Any recommendations for Chromebooks in 2025?

Forums › Chromium OS and Google Chrome OS › Any recommendations for Chromebooks in 2025?

edwinprakash

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#318250 30-Dec-2024 14:11

I need to buy a Chromebook for my son going to intermediate next year and was wondering if there are any recommendations? or things to look out for?
A lot seems to be out of stock and I'm guessing Chromebook Plus is out of the question as they don't seem to be available locally.
Also, the processors on Chromebooks are new to me so I'm not sure which ones are good - except I know never to get a Celeron :)
All I've narrowed it down to is a screen size of 14".
All opinions welcome

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#3326245 30-Dec-2024 14:30

Beginning of this year we brought our son a IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook 12.2in with 8GB ram and 128GB EMMC HDD.

Has a touch screen and bigger 1920x1200 resolution. dont believe they make this one anymore but lenovo make a good device.

He's taken great care of it and its always lived in a neoprene sleeve so its almost like new, so he should hopefully get another 2-3 years from it.

14in is quite a big screen.

Stu1

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#3326249 30-Dec-2024 15:07

Both the kids have had a Lenovo 100e G3 lasted last year of primary and 2 years on intermediate solid as

Ragnor

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#3326282 30-Dec-2024 16:28

Intel Nxxx ie: N100, N200, N300 is a generational improvement over celeron 4500, but so far I've only seen N100's that are not 1080p in the NZ market.

k14

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#3326319 30-Dec-2024 18:30

Good timing as I need to buy one for child #2. If you see my thread here you will see my issues with the Lenovo 100e I purchased for oldest child three years ago. Good device but she is very careful with it and the design/build is just bad. So hesitant of going Lenovo again but not sure what other options are decent.

mentalinc

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#3326328 30-Dec-2024 19:21

Also interested.

emmc seems to be the standard but interested to know if anyone has used UFS and if it made much difference in a chromebook given everything is online?

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Stu1

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#3326329 30-Dec-2024 19:53

k14:

Good timing as I need to buy one for child #2. If you see my thread here you will see my issues with the Lenovo 100e I purchased for oldest child three years ago. Good device but she is very careful with it and the design/build is just bad. So hesitant of going Lenovo again but not sure what other options are decent.

Could just be a Lemon had no issues with them , most of kids friends have them as well , good bang for buck and reliable

edwinprakash

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#3326506 31-Dec-2024 11:21

So much choice... just ended up getting a Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i 14 Inch HD Intel N100 4GB RAM 64GB eMMC Rugged Chromebook.
Hope this lasts at least a couple of years.

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Ragnor

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#3326561 31-Dec-2024 12:46

edwinprakash:

So much choice... just ended up getting a Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i 14 Inch HD Intel N100 4GB RAM 64GB eMMC Rugged Chromebook.
Hope this lasts at least a couple of years.

Don't those come with Windows 11?

Be aware of the differences between ChromeOS and ChromeOS Flex:

https://support.google.com/chromeosflex/answer/11542901?hl=en

Edit: Nevermind I see there is a Chromebook version

Jase2985

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#3326562 31-Dec-2024 12:49

Ragnor:

edwinprakash:

So much choice... just ended up getting a Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i 14 Inch HD Intel N100 4GB RAM 64GB eMMC Rugged Chromebook.
Hope this lasts at least a couple of years.

Don't those come with Windows 11?

Be aware of the differences between ChromeOS and ChromeOS Flex:

https://support.google.com/chromeosflex/answer/11542901?hl=en

Edit: Nevermind I see there is a Chromebook version

thats what i dislike about lenovo's naming scheme

Goosey

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#3326574 31-Dec-2024 14:13

HP for the win from me…

well built and decent spec. When I say well built, it’s a bit more solid than most other brands and that’s all that counts (hinges and keyboard chassis).

if you spend time at school watching everyone….you soon see they are forefinger and thumb carrying these with screen open ….all around the show before seeing them holding the screen and carrying it like that.

Stu1

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#3326577 31-Dec-2024 15:05

Goosey:

HP for the win from me…

well built and decent spec. When I say well built, it’s a bit more solid than most other brands and that’s all that counts (hinges and keyboard chassis).

if you spend time at school watching everyone….you soon see they are forefinger and thumb carrying these with screen open ….all around the show before seeing them holding the screen and carrying it like that.

work offices are just as bad amount of dropped lap tops I’ve seen from people walking between floors as they grasp their lattes

Qazzy03

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#3326579 31-Dec-2024 15:20

Stu1: I’ve seen from people walking between floors as they grasp their lattes

Whenever I have to go to the head office in Wellington this is really common, a mixture of hot desking and downsizing multiple buildings to one building.

I love having my own local desk in the provincial regions, and this is all to say that the (windows) HP EliteBook series holds up.

dpf81nz

67 posts

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#3326901 1-Jan-2025 22:00

Have had Lenovo 100E for 3 years that is still going strong, despite being used by a primary school aged kid the whole time. Just got a Lenovo 300E also during boxing day sales, seems pretty solid/sturdy

mentalinc

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#3327581 5-Jan-2025 06:27

What are people using as carry bags, cases etc?

Ideally something that has a bit of structure

CPU: AMD 5900x | RAM: GSKILL Trident Z Neo RGB F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC-32-GB | MB: Asus X570-E | GFX: EVGA FTW3 Ultra RTX 3080Ti| Monitor: LG 27GL850-B 2560x1440

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K8Toledo

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#3327593 5-Jan-2025 07:07

edwinprakash:

I need to buy a Chromebook for my son going to intermediate next year and was wondering if there are any recommendations? or things to look out for?
A lot seems to be out of stock and I'm guessing Chromebook Plus is out of the question as they don't seem to be available locally.
Also, the processors on Chromebooks are new to me so I'm not sure which ones are good - except I know never to get a Celeron :)
All I've narrowed it down to is a screen size of 14".
All opinions welcome

Don't buy a Chromebook, you'll regret it, and be upgrading before you know it. I replace all the BYOD Chromebooks that come to me with ex lease T4* Think Pads.

They will last till year 10

T480s $250

T490s $499.00

CPU: Intel Core i5 8365U

RAM:16 GB Ram

HDD/SSD: 512 GB SSD

GPU: Intel HD Graphics 620

Display: 14" FHD Touchscreen

* 2 x USB Type-C (1 of Thunderbolt 3)

* 2x USB 3.0

* 1 xHDMI,

* 1x Ethernet,

* 1x Card reader

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