Chromebook replacement

What works, and doesn't, for you. Be specific, and please include Distro version.


Moderator: Forum moderators

Post Reply
N97
Posts: 118
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2024 3:27 am
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 20 times

Chromebook replacement

Post by N97 »

computer is Intel n97, (GMKtec G5, no ssd, no OS) ~ 130 US
Input is Rii i8+ (Touchpad/KB/mouse buttons) ~ 17 US
Monitor is 14" 1920x1200 (zeus) ~ 75 US

This set up needs a sanDisk USB3.1 stubby or two ~15US uSDHC slot is USB2.0!

Better, IMHO than a chromebook of equal price. Though not potable. therein is the trade-off.

R-pi's still need an external monitor and Power Supply.

Last edited by N97 on Fri Feb 07, 2025 1:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

From Netscape to AI scrape. We're running short of bandages.

User avatar
wiak
Posts: 4300
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2019 6:10 am
Location: Packing - big job
Has thanked: 70 times
Been thanked: 1288 times
Contact:

Re: Chromebook replacement

Post by wiak »

I've actually been checking out some Chromebook specs recently, but I have to say that I am not impressed with what they have to offer cpu-wise and so on.

That relatively modern N97 chip you mention seems much more useful whilst very low power/energy resource using. Reminds me of the older intel-core-m38100y: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en ... tions.html albeit N97 has four cores (compared to M3 two cores) and more L3 cache (6MB compared to M3 4MB) and bit faster clock speed.

Obviously that M3 (not to be confused with Apple M3) is not go to impress anyone using a modern Intel i5 or i7 and similar, but using forum distros we can certainly still get a great deal of use out of computers using very low energy consuming processors like that.

https://www.tinylinux.info/
DOWNLOAD wd_multi for hundreds of 'distros' at your fingertips: viewtopic.php?p=99154#p99154
Αξίζει να μεταφραστεί;

dancytron
Posts: 770
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2019 6:26 pm
Has thanked: 572 times
Been thanked: 243 times

Re: Chromebook replacement

Post by dancytron »

They are designed to work for a whole school day without needing to be recharged, so low energy consumption is pretty much the most important hardware consideration.

ozsouth
Posts: 1700
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2020 2:38 am
Location: S.E. Australia
Has thanked: 257 times
Been thanked: 776 times

Re: Chromebook replacement

Post by ozsouth »

Yes all-day operation is the brief. As for tasks, it depends on needs. My Pentium N6000 Chromebook with 8Gb ram is fine. Very little lag. With Firefox, Thunderbird & mpv in the local Crostini container, there is occasional minor lag due to being unaccelerated in that. I have Softmaker Office in that too - is fine. The Chrome web browser is accelerated, so I stream video stuff with it. Security is updated every week, whereas in Puppy, it's all on me. I'm happy to use either, but Puppy is more challenging, as for the most part, ChromeOS just works. The Crostini container is like having a Debian Bookworm install complete with security updates. Only downsides are that apt is run manually & Crostini takes 30 sec to initiallise, but I have the main software I want, so rarely use apt. One could just use the Crostini container & never use ChromeOS components, but I like the best of both worlds on one machine. I don't even use the builtin VPN, or Gemini AI, but is good to have the options.

Last edited by ozsouth on Wed Jan 29, 2025 11:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
CatMan
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2024 9:59 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Chromebook replacement

Post by CatMan »

Raspberry Pi 5 or 500 would be my choice, I don't need to work on the move, so just being portable is sufficient. :thumbup:

N97
Posts: 118
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2024 3:27 am
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 20 times

Re: Chromebook replacement

Post by N97 »

1st post edited.

From Netscape to AI scrape. We're running short of bandages.

Post Reply

Return to “Hardware”