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Are All Chromebooks Agonizingly Slow?
Old 06-12-2020, 09:38 AM   #1
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Are All Chromebooks Agonizingly Slow?

I have a late-model Acer Chromebook (specs below, pasted directly from the Amazon order description). I bought the Chromebook to replace a PC that was aging, but was still reasonably fast.

While I generally like the Chromebook (no need to update, protection from viruses etc.), I am IN AWE -- AWE, I TELL YOU! -- of how SLOW this Chromebook is. It takes probably 15 seconds to load a 7-page doc from Google Docs, for instance. It takes probably 8-10 seconds to load my Gmail.

I have very fast wireless internet, BTW -- around 150mbps.

Why is this Chromebook so slow? (Is it powered by hamster wheel or something?)

Are all Chromebooks this slow?

Can I get a faster one?

Help!

SPECS:

2018 Acer 15.6" HD WLED Chromebook 15 with 3X Faster WiFi Laptop Computer, Intel Celeron Core N3060 up to 2.48GHz, 4GB RAM, 16GB eMMC, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, USB 3.0, HDMI, Chrome OS
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Old 06-12-2020, 09:41 AM   #2
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Celeron N is a slow chip. 4GB RAM is a starter amount.

Based on the specs, the chip is likely the issue.

You can get a Chromebook with an Intel i5 or i7. They are more expensive of course.
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Old 06-12-2020, 09:53 AM   #3
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Something is wrong, your spec is good enough for a chromebook, it is not blazing fast but should be fast enough for most web stuff - including google docs.

Beside google docs, all websites are slow?
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Old 06-12-2020, 10:01 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mo Money View Post
...

I have very fast wireless internet, BTW -- around 150mbps. ...
Is there some sort of System Monitor that will report what download speeds you are experiencing on the Chromebook? If not, install one. Having 150mbps available doesn't mean the Chromebook is receiving it at that rate. You might just have some sort of wifi problem.

How fast does that same "7-page doc from Google Docs" load on another machine over wifi, at the same location. "7 pages" means nothing - it could be 7 pages of hi-rez graphics for all we know, or it could have hundreds of macros or something (not sure if Google Docs include macros, I'm just saying "not enough information")

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Old 06-12-2020, 10:20 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by neihn View Post
Something is wrong, your spec is good enough for a chromebook, it is not blazing fast but should be fast enough for most web stuff - including google docs.

Beside google docs, all websites are slow?
+1

I have had 4 Acer Chromebooks in family and they were all fast thanks to the SSD. Much faster than a Dell with Celeron chip
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Old 06-12-2020, 10:25 AM   #6
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Your weakest link is the 16Gb eMMC, very slow storage. But for chrome book, you do mostly just read from that storage, however, there are some write for stuff like cookies, caches. I would try to clear out cache, cookies etc...

On your computer, open Chrome.
At the top-right, click More .
Click More tools. Clear browsing data.
At the top, choose a time range. To delete everything, select All time.
Next to 'Cookies and other site data' and 'Cached images and files', tick the boxes.
Click Clear data.
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Old 06-12-2020, 10:28 AM   #7
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Chromebooks with 8GB RAM, M5 class processor or better perform pretty well, faster than Windows with same specs. The eMMC storage is also a factor for launching apps/loading large data and maybe boot time but usually not a factor once app is running. 4GB RAM might be OK if not running many apps at once but would go for 8GB, especially as Linux apps on Chromebook become easier to install for mainstream users.
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Old 06-12-2020, 10:30 AM   #8
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Maybe it's the OS. I'm running Linux Mint on a low power Asus laptop with similar specs, and it's got lots of pep.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
N4000 Processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC Storage
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Old 06-12-2020, 11:17 AM   #9
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I would much rather use an old laptop with added memory and SSD.
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Old 06-12-2020, 12:12 PM   #10
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Quote:
Something is wrong, your spec is good enough for a chromebook, it is not blazing fast but should be fast enough for most web stuff - including google docs.

Beside google docs, all websites are slow?
It is Google Docs and Gmail. They load like molasses in winter. Other sites generally load much faster.

I also ran a speed test on my Chromebook using Fast.com. It read download speed of 200 mbps.
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Old 06-12-2020, 01:15 PM   #11
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I have a 3 year old Lenovo Chromebook and it is as fast as the day I bought it. And it is faster than any windows laptop I've ever owned.
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