Chrome will bring about the ICT revolution in schools

[localzuk]

Chromebook manufacturers really need to start using better quality screens!

 

Change that to Laptop manufacturers and I agree. I'm sick of 1366x768 resolution screens. They're worse now than they were when I bought my uni laptop, years ago (in terms of resolution at least).

[rich_tech]

I own a chromebook nowadays, ironically as well, after asking advice on here and other forums and having major misgivings about HP in the past, I plumped for a white HP one! Shock Horror !

 

From my experience of it, I think their not bad, I would even say its "Good" here but there are a few "Buts" as already pointed out,

 

RAM is a massive issue, 2gb isnt great at all, every bit of research I did reported back that they slowed down on 2gb so I wanted to avoid that, 4gb is generally the acceptable minimum amount of RAM these days, thats what drove me to HP as it is the only 4gb model in the UK , UK lines and availability are very poor too compared to US in Retail, they dont offer the 4gb variants with the models that you get in the US.

 

Have to agree with @localzuk too, resolution is an issue too, I had a 9 year old Sony Vaio laptop in work until it died a few months back, I mourned it as, this thing was made in 2005 was top of the line and had a 1920x1200 resolution, you think that manufacturers would have cottoned on and caught up with that at least now as a standard, 1366x768 isnt good and I spend a good whack of my time pushing tabs to the Lounge TV here to get a decent size with the chromecast, the alternative resolution available on mine which is higher, looks horrible with the screen as well which doesnt help.

 

I have a Celeron based unit and thats strangely not offputting on this model, as it doesnt behave like previous celerons i.e. awful, I wouldnt know about ARM based ones though here, thats something I would avoid on a personal choice basis

[gshaw]

Change that to Laptop manufacturers and I agree. I'm sick of 1366x768 resolution screens. They're worse now than they were when I bought my uni laptop, years ago (in terms of resolution at least).

 

In Google's position trying to gain market share would've made sense to mandate a certain level of quality to distance themselves from "legacy" kit. Would've been a strong selling point if they could say the money saved on the OS was going towards higher quality components. As it stands that doesn't seem to be the case.

[caffrey]

I like these, not sure why but I do, quite cheap too

 

Hands-on: LG Chromebase review - Pocket-lint

[Arthur]

As it stands that doesn't seem to be the case.

I thought computers were meant to improve over time, but it looks like HP has different ideas. The second gen. HP Chromebook 11 is worse than its predecessor in almost every way.

 

HP Chromebook 11 G2 on the way, for better or worse « Liliputing

 

HP launched its first 11 inch Chromebook in late 2013, offering a portable Chrome OS laptop with a low-power Samsung Exynos 5 dual-core CPU, a nice IPS display, and a compact, attractive case designed with input from Google.

 

Now it looks like HP is redesigning the HP Chromebook 11… although it’s not clear that the new HP Chromebook 11 G2 is an improvement over the original.

 

Like last year’s model, the new HP Chromebook 11 G2 features a Samsung Exynos 5250 dual-core ARM Cortex-A15 CPU, an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of storage.

 

But the new model doesn't have the same IPS display with wide viewing angles as its predecessor. And while the original HP Chromebook 11 weighed 2.3 pounds, the new model starts at 2.95 pounds. It’s also 0.8 inches thick instead of 0.6 inches.

 

HP has also redesigned the case to make it look more like the larger HP Chromebook 14 and less like a tiny, cheap sibling to the Google Chromebook Pixel.

 

In other words, the new model is thicker and heavier than last year’s Chromebook 11, isn’t any faster, and has a screen that some folks will find inferior. Hopefully that means HP also plans to offer the Chromebook 11 G2 for a lower price.

[mac_shinobi]

I thought computers were meant to improve over time, but it looks like HP has different ideas. The second gen. HP Chromebook 11 is worse than its predecessor in almost every way.

 

HP Chromebook 11 G2 on the way, for better or worse « Liliputing

 

I was obviously wrong then as I thought that the general consensus was that technology over time meant that it improved / progressed and went forwards

[Arthur]

Why are bloggers and journalists still spreading misleading information about Chromebook sales figures?

 

Are Chromebooks the new Netbooks, and what does that mean? « Howtogeek

 

Chromebook sales numbers seem surprisingly high. NPD reported that Chromebooks were 21% of all notebooks sold in the US in 2013. If you combine laptop and tablet sales into a single statistic, Chromebooks were 9.6% of all those devices sold. That’s 2/3 as many Chromebooks sold as iPads in the US!

 

^ That's not what NPD reported at all.

 

Media reports two weeks ago that Chromebooks had had a successful 2013 drew criticism from analysts, including one whose data sparked the coverage.

 

"There has been a ton of misreporting as many lazy reporters and bloggers have characterized this as all sales, which it wasn't, or even consumer sales, which it most assuredly was not," said Stephen Baker of the NPD Group, in an email reply to questions. "It has been very personally distressing to me that so many reporters/bloggers refuse to read, or don't know what commercial channels mean."

 

Baker was referring to information NPD released Dec. 23 that said Chromebooks accounted for 21% of all U.S. notebook sales through the commercial retail channel for the first 11 months of 2013.

 

In his email, Baker defined the commercial channel as the distributors -- like CDW and Ingram Micro -- that many businesses, government agencies, schools and other organizations use to buy personal computers and other devices. His data did not include consumer sales, nor PCs sold by OEMs, such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, directly to businesses. (Source)

[Arthur]

Google uses disruptive 'poem' tech to announce new Chromebook availability « The Register

 

Google has announced that Chromebooks will soon be available to buy in nine more countries.

 

The advertising company said on Monday that its eponymous key-slabs would soon be available in New Zealand, the Philippines, Norway, Denmark, Mexico, Chile, Belgium, Spain, and Italy.

 

"Chromebooks are coming to nine more nations to improve computing for all generations," the company's Director of Chromebook Marketing and Occasional Versifier, David Shapiro, wrote.

 

"When Chromebooks in these countries alight, We hope our new global friends find some computing delight."

 

The rest of the announcement was also in verse, which is a legacy technology used to animate scoundrels and damsels in old app-display devices called folios.

 

Google launched the Chromebooks in 2011. Sales haven't been huge – 45,000 were sold in Western Europe in the first quarter of 2014, but the company has high hopes the devices could do well in emerging markets.

 

@SYNACK. I wonder if Google would accept your iPads as payment for some shiny new Chromebooks?

[SYNACK]

Google uses disruptive 'poem' tech to announce new Chromebook availability « The Register

 

 

 

@SYNACK. I wonder if Google would accept your iPads as payment for some shiny new Chromebooks?

 

Hmmm, Google did put more than half a second into their deployment and management process so they would almost certainly be a less frustrating option

[Arthur]

Hasn't HP heard of the Trade Descriptions Act?

 

 

[Arthur]

Dell's Chromebook sales go crazy, so company halts sales « PC World

 

“Due to strong demand, the Dell Chromebook 11 is currently not available for order on Dell.com. It continues to be available for our education customers and can be ordered through their sales representative,” said Ellen Murphy, a Dell spokeswoman

[gshaw]

That looks a nice bit of kit, very slim looking much nicer than the HP version

[Sam_Brown]

This is some topic all right.

 

The thing I'm most amused about is how from this topic is very apparent how the younger generation don't seem to care about how their data is used by 3rd parties and they are pretty happy for them to have carte blanche with it.. This isn't just related to Chrome by the way but as a whole.

[Arthur]

At last! A 13" Chromebook with a 1080p IPS LCD and 4GB RAM.

 

Toshiba announces new Chromebook 2 line « AnandTech

 

Toshiba now provides a 1080p IPS screen on the higher end model that is worlds apart from the screen used in their original Chromebook.

 

[zag]

...with a terrible touchpad!

[Arthur]

...with a terrible touchpad!

You're probably right. There's bound to be corners cut elsewhere by the penny-pinching manufacturers.

[SYNACK]

You're probably right. There's bound to be corners cut elsewhere by the penny-pinching manufacturers.

 

 

1080p IPS, there goes the battery life, the poorly coloured postage stamps on the previous ones were at least a bit more energy efficient, more pixels to push round means more drain on the battery. Looks like the Dell Bingbook we got a hold of, much nicer but heavier and less runtime than the little equivalent.

[rich_tech]

I have a HP 14" chromebook which is very good aside from the few small niggles, i.e. the colour (white was the best of the bad options for me) and RAM options in the UK (this was the only 4gb chromebook) when I bought this, thats the only other thing I felt let the chromebook down - the resolutions available, the panel isnt "bad" imo for a cheap one, it displays everything with clarity, just the resolution options are appalling I think, this one comes with two options 1366x768 which is default and theres a larger option on it of 1536x864 which is pointless as it looks absolutely terrible at that resolution. Even 1600x900 would be a blessing by comparison with the favourites bad on here, everything looks a little squished when browsing, the bars could all do with reducing in size too in the ChromeOS and the address bars the same.

 

That being said, I like the look of the toshiba and its nice to see some larger options becoming available regarding the RAM and flash, but I am not wasteful enough to bin off a laptop and buy new for the sake of it, i tend to hold on to all my purchases until they die a horrible death in old age here.

[Arthur]

Three and a half years on from when this thread started it looks like the ICT revolution is finally happening.

 

Google sold more Chromebooks to US schools than Apple did iPads in Q3

 

According to the latest data from IDC, Google, for the first time ever, has overtaken Apple in United States schools. The research firm claims that Google shipped 715,000 Chromebooks to schools in the third quarter, while Apple shipped 702,000 iPads to schools. Chromebooks as a whole now account for a quarter of the educational market (via FT).

 

IDC says that the lower-cost of Chromebooks when compared to iPads is a huge factor for school districts. Chromebooks start at $199, while last year’s iPad Air, with educational discounts applied, costs $379. The research firm also says that many school corporations prefer the full keyboard found on Chromebooks instead of the touchscreen found on iPads. Some schools that use iPads, however, supply students with a keyboard case as well, but that only further increases the cost of iPads compared to Chromebooks. IT departments also tend to favor Chromebooks because they are simpler to manage when compared to iPads.

[zag]

Yes we've recently been testing the chromebooks, they are really really good! It actually makes me secretly wish we had google apps instead of office 365!!

 

I was very surprised in fact. Its certainly the future if we can find a way to cloud host our students "my documents".

Edited December 1, 2014 by zag

[TIOAOA]

Chromebooks start at $199

 

Its a shame we can't get this type of price in the UK

[NotSoFast]

Our Acer C720s were £145...

[matt40k]

Our Acer C720s were £145...

 

Ouch! You can get a Windows 8.1 laptop for less then that and its got a touch screen!! - Linx 10.1" Tablet Bundle with... | LINX10B/BUN@BUN | £141.66 | Insight UK

[NotSoFast]

Touche'. :-) I have to say I was attracted to Chromebooks by the price but it's the simplicity, battery life and speed of boot that I love. I am wondering about some of these new,cheap Windows devices but I don't know how well they stack up on those points.

[zag]

Touche'. :-) I have to say I was attracted to Chromebooks by the price but it's the simplicity, battery life and speed of boot that I love. I am wondering about some of these new,cheap Windows devices but I don't know how well they stack up on those points.

 

Having used one for a week now I am totally convinced this is the future in education! The simplicity of the things is amazing, no problems with security, no problems with installing software, it just works. The boot time and battery life are out of this world!

 

Very impressive I must say.