Chromebook for work, what are the options?

TheDoc

Hi all,

So I'm toying with the idea of getting a Chromebook for work. At present I've been given an Asus laptop that weighs a nortical ****tonne and its just a pain in the hole. My typical laptop use is just grabbing it from my desk for a meeting or a workshop or something along those lines. The Asus at present has poor battery and its just too heavy and big.

I work in our IT department, so have a bit of flexibility when it comes hardware I request.

So we got Office365 in last year, and I pretty quickly made the transition to using the online portal exclusively. I stopped opening the programmes locally to have more resources for my SQL applications etc.

So basically all I need is a browser. When I'm in a meeting I'm just checking e-mail, and reviewing a ticket queue that is also through a browser. We are making the move of moving processing power centrally and away from end user desktops, which I seem to be one of a few grasping the concept !

At most in terms of additional applications or requirements I'd have (from the browser) is an RDP client to connect to Windows based machines and being able to install Teamviewer and Skype for Business.

Can Chromebooks install any applications locally? I could maybe get away without Skype, but would maybe see a need for teamviewer and a RDP client so I could hook back into my desktop PC.

In terms of output, I'd want USB ports and a HDMI port(for plugging into projectors). A few projectors around here are still VGA, but assume maybe an adaptor would be available like for Mac's?

Anyway thoughts and recommendations are welcome. My main requirement is to have something lighter and smaller. A good keyboard is ideal, as **** keyboards wreck my head.

Budget, there isn't really one, but I wouldn't probably push the boat on a big expenditure.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

TheDoc

This one comes up alot in reviews and seems to tick a lot of boxes.

http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/acer-14-cb3431-full-hd-chromebook-silver/332941/396.0.3

It has USB ports and a HDMI port that would do good. In terms of current laptop use, I have about 4 USB ports and only find I ever use one, charger for phone.

Did a bit more googling and see Teamviewer have official support and an application for Chromebooks, and the Play Store has a Chrome RDP client that connects to Windows based servers (although weirdly costs money and licensing)

So I'm happy my requirements would be met by a Chromebook.

Interested to know if anyone has made a change like this in a working environment and how they found it? In my head the obvious drawback is "Aw but what if you need to use a windows programme" but I guess I arrived at this conclusion because I've moved fully into a browser, and once I can RDP to windows servers and my own desktop, I think I'll be covered.

Horace Cope

TheDoc wrote: »

At most in terms of additional applications or requirements I'd have (from the browser) is an RDP client to connect to Windows based machines and being able to install Teamviewer and Skype for Business.

Can Chromebooks install any applications locally? I could maybe get away without Skype, but would maybe see a need for teamviewer and a RDP client so I could hook back into my desktop PC.

As for Skype
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3091674/chromebooks/chromebooks-can-now-make-voice-calls-with-skype-for-web.html

ED E

TBH it might meet requirements but barely.

For example, the teamviewer app (which is what you're getting) is good but the desktop client is way better.

Similarly one of the big pluses for real RDP is it captures almost any keystroke and has 100% clipboard integration, not sure you wouldnt lose that.


As its part of your primary business function I'd be going with an Acer Swift (Id say Spectre but you dont need power just portability).

TheDoc

ED E wrote: »

TBH it might meet requirements but barely.

For example, the teamviewer app (which is what you're getting) is good but the desktop client is way better.

Similarly one of the big pluses for real RDP is it captures almost any keystroke and has 100% clipboard integration, not sure you wouldnt lose that.


As its part of your primary business function I'd be going with an Acer Swift (Id say Spectre but you dont need power just portability).

Might be a stretch to call it primary (might be my fault in req's above)

So I have a pretty powerful desktop PC where I do all my work.

There is just times during the week where I attend meetings or workshops and the height of my requirements are:

E-mail - I'm using O365 through Chrome
Word - Using O365 through Chrome
Powerpoint - Using O365 through Chrome
Skype - Someone wants to ping me a query
Ticketing system - Browser based through Chrome

Teamviewer and RDP would be for server collapse while I'm in a meeting and want to sort it from there, but the reality is I'd probably leave the meeting to my desktop to get it sorted. So the RDP and teamviewer requirement is a nice to have, but thinking about it in reality it rarely actually happens.

If things **** the bed, I leave meetings or whatever to go back to my desktop PC

The Swift and Spectre probably start to touch on pricing points where I could just get the team that oversee hardware acquisitions to get me a netbook, then I'm in a totally different ballpark where it's a big expenditure and basically overkill.

Chromebooks seemed to tick boxes because they appear to be light, quick, portable (seriously the brick I carry around is unreal) and considering I've migrated to be browser based in terms of the Office Suite, Chromebook sounded like a real winner.