[Lilug] Chromebook Question

[Anthony Biondo]

I've got a dell chromebook 13, I don't use chrome OS on it at all though.  I flashed on SeaBIOS and installed Debian Testing.  I upgraded the storage to 256gb with an M.2 ssd. It's surprisingly powerful, and it's completely replaced my desktop for daily use.  It can run gnome3, a browser, things like LaTeX, etc., without issue - it's a pretty good machine.

Things to look out for: ARM chromebooks aren't very powerful and are harder to put a full Linux distribution on, mine has an intel core i3 (5th gen, I think).  Some chromebooks have eMMC storage that is very slow and not upgradable, mine has an M.2 slot that let me upgrade it.  Also, some of the less expensive ones have TN displays which aren't very pleasant to look at and have a bad viewing angle, I am partial to my Dell's 1080p IPS display.

-Tony

Sent from my mobile device.

> On Oct 29, 2016, at 12:29 PM, Christopher Merlo <cmerlo441 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi everybody.  Long time, no post.  I've been living a virtually 100% Apple lifestyle lately - three Macs, iPhone, Apple Watch - and so, other than my server at school, I haven't had a lot of Linux in my life lately.
> 
> But the latest couple of announcements from the Apple Adapter Company might change that for me.  The OLED strip on the new MacBook Pros just isn't enough to make me overlook all the other anti-Pro decisions they seem to have made.  I'm not running out today to sell my Macs, but when the time comes, I don't think I'll be replacing them with Macs.
> 
> Which brings me to my question.  If I invest in a really powerful desktop machine for home, what's the feasibility of spending a whole lot less on a Chromebook (I already use things like Google Docs a bit anyway), and using Crouton to switch to an X environment and ssh into home for the hard stuff, like running LaTeX or compiling code?  Is anyone doing that?  Should I think about splitting the money differently, and getting a nicer laptop?  Maybe spend a lot on a laptop, use that for everything, and just get a nice monitor for home?
> 
> Thanks in advance for your thoughts.  I've probably got a couple of years before I have to decide.
> -Chris
> 
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