Why do Chromebooks have such high Specs (sometimes)

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

So after Google just announced the new ChromeBook Pixel I started wondering. Having never actually owned or Used a Chromebook keep in mind.

 

If Chromebook is essentially the Chrome Browser and addon applications (as well as now supporting some Android applications) Why would you need a Core i7 and 16GB of RAM to support what is essentially a web browser?

 

Am I missing something here in the capabilities of a ChromeBook?

[+Warwagon MVC]

I just think Google knows there are some people out there who either love to overspend, or uneducated users will just see i7 and 16GB of ram that and think they want the fastest and most powerful not knowing, that Chrome OS doesn't need that powerful of CPU or that much ram.

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

Browser based Bitcoin mining perhaps?

 

Theirs some pretty neat stuff out there done in JavaScript like QuakeJS, however even that doesn't seem to need much processing power.

 

The only thing I can think of is that some Chromebooks can run Android apps, maybe that includes demanding games.

[dead.cell]

20 minutes ago, warwagon said:

I just think Google knows there are some people out there who either love to overspend, or uneducated users will just see i7 and 16GB of ram that and think they want the fastest and most powerful not knowing, that Chrome OS doesn't need that powerful of CPU or that much ram.

I think that's incredibly short sighted. I'm not a Chromebook enthusiast, but I can easily see the end goal of trying to get companies to start making more applications available on Chrome OS. The first step towards that though would be offering better hardware. It's still very very early, but what I saw in their presentation looked to me like an attempt to take on Microsoft and Apple.

 

Offering Chromebooks as just being a "cheap alternative" will only keep them in that niche, which means serious applications will never step foot outside their ecosystems. Google's got money, it wouldn't be unheard of for them to try and make deals and work with partners to help bring bigger names into the picture, aside from companies like Snap Inc.

 

The consumer takeaway: Competition is good and we need more of it. This is a good thing, even if you're not the target market today. 

[+Warwagon MVC]

7 minutes ago, dead.cell said:

I think that's incredibly short sighted. I'm not a Chromebook enthusiast, but I can easily see the end goal of trying to get companies to start making more applications available on Chrome OS. 

 

On some models, they are incorporating the android playstore in which gives you the  Android Library. I did the same thing on an old gateway which ran windows pretty slow but the remixOS I put on there was blazing while running Android apps in either full screen or Windowed mode.

[adrynalyne]

36 minutes ago, dead.cell said:

I think that's incredibly short sighted. I'm not a Chromebook enthusiast, but I can easily see the end goal of trying to get companies to start making more applications available on Chrome OS. The first step towards that though would be offering better hardware. It's still very very early, but what I saw in their presentation looked to me like an attempt to take on Microsoft and Apple.

 

Offering Chromebooks as just being a "cheap alternative" will only keep them in that niche, which means serious applications will never step foot outside their ecosystems. Google's got money, it wouldn't be unheard of for them to try and make deals and work with partners to help bring bigger names into the picture, aside from companies like Snap Inc.

 

The consumer takeaway: Competition is good and we need more of it. This is a good thing, even if you're not the target market today. 

Competition is good when it is competitive.  Offering a 3-figure laptop with impressive specs that is hobbled by an OS that can’t even hope to take advantage of a third of the power due to its limited nature is not competitive. It’s ludicrous. Charging more and increasing specs just for the sake of appearing premium is a mobile phone and tablet game and is the main reason I left Android. The software needs to support the hardware to the point of justifying it. 

[dead.cell]

Just now, adrynalyne said:

Competition is good when it is competitive.  Offering a 3-figure laptop with impressive specs that is hobbled by an OS that can’t evdn hold to take advantage of a third of the power due to its limited nature is not competitive. It’s ludicrous. Charging more and increasing specs just for the sake of appearing premium is a mobile phone and tablet game and is the main reason I left Android. The software needs to support the hardware to the point of justifying it. 

It's ludicrous if you feel you're the target market. I know I'm not the target market because I don't spend $1000+ on a super thin laptop like the Surface Laptop, which I too criticize. Same goes for Mac. Yes, you could probably do more with those, but like I said, trying something different while trying to bring in developers isn't a bad thing though.

 

Either way, I'm not intending to defend the Pixelbook, since I use neither Chrome OS or am the target audience. I simply just see what they're trying to build, and it's not this big evil gesture that some are making it out to be. That's all.

[adrynalyne]

3 minutes ago, dead.cell said:

It's ludicrous if you feel you're the target market. I know I'm not the target market because I don't spend $1000+ on a super thin laptop like the Surface Laptop, which I too criticize. Same goes for Mac. Yes, you could probably do more with those, but like I said, trying something different while trying to bring in developers isn't a bad thing though.

 

Either way, I'm not intending to defend the Pixelbook, since I use neither Chrome OS or am the target audience. I simply just see what they're trying to build, and it's not this big evil gesture that some are making it out to be. That's all.

Where did I ever say I was the target market?

 

[+Fahim S. MVC]

Let me dispel a myth: Chomebooks are not a Chrome browser with some add-on applications, any more than Windows is an Edge browser with some add-on applications or MacOS is a Safari brower with some add-on applications.  I hear this a lot, but I am not sure what else ChromeOS needs to be considered a 'proper' OS.

 

I am a massive Chromebook fan.  I am typing this on a Asus C302CA (£600 worth of machine) which has a Core m3, 64GB storage, 4GB RAM, a fully metal construction with a convertable 12.5" Full HD touchscreen.  It is probably slightly over-powered (and expensive) for what it is needed in a Chromebook today.  And pound for pound is one of the best computers I have owned (behind another Chromebook and a MacBook Air).  Despite being a zealot for the platform, I think the PixelBooks are far too overpowered for what they need to be, and you'd need a lot of money to justify £1700 for i7 model, or even £1000 for the i5 model - right now bragging rights would be the only justification.

 

I think Google want ChromeOS to grow up and run some heavyweight applications rather than the relatively lightweight ones that it typically runs today (which the OS is fully capable but only 5% of the hardware is).  Isn't the expression 'you don't build for the market you have, you build for the market you want to have'.  This said, I don't think it is a strategy that will play out for Google.

 

 

[adrynalyne]

1 hour ago, Fahim S. said:

Let me dispel a myth: Chomebooks are not a Chrome browser with some add-on applications, any more than Windows is an Edge browser with some add-on applications or MacOS is a Safari brower with some add-on applications.  I hear this a lot, but I am not sure what else ChromeOS needs to be considered a 'proper' OS.

 

I am a massive Chromebook fan.  I am typing this on a Asus C302CA (£600 worth of machine) which has a Core m3, 64GB storage, 4GB RAM, a fully metal construction with a convertable 12.5" Full HD touchscreen.  It is probably slightly over-powered (and expensive) for what it is needed in a Chromebook today.  And pound for pound is one of the best computers I have owned (behind another Chromebook and a MacBook Air).  Despite being a zealot for the platform, I think the PixelBooks are far too overpowered for what they need to be, and you'd need a lot of money to justify £1700 for i7 model, or even £1000 for the i5 model - right now bragging rights would be the only justification.

 

I think Google want ChromeOS to grow up and run some heavyweight applications rather than the relatively lightweight ones that it typically runs today (which the OS is fully capable but only 5% of the hardware is).  Isn't the expression 'you don't build for the market you have, you build for the market you want to have'.  This said, I don't think it is a strategy that will play out for Google.

 

 

Heavy applications like what?

[+Fahim S. MVC]

1 hour ago, adrynalyne said:

Heavy applications like what?

I guess full on productivity applications, graphics editors, 3D modelling etc.

[adrynalyne]

42 minutes ago, Fahim S. said:

I guess full on productivity applications, graphics editors, 3D modelling etc.

So if you are trying to move into that space with the hardware, would it not make sense to demo that during the presentation to make sense of it? Google has been overbuilding these Chromebooks for years and giving them ridiculous prices and we have yet to see the OS make a jump forward to take advantage of it. I don’t see this playing out in Google’s favor either. 

[+Fahim S. MVC]

1 minute ago, adrynalyne said:

I don’t see this playing out in Google’s favor either. 

Google seem to take the attitude of 'build the hardware and the developers will come'.  Another example of this are Android tablets which have been a monumental failure.

 

A more sensible idea would be build a set of incredible development tools, and the developers might want to use them.  It's how Microsoft took a stranglehold of the desktop OS market in the first place.

[techbeck]

We use chromeboxes at work and when you have a lot of people on a video conference call, it is nice to have a system with an i7. 

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

1 hour ago, techbeck said:

We use chromeboxes at work and when you have a lot of people on a video conference call, it is nice to have a system with an i7. 

I can't see how that would need a lot of processing power.

[adrynalyne]

2 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said:

I can't see how that would need a lot of processing power.

It doesn't.

[+Fahim S. MVC]

1 hour ago, techbeck said:

We use chromeboxes at work and when you have a lot of people on a video conference call, it is nice to have a system with an i7. 

A decent Braswell Pentium would probably be sufficient for this.

[oldtimefighter]

I don't get Chromebooks in general... Chrome as a desktop sucks and running Android apps are buggy at best. The cheap ones are slow as hell and sure you can pay more but than at that point why not get a laptop with more connectivity options and a full OS.

 

On 10/7/2017 at 1:29 PM, adrynalyne said:

Competition is good when it is competitive.  Offering a 3-figure laptop with impressive specs that is hobbled by an OS that can’t even hope to take advantage of a third of the power due to its limited nature is not competitive. It’s ludicrous. Charging more and increasing specs just for the sake of appearing premium is a mobile phone and tablet game and is the main reason I left Android. The software needs to support the hardware to the point of justifying it. 

You left Android? For what? You know Android phones come in all different price points right? What does this have to do with Chromebooks?

[adrynalyne]

5 minutes ago, oldtimefighter said:

I don't get Chromebooks in general... Chrome as a desktop sucks and running Android apps are buggy at best. The cheap ones are slow as hell and sure you can pay more but than at that point why not get a laptop with more connectivity options and a full OS.

 

You left Android? For what? You know Android phones come in all different price points right? What does this have to do with Chromebooks?

It’s called showing a relation. I left Android for the crap that was pulled with increasing specs  and prices and not improving the software nor performance. Google is doing the same with the Chromebook. I don’t care about cost of it is actually worth it. 

 

I went to iOS. Debating if it’s time to move back. Haven’t decided yet. 

[oldtimefighter]

17 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

It’s called showing a relation. I left Android for the crap that was pulled with increasing specs  and prices and not improving the software nor performance. Google is doing the same with the Chromebook. I don’t care about cost of it is actually worth it. 

 

I went to iOS. Debating if it’s time to move back. Haven’t decided yet. 

Again, Android devices come at all price points even at the "flagship level. Your only option with iOS is high price and they have been raising their prices also to so not sure what has changed since you had an Android phone. My Pixel XL phone is fast and smooth and still so after a year. We can debate which platform has more functionality (it's Android) but that would be off-topic. I realize Android tablets are dead in the water but so are tablets in general.

Edited October 9, 2017 by oldtimefighter

[adrynalyne]

9 minutes ago, oldtimefighter said:

Again, Android devices come at all price points. Your only option with iOS is high price. My Pixel XL phone is fast and smooth and still so after a year. We can debate which platform has more functionality (it's Android) but that would be off-topic.

Again, price doesn’t matter to me if it is worth it. I left Android a while ago because the hardware specs were increasing but performance and utility was not. Spec bumps for the sake of spec bumps are

worthless to me. I’m wondering why you are making this an iOS vs Android debate when I was simply showing a relation and didn’t even mention iOS until you asked?

[oldtimefighter]

7 hours ago, adrynalyne said:

Again, price doesn’t matter to me if it is worth it. I left Android a while ago because the hardware specs were increasing but performance and utility was not. Spec bumps for the sake of spec bumps are

worthless to me. I’m wondering why you are making this an iOS vs Android debate when I was simply showing a relation and didn’t even mention iOS until you asked?

I always thought you were an Android guy and I really had no idea what platform you went to because mentioned the high cost of phones now. I still don't understand you argument but it's all cool.

[adrynalyne]

1 hour ago, oldtimefighter said:

I always thought you were an Android guy and I really had no idea what platform you went to because mentioned the high cost of phones now. I still don't understand you argument but it's all cool.

I am an android guy. I just do apps only

Im very tempted  to come back with the Pixel 2 XL.