I purchased an Acer 720p off Ebay and so far it's great. It came with 4gb ram and the 32gb ssd. I really can't find specs for it anywhere as it's labelled as the 2848 model. I guess it's just another form of the 720p.
I immediately installed Ubuntu Crouton via Developer Mode (look it up if you haven't done so, but here's a link to get started - Install Ubuntu On Your Chromebook Using Crouton ~ Web Upd8: Ubuntu / Linux blog. Here's what Ubuntu is giving me that I couldn't get otherwise:
1. VLC player. Plays everything! And to go with that I was able to set-up...
2. Windows Shared Network drives in Dolphin File Manager. This would have been hard to swallow if I couldn't work this as I keep files on my server that I would need to move to the Chromebook. Sure Google Drive is an option, but that's basically uploading and downloading which tends to be slower than file transfers over a LAN line. It's so simple copying a file from my shared network drive to the Downloads directly via Ubuntu and then playing the file on VLC player or even loading it back in Chrome OS.
3. Minecraft. You need java to play Minecraft and Chrome OS isn't going to give it to you. Hence, Ubuntu.
4. Wine. A pretty good Windows emulator that can run your Windows software via Ubuntu.
Some of the cons I have towards the unit in general are as follows:
1. Touchpad. I've never been a touchpad user but I really dislike how it operates. Especially the two button right click function. Using ALT and clicking at least alleviates some of the issues, but the touchpad just feels cheap to me.
2. Apps and Games. Just lacking right now. Thankfully there's the linux library to the rescue.
3. Icon size. The screen is not as sharp as my Galaxy phone and the icons seem small, but it's not terrible.
I'm still getting used to working with it. I love the simplicity of just grabbing it and putting it on my lap to work. No heat, no fan and it weighs next to nothing. I'm been messing around with Ubuntu, wine and playonlinux trying to get some MMO games to work, but have had little success. I thought with the 4gb in ram I might have better success than some of the earlier reports with the 2gb models.
Also, the lack of 4g or LTE is not a huge issue as I can always use my phone to tether the wi-fi signal to the Chrome.
I immediately installed Ubuntu Crouton via Developer Mode (look it up if you haven't done so, but here's a link to get started - Install Ubuntu On Your Chromebook Using Crouton ~ Web Upd8: Ubuntu / Linux blog. Here's what Ubuntu is giving me that I couldn't get otherwise:
1. VLC player. Plays everything! And to go with that I was able to set-up...
2. Windows Shared Network drives in Dolphin File Manager. This would have been hard to swallow if I couldn't work this as I keep files on my server that I would need to move to the Chromebook. Sure Google Drive is an option, but that's basically uploading and downloading which tends to be slower than file transfers over a LAN line. It's so simple copying a file from my shared network drive to the Downloads directly via Ubuntu and then playing the file on VLC player or even loading it back in Chrome OS.
3. Minecraft. You need java to play Minecraft and Chrome OS isn't going to give it to you. Hence, Ubuntu.
4. Wine. A pretty good Windows emulator that can run your Windows software via Ubuntu.
Some of the cons I have towards the unit in general are as follows:
1. Touchpad. I've never been a touchpad user but I really dislike how it operates. Especially the two button right click function. Using ALT and clicking at least alleviates some of the issues, but the touchpad just feels cheap to me.
2. Apps and Games. Just lacking right now. Thankfully there's the linux library to the rescue.
3. Icon size. The screen is not as sharp as my Galaxy phone and the icons seem small, but it's not terrible.
I'm still getting used to working with it. I love the simplicity of just grabbing it and putting it on my lap to work. No heat, no fan and it weighs next to nothing. I'm been messing around with Ubuntu, wine and playonlinux trying to get some MMO games to work, but have had little success. I thought with the 4gb in ram I might have better success than some of the earlier reports with the 2gb models.
Also, the lack of 4g or LTE is not a huge issue as I can always use my phone to tether the wi-fi signal to the Chrome.
