Chromebook and Crouton Goodness

I've purchased a new Chromebook, an Asus C300 EDU with a 13" screen, 4G RAM, 32G SSD, an Intel N2830 dual core processor. It's quite an improvement over the Samsung 303C that I've used for a couple of years, in fact, we have one for every member of the family. It's just easier that way!

One of the reasons I went with the Chromebook was the ease of use. Everything works with a Google Account, and it integrates well with Android. I use Google Docs extensively, so there's no need for lot's of disk space.

I got this particular model with an Intel processor for two reasons. 4G RAM is a necessity for intensive applications, and I use Crouton which installs Ubuntu Linux side by side with ChromeOS, which runs on a scaled down version of Linux. Some Linux applications depend on native compiled libraries which aren't available for ARM based processors, like the Samsung chromebooks and Raspberry Pi.

I've been using some Amateur Radio applications just fine on the ARM processor, but Eclipse wouldn't run, and I blogged earlier about hp printing, although cloud printing works fine.

So, now I've got this great Chromebook with plenty of memory, runs all my linux apps, and I've got it connected to an older Dell 24" external monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Life is good, praise the Lord! Amen and amen!