Will a Chromebook work for me?

[SublimeRT]

Hey guys, so my computer died a while ago, its a HP laptop I bought a few years ago. I'm not sure what's wrong with it, it doesn't boot up. Fans run a second, lights turn on, screen stays blank, then it gets quiet. I'd like to dig into it someday as it has thousands of pictures, documents, music, etc. that I've saved onto it.

My girlfriends computer, also a HP laptop, nearly the exact same model, the screen has gone out just this past weekend. I hooked it to the TV with a hdmi cable and it worked that way.

I don't think i want any more HPs. I don't know if they're easy fixes either. Hers might be.

For now though I'd just like something to tie me over because all I have right now is my phone. Things I did with my computer..... I save good books, manuals, articles, etc. I come across which are usually pdf files I think. I save a bunch of car pics I come across. I like some music on there to rotate on my mp3 player. And I take quite a few pics with my digital camera that I like to save and organize.

Internet browsing and being able to upload and organize my digital camera pics are the two main priorities. Would a chromebook be good for me?

I've honestly never heard of them until the other day. I looked around about them a bit, seems like they're just internet machines. I'm just worried about my camera pictures.

Thanks for any input.

[SonicBlue]

Do some research before you make the decision. Get some reviews from anandtech and Tom's Hardware and even cnet. From what I've heard, everything to do with Chrome - software and hardware - is crap.

The rule of thumb is, decide on what is the most you can spend and find the best configuration you can for that price.

If you can find a local computer whiz, they might be able to salvage one good laptop outbid the two you have now. And save all your files to boot.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blackmage]

Take this with a grain of salt, as I'm using a computer all day with a a core i7 processor..

 

In the short answer, yes it will work for you.    

 

In the long answer, you are going to want to pull your hair out.  It will do what you ask of it, whether it will be pretty while doing it will be the difference. They're slow.  If you have a decent size image or PDF that you are going to try to open, its gonna take awhile.  Also, if you watch any type of videos online or try streaming stuff, you will notice degradation in sound and video quality because it just cannot handle the amount of processing power it takes to even do that.  All of this would turn me off from even considering a chrome book unless I was scraping the bottom of the barrel and desperately needed something.

 

 

Something like this would be more worth your while. 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314051R

[SublimeRT]

Thanks for the replies guys. I will look around on those sites and do some reading. I'm not against buying an actual laptop, I just only wanna spend a few hundred bucks right now. $300 sounds good. I didn't think I could get a decent machine for that price.

It would drive me nuts if it started bogging down real bad while trying to mess with my pics.

I can't remember the specs on my laptop and am not sure how to find out with it being dead. Would that Acer above be decent with 4GB memory and the 500GB HD? What are some good brands and/or specs to look out for?

Perhaps I'm asking for more than I realize with all my picture stuff.

[Det_Riot]

@Steve@CJPP @1997cobra any advice for the fellow?

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[Steve@CJPP]

Look at it this way.  A Chrome book is a tablet with a physical keyboard.  If that is what you want then get it.  Nothing against Chromebooks but that is the best way to put it.

[SublimeRT]

Hmmm, well I've never personally used a tablet. I watched my gf mess with one the other day and all she did was bitch about how slow it was and how it wouldn't do anything she wanted.

I guess chromebook is out. They sounded pretty good at first but they don't sound like they're for me now. I'd go to the store and check them out but I live in a small town. All we have is a Walmart, that I avoid like the plague.

Thanks for the help guys.

[Steve@CJPP]

PM Sent

[SublimeRT]

Typing this from my computer right now.  I picked it up and pressed the power button and it turned on and has been working for a few hours now.  It got a bit slower than usual when I tried to have a lot of tabs open and my pics folder and stuff.  Something is running inside a lot and it is getting pretty warm though.  I have it on the table with the ceiling fan blowing above it.  Crazy.  I was thinking about taking it apart and cleaning it and seeing if there's any kind of loose connections.

I have an external HD too, but I don't have it with me, it's at my parents house.  Sucks because I can't backup all my most recent things while it's on and working.