What’s the best Chromebook right now?

by philg

Folks:

The trackpad on the four-year-old Acer Chromebook seems to be dying. I may have gotten my $199 worth out of this machine. What’s the best choice right now for a Chromebook that can be used by a 7-year-old to edit Google Docs, surf the web, and send the occasional email? It could also be something that I can take on trips (I’ve been trying to travel with an iPad and keyboard case, but find that the keyboard is tough to type on and the Bluetooth connection is intermittent).

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

16 thoughts on “What’s the best Chromebook right now?”

  1. I just gave someone the HP Chromebook 14 G4 for Christmas and it seems fine. A bit higher than the 199 price point, but you get a Full HD screen for the extra $50.

    Otherwise, the cheapo Chromebook market is pretty much between Asus and Acer now, I don’t think either is significantly better than the other.

  2. I never use the track pad – get a wireless mouse instead.

    Chances are the ribbon cable is just loose:
    From the interwebs:

    it’s a simple solution. Remove all the screws you can see on the back, then remove the 4 little white rubber stoppers which hide 4 more screws. Gently pry the case apart. There is a ribbon cable that goes from the touch pad to the motherboard. It is glued to the case and has come loose from the motherboard. Peel the cable away from the glued area. lift the white connector with your fingernail. Push the cable in firmly and push the connector back down. Turn the chromebook on. It will now work.

    Chances are the spec has not changed that much in 4 years so a new one won’t be materially better than the old. Back in the day a 4 yr old computer was functionally obsolete but yours probably isn’t so if you can get it back on the road for $25 or so it’s worth it.

    I bought a “refurbished” high end Lenovo laptop for my daughter from the Lenovo outlet (maybe 1/2 of what a new one costs). When I received it, the little eraser mouse didn’t work (probably the reason why it was returned by the original buyer in the 1st place.). Apparently “refurbishment” for Lenovo consists of putting the computer in a new box. So I called up Lenovo and they offered to send me a new keyboard (keyboard comes out from the top with not too many screws so it was not that bad). When I opened it up, the ribbon cable for the eraser mouse was lying loose inside the computer – the latch had popped open and it had come out of the ZIF connector (or was never inserted). I put it back and kept the keyboard as a spare.

  3. Sorry the quote about the ribbon cable was for an HP, not the Acer. Disregard.

    Acer touchpad problems seem to be software related . Try reinstalling the OS.

    In the absence of visible damage, the first 3 rules of computer repair are: 1. it’s the software 2. it’s not the hardware, 3. it’s the software. Sometimes it’s really #4 but you do need to rule out 1-3 first.

  4. I have heard of something called a surface. I think it is made by microsoft. Maybe it’s worth a look.

  5. Quite happy with the Asus Flipbook we got for my wife. She likes the touch screen, similar to her old iPad; I like the fold-back screen. Lenora’s is quite small for me (average to large male hands). Wouldn’t choose it if I was typing all day, although I might pair it with my preferred Bluetooth keyboard.

  6. I also have an Asus Flip and really like it. Folding the keyboard back and using it in tablet / touch mode is nice for couch and bed reading. I got the 4GB ram model for $280 and it’s still going strong over a year later. It’s always been a little under powered, at least for my usual browsing style of dozens of tabs open. It could use more features (SD card reader, more local storage, backlit keyboard) but then it wouldn’t be a sub $300 machine any more so I’m happy with it for the price.

  7. The 2015 model Chromebook Pixel (or Pixel LS) is the Ferrari of Chromebooks, with the best keyboard and trackpad I have ever used on any computer of the many, many machines I have owned. Discontinued but there’s usually about 1 or 2 sold per week on eBay in the $700-1000 range (not to be confused with the 2013 model). Complete overkill but an absolutely incredible machine with amazing build quality.

    Still don’t know why Google discontinued it. Maybe they were losing too much money on them.

  8. Its not a chromebook. Dosen’t seem you can install too many programs on there(or at least that was the case).

    Instead, any cheap laptop under 200 will give you everything a chromebook can do, and more. I don’t think you can install all those educational programs made for general windows machines on them.

  9. If it is the 11.6 inch Acer, it’s hard to beat as a vanilla Chromebook; light and almost disposable. I gave one away two years ago and bought the Toshiba 13 inch with 1920×1080 HD IPS screen – the Toshiba screen is beautiful but I guess too good to last. It now gets “spasms” of pink or green washing over the whole screen. The Acer I gave away is still plugging along for the (other) geezer who took it. It was the 1366×768 resolution. Still sells on Amazon for $169. 13 inch full HD 1920×1080 is $210, same with 32GB SSD is $288.

    You can shop around for a refurb if you want bottom dollar.

    I also have an Acer 11.6 “Cloudbook” that shipped with Windows 10, but I installed Xubuntu Linux on it to futz around with linux and manage my ebooks in Calibre; same form factor as the 11.6 Chromebook and we just got back from 2 weeks in London where it was our only laptop. Windows 10 cannot even update on these little 16GB machines.

  10. In the $150-250 range, they’re all pretty much the same. Select based on display size (11.6, 13.3, or 15.6 inches), resolution (1366×768, 1920×1280), and tech (TN vs IPS). I prefer Acer over ASUS for build quality, but they’re both decent.

    If you need raw multithreading power or replaceable storage, it gets more particular. There are a few exceptional models, in the ~$500 range.

    I’d prefer Intel over ARM, but the upcoming ARM models are expected to be performance competitive.

  12. grvaughan – while that is a beautiful machine as well, it’s the 2013 model. The 2015 model is the best one available and generally sells for $700-1000.

  13. philg, grvaughn’s link is a stone bargain only available til Jan 2. only downside I see is half pound heavier and not quite as packable/disposable as Acer 11.6

    The screen is/was super on these but it was a reach priced at $899. If my Tosh 13 screen dies, I will look for this again. I am already reluctant to take the Tosh as my only laptop.

  14. I am happy with my Toshiba CB35-A3120. Full HD screen, a decent CPU (Celeron), good battery and suprisingly good speakers for the price. Unfortunately Toshiba stopped making notebooks, but you can still get them online.

  15. Tim J, my Tosh is a CB35-B3340-Chromebook 2 and I love it too, but apparently the screen problems are fairly widespread. I would not buy another one with no support. I have removed the screen bezel and dis-re/connected the ribbon cable, which revived it from “dead” to “intermittent”. Still use it in my easy chair but afraid to handle it much.

  16. I use the Pixel C. Runs Android, not ChromeOS, but that’s good with a data plan. The magnetic detachable keyboard/cover is better than anything else out there.

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