So my 4 year old macbook finally crapped out (thank god). I've been tired of that overpriced piece of junk reminding me how much of a waste of money it was.

But now I do need some kind of portable device to supplement my desktop. The more I'm reading about Chromebooks the more I think it would be a perfect fit. I don't need ~1k laptop that can do everything my desktop can but slower, all I need is something that I can use to write papers, do school work, and browse the interwebs. Being that I have already been using google docs/spreadsheets for over a year now the inability to use Office/Excell/Powerpoint doesn't affect me at all. I only want this for school work and web browsing, no gaming. I don't use iTunes or photoshop either, so that incompatibility doesn't affect me.

All in all, combined with my self-build desktop I think this Acer C720 Chromebook fits my needs perfectly and is amazingly cheaper than most laptops on the market today. Opinions?

I own the Chromebook 11 since it's been out. I'll tell you the same thing I said in the previous similar thread.

Chrome OS is not Windows or MAC OS. That's what most people don't realize every time they buy one. Since you've using GDocs too, you won't complain about the missing features compared to Office. I use it for the exact same purpose, and don't worry about watching videos since you can play 1080p videos without any lag. I also really love the fact that you can simply shut it down and turn it back on within 15 sec, so if you need it just for a quick look at something, it doesn't become a pain in the ass to turn it on just for a few minutes.

If you have any direct question about the Chromebook just PM me. I've been using it a LOT the last semester and it never let me down at all. For $300, I'm a happy customer.

I don't even think Chromebooks are worth the money. Get a cheap Windows laptop since you don't need all the bells and whistles. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 3TX1UM0061

Could you expand more on your reasons for your opinion?

My only problem with buying that laptop specified there is I'll be paying 600 dollars more for features that I flat out do not need or do not use. I don't disagree with the arguments against Chromebooks just that the negatives it imposes doesn't affect me/matter to me at all. If I was buying my only computer I wouldn't buy a Chromebook but this is only supplementary to my desktop when needed for school/work and for browsing interwebs. With that in mind it doesn't seem logical to buy a traditional OS using laptop for 3x the price.

My reasoning behind the Chromebooks not being worth it, is because they're so under powered. While Google Drive is pretty robust, they are still lacking features in their Word, Excel, PowerPoint versions. Chromebook is a 24/7 Chrome browser so you are also limited to whatever apps you find on the app-store. You could always buy a netbook and use Ubuntu rather than Windows on it.

http://www.microcenter.com/search/searc ... cro-Center

Ubuntu F*CKING blows in the long run. Used it for a year for my school laptop, will never use it again.

Since you mentioned it lacks some of the features in Google Docs (which is true), it has the essentials if you don't need to go too deep in the softwares. I only type shits and work with basic tables. Google Docs is plenty enough.

It is also true there is not a lot of applications. The Chrome OS is updated a lot (nearly every week or so), and so are the apps. All I need is stuff for school, so Drive, Docs, Gmail, and a web browser. Just in case I'm away and need to download stuff (like when I was on my navy contract this last summer), I used a solid application for torrents, and bought a good external hard drive for movies and stuff.

Over all, I paid for a $300 laptop that does exactly all I need, nothing more. The OS is lightning fast, the colors are great, the battery lasts the whole day, and it's super easy to format the laptop if it gets any slow after months of usage since everything is saved on Drive. + Google's customer service is insanely great. I'll definitely stick with my Chromebook.

I have been using Ubuntu daily at work and at home for the last 4 years and its by far the best move I have made. Not sure what long run you are looking at. I also run 300+ servers using Ubuntu. I have 3 media pcs at home running Ubuntu + XBMC & an NFS server running Ubuntu to save all my media on.