough for me. I was thinking of taking the Acer A700 (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1155945&sku=A180-116400), running Ubuntu (http://chromeos-cr48.blogspot.com/2012/04/chrubuntu-1204-now-with-double-bits.html) on it, and upgrading the SSD (http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-SSDNow-Internal-SMS100S2-64G/dp/B0062CHMZG/ref=pd_cp_e_0). I was just looking for a cheap netbook with HDMI and a card reader etc. Thoughts?

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: whiskerBox on Tue, 29 May 2012, 22:17:27

I have a CR-48 and it is said because it lives in the box :(

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: WhiteFireDragon on Tue, 29 May 2012, 23:08:48

How much will you be using it? If it's something you use every day, then I'd say invest in something a little more. I've had netbooks in the past, and they just don't cut it anymore. It's hard to be really productive on a tiny screen. Here is my windows based Samsung S9 that makes chromebook's boot times obsolete. It boots into windows, connects to wifi internet, and ready to surf in roughly 20 seconds. This is out of the box speeds, I plan to do a few more tweaks and reinstall a fresh windows to make it a tad faster. The size is essentially a 12" notebook, but with a 1600x900 resolution, so enough screen workspace to do everything. It's my school/work/lab notebook:

[video=youtube;Tb4E1fghc2c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb4E1fghc2c[/video]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006KYY15A/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=xtreme09-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006KYY15A

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: smknjoe on Wed, 30 May 2012, 14:56:30

I agree with the other 2 posts. I have one of these Toshibas that replaced my Acer netbook (that was so slow it was almost unusable.)
It's because of items like this that I wonder why people blow the same amount on iPads. Great bang for your buck.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/838468-REG/Toshiba_PT224U_012021_Portege_Z835_P360_Ultrabook_13_3_.html

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: The_Beast on Wed, 30 May 2012, 16:06:07

Maybe look into ultra books (but not the Macbook Air b/c Apple sucks)?

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: SmallFry on Wed, 30 May 2012, 21:18:54

I'm on a budget The_Beast. Otherwise Ultrabooks would be right up what I wanted.

Also, whiskerBox; Are you in the market of selling your CR-48? Shoot me a PM.

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: sth on Wed, 30 May 2012, 21:25:40

Ubuntu? Techy?

Come on, man. Come on.

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: SmallFry on Wed, 30 May 2012, 21:33:10

I realize that Ubuntu isn't too 'techy' yet it's a bit more involved to install Ubuntu than to just keep ChromeOS. I thought about [strike]Fedora[/strike] Debian (whoops), but Ubuntu seems to be the route that many Chromebook users have chosen.

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: sth on Wed, 30 May 2012, 21:37:45

Quote from: SmallFry;604338

I realize that Ubuntu isn't too 'techy' yet it's a bit more involved to install Ubuntu than to just keep ChromeOS. I thought about Fedora, but Ubuntu seems to be the route that many Chromebook users have chosen.

Chrome OS updates are coming. Window manager support etc...

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: WhiteFireDragon on Thu, 31 May 2012, 14:19:54

Hmm if you're budget is around $300 only, then your choices are pretty limited. SSD alone is half of that.

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: snoopy on Thu, 31 May 2012, 14:43:52

Maybe get a used thinkpad... They work really good with most unix systems

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: SmallFry on Thu, 31 May 2012, 17:11:25

I just need it for quick little tasks, not like I'm going to be running SC2 or D3. $300 seems like a fair price for just word processing and other assorted school tasks, plus being in high school puts me on a really tight budget. ChromeOS and Ubuntu/Debian seems like a fair idea, in my opinion, especially if I can pick up the computer for $300.

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: smknjoe on Fri, 01 June 2012, 15:12:40

I still have one of these that I got on sale at Microcenter a year or so ago. http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-One-D255E-13281/dp/B004UA9P8O
I wanted something lighter than my laptop to take with me for on-site visits with clients or when traveling. The price was right at $199, but that was it. When I'm not working I like to watch Hulu or Netflix and this little thing couldn't handle it very well using Windows or Linux. It will handle text pretty well though (what doesn't.)

If you don't need something portable try the Raspberry Pi that you posted about. They are shipping them like crazy now. I already have two and more have been ordered.

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: mGorilla on Sun, 03 June 2012, 15:06:27

I run an Aspire One 722 and Arch Linux and I'm pretty happy with it all. The battery life could be a alot better and I feel anything AMD Fusion still has some trouble working out of the box with linux. But I can get alot of work done away from a desktop on this tiny little guy.

I like the idea of a rasberry pi though. What would be nice is a keyboard monitor combo with an external portable computer. That way one could just upgrade the outer pc brick and not have to change out the keyboard and monitor. Anyone seen anything like that?

Title: Chromebook+New SSD+ Ubuntu= ?
Post by: smknjoe on Sun, 03 June 2012, 15:53:06

My Acer Aspire One D255E lives a lonely life. I'll sell it to you SmallFry if you're still looking.