09-04-2014, 02:45 AM
As someone who knows a thing or two about Chromebooks, Apple devices and Windows, I have to say:
1) "Dumb terminal" - more like a SMART terminal - how is any iPad, similarly network dependent, any less so? At least both device platforms CAN if a network is present be very useful independent of a powerful server/VDI infrastructure.
2) Chrome Remote Desktop - allows you to access a more powerful workstation as remote system. Biggest limit is the scaling of high-res desktop displays to most chromebooks' pathetic 1366x768 resolutions. A 1080p chromebook screen is a huge improvement for this.
3) Crouton - allows chroots to standard linux distributions utilizing the existing ChromeOS linux kernel; so you can run ChromeOS side-by-side with Ubuntu or Debian for "real computing experience."
For $350 for the Toshiba with an IPS screen - beating out the Samsung has a $400 1080p model in their Chromebook 2 - I'm seriously thinking of picking one of these up for its existing capabilities. Potential to boot Windows or OS X via hacks is also intriguing. Since it has USB3, additional storage as needed shouldn't be a big deal. The money I save over an MBA will get me a really nice hackintosh rig for that powerful backend.
1) "Dumb terminal" - more like a SMART terminal - how is any iPad, similarly network dependent, any less so? At least both device platforms CAN if a network is present be very useful independent of a powerful server/VDI infrastructure.
2) Chrome Remote Desktop - allows you to access a more powerful workstation as remote system. Biggest limit is the scaling of high-res desktop displays to most chromebooks' pathetic 1366x768 resolutions. A 1080p chromebook screen is a huge improvement for this.
3) Crouton - allows chroots to standard linux distributions utilizing the existing ChromeOS linux kernel; so you can run ChromeOS side-by-side with Ubuntu or Debian for "real computing experience."
For $350 for the Toshiba with an IPS screen - beating out the Samsung has a $400 1080p model in their Chromebook 2 - I'm seriously thinking of picking one of these up for its existing capabilities. Potential to boot Windows or OS X via hacks is also intriguing. Since it has USB3, additional storage as needed shouldn't be a big deal. The money I save over an MBA will get me a really nice hackintosh rig for that powerful backend.