Recommend good Staff Chromebooks

[Sonic007]

Hi,

 

Our school is Google GSuite in everything we do and I am keen to replace our ageing Staff Windows laptops with new Chromebooks.

 

We don't refresh staff devices often so I'm wanting something solid with a good spec.

 

What do you recommend?

 

Thankyou.

[gszech]

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus

[johncayding]

The hard truth is, once you switch to chromebooks, you lose features. I understand you use GSuite, but being completely honest, those Windows laptops are better. If they're becoming slow, if the RAM is upgradable, upgrade it, and if it's using a HDD, switch it to an SSD. That'll speed it up for cheaper than a chromebook. But if you really need something that'll last long, an Intel Macbook, running Boot Camp with Windows on it will last you ages. But if you still go for a chromebook, the cheapest ones perform really similarly to the most expensive ones.

[johncayding]

4 minutes ago, johncayding said:

The hard truth is, once you switch to chromebooks, you lose features. I understand you use GSuite, but being completely honest, those Windows laptops are better. If they're becoming slow, if the RAM is upgradable, upgrade it, and if it's using a HDD, switch it to an SSD. That'll speed it up for cheaper than a chromebook. But if you really need something that'll last long, an Intel Macbook, running Boot Camp with Windows on it will last you ages. But if you still go for a chromebook, the cheapest ones perform really similarly to the most expensive ones.

Also, if it's about the Windows 10 end of life, and they don't support 11, you can very easily bypass the restricions. Using rufus, it's a click and you're done.

[gszech]

6 minutes ago, johncayding said:

The hard truth is, once you switch to chromebooks, you lose features. I understand you use GSuite, but being completely honest, those Windows laptops are better. If they're becoming slow, if the RAM is upgradable, upgrade it, and if it's using a HDD, switch it to an SSD. That'll speed it up for cheaper than a chromebook. But if you really need something that'll last long, an Intel Macbook, running Boot Camp with Windows on it will last you ages. But if you still go for a chromebook, the cheapest ones perform really similarly to the most expensive ones.

Op: "Recommend good Staff Chromebooks"

Reply: Windows...

[Sonic007]

Thankyou. It isn't anything to do with Windows 10 EOL. 

We simply have hardware that is becoming too old now and even with SSD's and RAM, they are failing.

Macbooks would simply confuse our current users and I can assure you they would not want to be running Bootcamp for Windows. I see no point in buying a Mac to run Windows.

 

What features do you lose when you switch from Windows to a Chromebook?

99% of our staff use Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides and that is all they do.

 

Classrooms have got Windows PC's if they need anything Windows based.

 

gszech, I will check out the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus. Thankyou.

Edited October 17, 2025 by Sonic007

[HC_Netman]

Our staff are running pretty much entry level Chromebooks from Acer, Asus, Dell and HP. We rarely spend much more than £200 on a device and our staff love them. We get very positive feedback and most say they wouldn't go back to a Windows laptop. As a Google school any features you lose are not going to be important. Chromebooks are easy to manage and easy to use, what more could you ask for.

 

I guess its not the direct recommendation you asked for but you can't really go far wrong whether you buy at the cheap end or spend a little more.

[Primus]

18 minutes ago, johncayding said:

The hard truth is, once you switch to chromebooks, you lose features. I understand you use GSuite, but being completely honest, those Windows laptops are better. If they're becoming slow, if the RAM is upgradable, upgrade it, and if it's using a HDD, switch it to an SSD. That'll speed it up for cheaper than a chromebook. But if you really need something that'll last long, an Intel Macbook, running Boot Camp with Windows on it will last you ages. But if you still go for a chromebook, the cheapest ones perform really similarly to the most expensive ones.

Boot Camp only supports up to Windows 10 officially.

[TheHyperTechie]

Acer 515 Chromebook Plus, specifically either the i5 or i3 model. A few of our staff have them and they are very good quality. They also have auto updates for 6 years, so technically as long as they stay in good shape, I wont be looking to replace them any time soon.

 

 

[gszech]

11 minutes ago, HC_Netman said:

Our staff are running pretty much entry level Chromebooks from Acer, Asus, Dell and HP. We rarely spend much more than £200 on a device and our staff love them. We get very positive feedback and most say they wouldn't go back to a Windows laptop. As a Google school any features you lose are not going to be important. Chromebooks are easy to manage and easy to use, what more could you ask for.

 

I guess its not the direct recommendation you asked for but you can't really go far wrong whether you buy at the cheap end or spend a little more.

 

This simply cannot be true! Your current setup is clearly flawed because it focuses on ease of use, low cost, and simple management. You’re missing the point! The real value is in the time-sink required to maintain a complex ecosystem and the exquisite cost of proprietary software.

[gszech]

5 minutes ago, HyperTech said:

Acer 515 Chromebook Plus, specifically either the i5 or i3 model. A few of our staff have them and they are very good quality. They also have auto updates for 6 years, so technically as long as they stay in good shape, I wont be looking to replace them any time soon.

 

 

Got some good news for you. New Chromebook devices receive 10 years of updates. https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366

[synaesthesia]

Spot the AI spammer!  

[TheHyperTechie]

1 minute ago, synaesthesia said:

Spot the AI spammer!  

Joined: 37 minutes ago 🤖

[msi_school]

The Chromebook Plus models are all very good, most of them come in 16:10 which causes the 16:9 display screens to letterbox which causes issues

Edited October 17, 2025 by msi_school

[synaesthesia]

We've been buying Asus 14" models for our 6th formers and they're fairly decent, especially for very minimal cost. I'm not sure what the current equivalent would be, but last year we bought them HP X360 chromebooks and those are very lovely and very handy! We had the lower end spec though, so would spec up just in case.

And plenty of chromebooks are upgradeable in terms of RAM and some SSD too, just to piddle on the bot's parade a bit there

[Sonic007]

My only problem is finding a way to print.

Currently on my Windows laptops, the users username matches the name on their account on the printer and they login and can print. Not sure how I will do printing with Chromebooks.

Edited October 17, 2025 by Sonic007

[Zoom7000]

I haven't kept up with specific models, but from experience, I would say avoid entry level cheap Chromebooks for staff. They're great for students, but tend to struggle or simply take too long when you try more staff oriented productivity. Always go for a Chromebook Plus model, with at least an i3 or i5 (or equivalent) CPU. Try to go for at least 8GB RAM. You don't really need to worry about storage space if they are properly managed in a Google Workspace environment.

[TheHyperTechie]

4 minutes ago, Sonic007 said:

My only problem is finding a way to print.

Currently on my Windows laptops, the users username matches the name on their account on the printer and they login and can print. Not sure how I will do printing with Chromebooks.

Take a look at Papercut mobility print (its free!) - https://www.papercut.com/products/free-software/mobility-print/