Saying “Chromebooks are … built like shit” is so incredibly reductive and disingenuous. Don’t buy the cheapest and you won’t have that problem.
Why is it that every time these threads come up, people compare $199 devices with $1999 Macbooks and expect their criticisms to be as if both were on equal footing?
Up until recently, and still applies to many, chromebooks had a rather short shelf life before “expiring”. You could buy a new Chrombook with like 2 or less years of support before it became e-waste. Like wouldn’t even support video streaming and no security updates.
Even on previous macOS versions they still receive security updates for a while as does Windows. Plus the lifespan is rather large with a 5-6yo intel Macbook receiving the upcoming OS release later this year.
Its not just a $199 vs $1999 laptop issue, its an ecosystem issue as well.
Are there more expensive Chromebooks with better build quality?
Genuine questions. My impression was that they pretty much only serve the ultra low end market, but I’ve never really looked into it because I need to do heavier tasks on my computers.
To take a more luxury approach, Framework has a chromebook edition of their laptop, which has the same hardware except a different motherboard firmware as chromebooks require a titan chip onboard.
You’re right, they make premium ones too. I just started seeing these. Do you know if they offer more features other than build quality/screen quality/etc? I would imagine the Chromebooks would have battery life advantages at least over a windows PC equivalent.
Probably only due to a less bloated OS, as high and chromebooks run standard pc laptop parts. Would be similar to min maxing battery by optimizing a linux distro.
Saying “Chromebooks are … built like shit” is so incredibly reductive and disingenuous. Don’t buy the cheapest and you won’t have that problem.
Why is it that every time these threads come up, people compare $199 devices with $1999 Macbooks and expect their criticisms to be as if both were on equal footing?
Up until recently, and still applies to many, chromebooks had a rather short shelf life before “expiring”. You could buy a new Chrombook with like 2 or less years of support before it became e-waste. Like wouldn’t even support video streaming and no security updates.
Even on previous macOS versions they still receive security updates for a while as does Windows. Plus the lifespan is rather large with a 5-6yo intel Macbook receiving the upcoming OS release later this year.
Its not just a $199 vs $1999 laptop issue, its an ecosystem issue as well.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/393324/77-chromebooks-you-shouldnt-buy-why-googles-expiration-dates-matter.html
Are there more expensive Chromebooks with better build quality?
Genuine questions. My impression was that they pretty much only serve the ultra low end market, but I’ve never really looked into it because I need to do heavier tasks on my computers.
There are Chromebooks that do approach 1000$.
To take a more luxury approach, Framework has a chromebook edition of their laptop, which has the same hardware except a different motherboard firmware as chromebooks require a titan chip onboard.
You’re right, they make premium ones too. I just started seeing these. Do you know if they offer more features other than build quality/screen quality/etc? I would imagine the Chromebooks would have battery life advantages at least over a windows PC equivalent.
Probably only due to a less bloated OS, as high and chromebooks run standard pc laptop parts. Would be similar to min maxing battery by optimizing a linux distro.