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Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US

Lloydbm41

Lloydbm41

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DJLC said:
Mice are irrelevant with a touchscreen.
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Really? Ever tried using something that requires a precise touch point with your finger? Using an iPad for classes like CAD or art would be useless. Like trying to fingerprint the Mona Lisa.

DJLC said:
The cloud and a good network connection negate the need for local storage.
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If you have nothing but small files sure. But how long would it take for 30 kids to upload or download a 1gb file on your network? What happens when the schools server goes down? Nothing ever beats the ability to download data via USB or SD card, regardless what you believe.
DJLC said:
an HDMI cable is a little obsolete when you have AirPlay in the classroom.
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I brought up an HDMI cable because you can get one for a buck. You talk about airplay, whicj means buying a $69 old gen Apple TV or $129 new gen Apple TV.
I could have said buy a $30 Chromecast and have the same thing, but when it comes to schools you usually try to keep things as cheap as possible. Of course, wireless connections become useless when your WiFi goes down, so again, HDMI is the best bet.

DJLC said:
Notes app makes it very easy to take notes in class, with or without a physical keyboard.
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Sure. If you talk really slow or you don't give very many notes, I can believe that. Otherwise, you will never beat a real keyboard vs a piece of glass when trying to take notess from a college professor. In fact, by using an iPad to type on, I'm afraid you are hindering the future generation.
 
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epicrayban

epicrayban

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Lloydbm41 said:
You can't get a virus on Chrome OS, because Chrome OS can't execute programs. Chrome OS is at the very core, anti-virus.
The only thing that can happen are webpage hijacks/redirects depending on the websites you visit. i.e. Porn sites. These are trivial on a Chromebook though and simply require you to close the browser.
OSX and Windows are both extremely vulnerable to viruses compared to Chrome OS.
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Yeah, I'm just learning about this. VERY interesting information. Given that, I could see a Chrome OS computer in my future. But I'll see how Android apps bake on them first, and see where they take the hardware. I love my rMBP hardware. Screen, battery life (big yes), trackpad, keyboard, ease to carry, build quality, etc. If Google starts matching Apple in these areas while keeping the price down, there might be some big changes in my computing future.
 
Lloydbm41

Lloydbm41

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epicrayban said:
Yeah, I'm just learning about this. VERY interesting information. Given that, I could see a Chrome OS computer in my future. But I'll see how Android apps bake on them first, and see where they take the hardware. I love my rMBP hardware. Screen, battery life (big yes), trackpad, keyboard, ease to carry, build quality, etc. If Google starts matching Apple in these areas while keeping the price down, there might be some big changes in my computing future.
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I'm in the same boat. I'm waiting to buy a new Chromebook because I want to see how the apps integrate. I'm also waiting for a Pixel style Chromebook with touchscreen, high ppi, min of 4gb of ram and at least 2 USB c ports. Hopefully under $400
 
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jamezr

jamezr

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I have seen on some forums where they have cracked chromebooks open and installed bigger SSDs modules. That would be the ideal solution.
 
jamezr

jamezr

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tbayrgs said:
Well, except when you want to use it as an actual tablet. ;)
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yep they are going to be pros and cons. But at $199 versus $500 a lot of people seem to want to put up with the loss of tablet functions. Then an actual attached keyboard that you don't have to buy makes it an very good value. Some would even say it's easier to use than an external keyboard attached to a ipad. Especially on your lap
 
gotluck

gotluck

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tbayrgs said:
Well, except when you want to use it as an actual tablet. ;)
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hey the chromebook flip is mostly a tablet too! just cant detach the keyboard

https://store.google.com/product/asus_chromebook_flip

it is in the first group to get android app support too

I would like a chromeos tablet though. having full extension support in chrome on a tablet would be sweet. personally i dont need the keyboard, have plenty of computers for that
 
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jamezr

jamezr

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gotluck said:
well i suppose you could attempt to replace your mobile phone with a potato

I wager many people who use macs lightly dont even realize they could do everything they need with a chromebook
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I wonder how many mac users use chrome as their browser?
 
jamezr

jamezr

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gotluck said:
would be interesting to know! I'm sure if anyone has that info it is behind some paywall. Im having no luck with quick googling
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Here is one.......You know that HAS to include a lot of mac users...but this is desktop

ww-desktop-browser-apr-2016-640x371.png

http://arstechnica.com/business/201...xplorer-edge-browsers-first-time-statcounter/
 
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tbayrgs

tbayrgs

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jamezr said:
yep they are going to be pros and cons. But at $199 versus $500 a lot of people seem to want to put up with the loss of tablet functions. Then an actual attached keyboard that you don't have to buy makes it an very good value. Some would even say it's easier to use than an external keyboard attached to a ipad. Especially on your lap
Click to expand...

Oh I completely understand what you're saying... Need a 'tongue firmly planted in cheek emoji'. :p

For elementary and even middle school use I think a Chromebook is a better overall choice, even better if it has a touchscreen. My kids' school uses iPads and they're fine but they need to order keyboard cases to get there most out of them.

We have a couple Chromebooks at higher and my boys use them regularly but of you asked them to pick between those and their iPad, one guess what they'd rather have. ;)
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gotluck said:
hey the chromebook flip is mostly a tablet too! just cant detach the keyboard

https://store.google.com/product/asus_chromebook_flip

it is in the first group to get android app support too

I would like a chromeos tablet though. having full extension support in chrome on a tablet would be sweet. personally i dont need the keyboard, have plenty of computers for that
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the flip style devices, would much rather have a Surface Pro/iPad Pro style Chromebook personally.
 
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tbayrgs

tbayrgs

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gotluck said:
Oh yes! ^ for fun and browsing use, I would choose iPad too!
Click to expand...

Actually, they'd even pick it for much of their school work as they just prefer touchscreens. They've grown up with touchscreens all around them--it's their normal, where as my generation obviously grew up with a mouse/keyboard for everything.
 
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gotluck

gotluck

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tbayrgs said:
Actually, they'd even pick it for much of their school work as they just prefer touchscreens. They've grown up with touchscreens all around them--it's their normal, where as my generation obviously green up with a mouse/keyboard for everything.
Click to expand...

really? even for typing up word docs or google docs or whatever software they choose to write papers?

that blows me away. I have nothing but endless frustration trying to get formatting right, going back for edits for proofreading, im just less efficient.

I would agree that for everything that doesnt require heavy typing, Id rather be on a touchscreen (and Im 30!) And I consider ipad my main personal computer

Got my just over 2 year old son one of those $40 fire tablets to play with which he does love, but he goes bonkers going and messing with my old school desktop pc w/ mouse and keyboard- I tell him those are for dinosaurs! Curious how he is going to feel as he grows up
 
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tbayrgs

tbayrgs

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gotluck said:
really? even for typing up word docs or google docs or whatever software they choose to write papers?

that blows me away. I have nothing but endless frustration trying to get formatting right, going back for edits for proofreading, im just less efficient.

I would agree that for everything that doesnt require heavy typing, Id rather be on a touchscreen (and Im 30!)
Click to expand...

Oh they still like using a physical keyboard when lots of typing is required but they'd usually still use one with their iPads. They also use Macs and the aforementioned Chromebooks but I'll catch them trying to touch the screen before they realize what they're doing.

Considering how much I now use my iPP daily, I'm even catching myself touching my Mac screen on occasion. ☺️
 
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