so my in-laws where asking me about computer stuff and talking about buying a new laptop soon, the reason being that my father-in-law is getting some warnings on his old XP laptop... we are talking wireless B only type laptop era so it's already pretty slow. When I asked about what he wants it to do it was pretty basic, check email (yahoo), basic web surfing, some google maps, and banking,... he also plays solitaire and free cell but that is about as extreme gaming as he gets... basically it gets used while sitting in the recliner while watching TV or at the hotel room while traveling.
my thoughts where, chomebook, boots up quickly and any time they pull it out they have internet access, it looks like the app store has the games he would care about.
any serious quirks to consider? I see I can find 13" screens with intel dual core processors for just over $200 so that seems like a great step in the right direction for them (there is a reason he is using the old business class laptop... it was free from his office when they where throwing them away lol)
Chromebook is perfect for that, I'm on one right now(A $100 acer c710) all I did to it was upgrade the ram. If you need more power, they have an inbuilt remote desktop client. Only big gotcha is they WILL NOT print over USB, you need a "cloud ready" printer or run a desktop as a special print server.
I too have an Asus C710. I bought it to surf the web and leave the heavy gaming to my ancient Toshiba Dual SLi. I upgraded the ram to 8Gb and put Ubuntu 14 on it.
I think the C720 would work well for your in-laws. I had an Eee PC before this that I bought to surf the web. My C710 blows it away, even when it was stock.
Drawbacks? You won't be able to open ZIP files and you can't use MS Office files but if they just use it to surf the web, then I think it will work great for them. Basically, it's the Camry of the computer world. 
I have a samsung chromebook which has served me well for the past year. The printing issue can be a real drawback for some.
I saw in the google store that MS office online apps are now available.
Honestly, would the likes of a Kindle serve him/them better?
I LOVELOVELOVE my C720. Perfect couch-surfing machine. It replaced my tablet which cost more than twice as much and didn't have a keyboard. I have several real computers around for printing or heavier use, but for a machine to keep next to my easy chair and grab when I want to browse the web, you can't beat it.
Posting from my C720. It's the perfect basic web device. I would just recommend it not be the only computer in the house(printing, media storage,other). I still have my big toshi laptop for printer/iTunes duty, but otherwise those are the ONLY times I use it.
Start up from off takes seconds, but it draws so little power when sleeping(?) that I just leave mine running. Battery really does last 8-10 hours of use. So yes, I would recommend a chromebook.
good stuff figured this would be the case from what I could find but wasn't sure... going to send them off the check em out at a local electronics store I suppose
thanks guys
mark
So you guys with the 720, do you have the P (touch) model or base non-touch? Any thoughts on it either way?
as of the moment this is the one I'd have suggested my inlaws look at if for no other reason than the 13.3" screen and slight coupon discount that came though my inbox http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9095405&CatId=7304
foxtrapper wrote:
So you guys with the 720, do you have the P (touch) model or base non-touch? Any thoughts on it either way?
I have the non-touch version. I had no interest in the touch one for several reasons. One, I'm a touch typist, so I don't like to remove my hands from the keyboard unless I have to, so the touchpad works better for me. And two, I hate having a bunch of fingerprints all over my screen. And finally, it's more expensive.
I do not have a Chromebook but if you are considering one, it seems that the refurb units can be good deals because I expect that most were returned in fine working order, just that the machine did not meet the original buyer expectations of a full laptop.
A quick googleing brings up this at $129
www.woot.com seems to have them every other day to (just not today.)
In reply to stanger_missle:
Mine opens zip files just fine? Double click it and you're in, it wont dump azip for you you have to copy and paste the files. It will also zip things in the right click menu, though I've never tried that.
I was given one in the CR48 pilot. I still use it from time to time.
I'd suggest watching liliputing.com for their deals of the day posts. They tend to have links to really cheap Chromebook deals.
Mike wrote:
I was given one in the CR48 pilot. I still use it from time to time.
I'd suggest watching liliputing.com for their deals of the day posts. They tend to have links to really cheap Chromebook deals.
I don't understand what is breaking my link. Looks fine in preview, and I can't see anything in code. Apologies.
We got the Acer 720P touch screen. I never use the touch screen (mostly because I forget to) but the kids do. Both my 4 and 7 year old have no issues at all with it, but they also have an ipad and my son used to swipe the TV thinking that all screens worked that way.
I am a huge chrome book fan. dirt cheap. Never needs to spend 10 mins updating. starts in seconds. I hooked my gopro up to view some videos and it automatically uploaded all of them to some free Google hosting site.
I think that after a year, we will have to pay an annual Google fee for this.
I still use my iPad mini 99% of the time. Unless the kids stole my tablet or I need to hook up a usb drive, I never have any reason to use the laptop at home.
My kid's high school just bought them for every student. I hope they are good as we are responsible for repairs and even though my daughter is responsible, I hope these things aren't junk. They get to keep them when they graduate
Tag so I can find for future reference. I'm also wanting to get one of these.
