Netbook, Chromebook, Low End Laptop?

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rightisright
Posts: 4287
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:41 pm

Netbook, Chromebook, Low End Laptop?

Post by rightisright »

So Xmas is around the corner and I've been w. my girl sufficiently long enough that I need to get her something. Nothing too romantic, mind you! 8-)

She currently shares a laptop w. her high school aged son. She tells me she rarely uses it outside of a basic spreadsheet and word processing for work (she cleans houses... no employees (I'm working on that!!) and for Facebook/net surfing/shopping.

They have Fios at their place and she has expressed interest in being able to watch TV in her bed at night. I don't know if Fios offers a program for that or not. I have Optimum and can watch all my channels on my iPad as long as I am connected to my "home network".

So she doesn't need high end graphics or a wiz-bang chip. But she wants a keyboard for typing ease. I would think a stand alone keyboard would also work, so that doesn't rule out tablets...

Any ideas? Anything in the $2-300 range?
tfbncc
Posts: 896
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 2:00 am

Re: Netbook, Chromebook, Low End Laptop?

Post by tfbncc »

The Acer C7 Chromebook is what my daughter wants. Her desktop computer died several months ago, so now she has to share with me.

The C7 is the first Chromebook with a built in 320gb hard drive along with an intel chipset, so it should also be possible to load windows onto it. The keyboard has gotten decent reviews as far as ultra small and light machines go. Since this machine has the HD instead of memory card storage, the battery life isn't quite as long as the other Chromebooks, about 3.5 to 4 hours. However, unlike the first gen of chromebooks, this battery can be swapped out to extend the life. The reason why we decided on the Chromebook was she doesn't have to worry about replacing software and re-installing everything if the hard drive dies on her. Comes with 2 years of 100gb free cloudspace (online storage). Priced at $199.00 from Google or Best Buy.

If and when the daughter unit gets a job, then she will buy the gaming desktop she has an eye on. For now, the Chromebook will get her back online so she can talk to her friends.
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