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Old 08-30-2014, 10:21 AM   #21
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I don't have a chromebook yet but I love chrome the browser. I got chrome and cleaned up my hard drive. I feel like I have a new computer now.
+1

I have found the Chrome browser to be very fast.

I would not recommend a Chromebook to many people here, but if you wish to just read e-mail, look up article in the paper, view Youtube videos or Netflix streaming, or just look up recipes for preparing the 4 pounds of fish your brother-in-law purchased caught, the Chromebook is great, IMHO.

Security is always updated and if you suspect your Chromebook has been violated there is a 'power wash' setting that will restore it to original status. IOW, a factory reset.
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Old 08-30-2014, 10:27 AM   #22
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Thanks for the info on Chrome book. I've never touched one so interesting read. I will consider that as an option. Agree I did IT crap for 30 years, I hate supporting myself.

Far as cloud, everything will be there eventually. There are too many cost savings for those that build/deploy and support software for it not to work. Do I care if my harddrive is on my desk or in a tier 4 data center? No I care the data are available, secure, and redundant copies exist. Major companies are moving that direction.

Now, will the cloud be implemented exactly as it is today? Very doubtful in my mind. There's too many legal issues today. Too many countries that want their data to be stored on their soil, for valid reasons. I see what we have today as the beginning, see what's there in 5 years.

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Old 08-30-2014, 10:43 AM   #23
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Chromebooks are so inexpensive, you can get one and try it for six months or a year to see what you think.

I just talked my phone company rep into thinking about one for her soon-to-be college son. No, I am not a Chrome company person - I'm ER!
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Old 08-30-2014, 10:54 AM   #24
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I wasn't a fan of chrome books but I just wiped and factory reset a netbook for a niece. She had malware on it within 5 minutes.

The extra robustness of a chrome book sounds appealing but unfortunately it won't work since she doesn't have internet at home.

Maybe I should have installed linux instead? or disabled her admin privileges? or maybe the malware can be a learning experience for her?
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Old 08-30-2014, 11:26 AM   #25
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or disabled her admin privileges?
+1

Bingo. Most malware needs to run with administrator powers to get itself installed.

But, then every time she wants to make a change, she will be at your door asking for help.
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Old 08-30-2014, 11:51 AM   #26
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+1
But, then every time she wants to make a change, she will be at your door asking for help.
Yeah that's why I didn't want to restrict her privileges. But I didn't expect her computer to get compromised so fast. All she was trying to do was download iTunes and somehow went to a third party site instead of apple.
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Old 08-30-2014, 02:55 PM   #27
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I've been looking at Chromebooks for a while but haven't got one yet. At least once a week or so, Woot offers an HP Chromebook for $199 that includes free 4G (T-Mobile HSPA+) for life. It's capped at 200MB per month, which isn't much, but presumably you'd only use it when not in a WiFi area, which for me at least is very seldom. And it's free. For life. I'd like to use it for couch browsing and travel. Don't think it would suit my needs for much more than that. But it should run faster and hold a charge longer than my clunky old laptop.

The Chrome browser is rock solid, with a great selection of add-ons and extensions. IE has been a train wreck for more than a decade and Firefox had become a memory hog. Chrome is fast, secure, and customizable. Google services are getting better and better at actually making things easier to do and anticipating what information I need and when.

I build high-performance desktop PCs as a hobby. I use the latest build for 90% of my computing needs, which includes audio recording and digital video editing, along with the usual browsing, email, and spreadsheets. I only use a laptop for it's intended purpose, which is casual computing at locations other than my desk... and usually for something I can't do on my smartphone (which is becoming less and less over time). The form factor I like the best for this are powerful tablets with a detachable keyboard dock. But I haven't purchased one of those yet either.

Traditional laptops IMHO are an obsolete design. They attempted to replicate the power and flexibility of a desktop, in a physical package that could not handle the demand. This became worse as people wanted smaller and thinner designs. They run hot, slow, and the screen is too small for my 53 year-old eyes. I'll take my three 22" monitors and a high-performance desktop PC any day.

As for data storage, I agree with a prior post that external drives are so cheap, it's difficult to understand the cost rationale for cloud storage. The reason I think people like me will eventually embrace the cloud is because you want your data everywhere you go. Not just at home. And there's no reason to clutter up all your devices with duplicate data. For my mobile needs, the Chromeback/Cloud concept looks pretty appealing. For my non-mobile, resource-intensive needs, I'll keep building desktops PCs.
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Old 08-30-2014, 03:45 PM   #28
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Of course you are trading privacy for the low cost.

Google depends on data mining to serve up advertising. The data it collects is a treasure for its advertising clients.

Google removes apps from the Play Store which try to block other apps from collecting your data:

Why Some Privacy Apps Get Blocked From the Android Play Store - Digits - WSJ

A new case is that the Facebook Messenger app may be accessing your contacts and messages without you giving explicit permission.
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Old 08-31-2014, 08:31 AM   #29
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The problm I have with Google Drive is that you can not password protect the files.
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Old 08-31-2014, 08:31 AM   #30
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Of course you are trading privacy for the low cost.

A new case is that the Facebook Messenger app may be accessing your contacts and messages without you giving explicit permission.
I thought privacy went out with the buggy whip.
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Old 08-31-2014, 08:40 AM   #31
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The problm I have with Google Drive is that you can not password protect the files.

I don't think of it as an all-or-nothing proposition. 99% of my files anyone could look at and I wouldn't care. The others can go to the desktop or yet-to-be-determined solution.
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Old 08-31-2014, 09:35 AM   #32
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I don't think of it as an all-or-nothing proposition. 99% of my files anyone could look at and I wouldn't care. The others can go to the desktop or yet-to-be-determined solution.
I feel the same about my 1,000's of files and photos in my back up. Not many are that important where I have a big worry about security. Looking at the files today, I see a lot of old pdf receipt copies, w*rk files (??), general correspondence, and a bunch of junk). Matter of fact, I really can just trash 95% of that and no one will ever know or care.

My biggest concerns are tax files and financial statements, both of which are stored on my NAS or on a flash drive. Actually, the financial statements are online at the institutions and I make copies and save them.
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Old 09-03-2014, 08:11 AM   #33
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Update to migration from MS environment to Google Chrome.

I have successfully installed the ChromeBox and Wireless printer

Observations.

Installation process - plug everything into the USB/HDMI etc.. ports on the ChromeBox. Turn it on, it will update itself - takes 5 min. It finds everything on its own w/o interaction - Done!

Wireless printer - follow the instructions on the printer - join the cloud. Done maybe 10 min. Share printer with peoples gmail address.

Added a new ChromeBook, looks like a laptop w/ 13.3" LCD, to the home network last night - 5 min to follow the setup screens and another 5 to update the book. - Done

Added app for Kindle to print in the google print cloud

maintenance going forward - none!

Next steps

Cancel Norton contract.
Enjoy


Overall I am very happy I did a streaming video session with Vanguard yesterday and it was fast and flawless.
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Old 09-03-2014, 12:14 PM   #34
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Based on this thread I just got home now with a new Chromebook!! So far so good. I'm actually tab-casting via Chromecast on my TV now.

I've been in the Google cloud for almost two years and wanted to see if I could live without MS or other downloaded applications....looks like it's so!
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Old 09-03-2014, 12:39 PM   #35
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The problm I have with Google Drive is that you can not password protect the files.
You give access to files by their gmail email account. I give access at the folder level. The Google drive may be a temporary holding spot and I may not give rights to it. I am putting the pictures and videos on two external drives. One goes in a firebox and will be updated once in a while, like after a big trip.

You do not need to put any files in the cloud if you do not want to.

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Office Transformation with ChromeBox
Old 09-04-2014, 06:49 AM   #36
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Office Transformation with ChromeBox

Office transformation. Everything is behind the monitor - Cable modem/External HD/Wireless Router. The small grey box with the white light is the ChromeBox. Notice the right side is empty - that is where the old MS system was.

Also the keyboard and mouse is a wireless team and uses one USB port.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Chromebox3.jpg (182.9 KB, 28 views)
File Type: jpg Chrombox1.jpg (164.0 KB, 24 views)
File Type: jpg Chromebox2.jpg (192.7 KB, 22 views)
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Old 09-04-2014, 08:32 AM   #37
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Office transformation. Everything is behind the monitor - Cable modem/External HD/Wireless Router. The small grey box with the white light is the ChromeBox. Notice the right side is empty - that is where the old MS system was.

Also the keyboard and mouse is a wireless team and uses one USB port.
Obviously, you are one happy camper!!
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Old 09-04-2014, 08:38 AM   #38
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Office transformation. Everything is behind the monitor - Cable modem/External HD/Wireless Router. The small grey box with the white light is the ChromeBox. Notice the right side is empty - that is where the old MS system was.

Also the keyboard and mouse is a wireless team and uses one USB port.
Nice! That's the way I'm heading once my custom XP box dies (and it is working on that happening).
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Old 09-04-2014, 11:58 AM   #39
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When I need a traditional PC (local storage), I use Linux. Even then, I leverage google apps and Dropbox for many things.

For smaller devices, we use Chromebooks and tablets running Android.

You can't pay me to mess with a Windows operating system.
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Old 09-05-2014, 06:21 AM   #40
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You can't pay me to mess with a Windows operating system.
Same here. But sometimes I have to rescue relatives.
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