The ten best Chromebooks you can buy

The ten best Chromebooks

Chromebooks have been burning up the sales charts at Amazon for a long time now, but it can be difficult for newcomers to figure out which model to buy. Paste Magazine has a helpful list of the ten best Chromebooks you can buy right now.

Luke Larsen reports for Paste Magazine:

Chromebooks have come a long way in the past couple of years, both in terms of hardware and software. In 2015, you have a lot of different options in terms of price point, size, build quality and configurations. In terms of software, Chrome OS and the Chrome Web Store have filled in a lot of the holes that used to exist in the experience of working entirely in a browser.

1. Google Chromebook Pixel

2. Toshiba Chromebook 2

3. Asus Chromebook Flip

4. Dell Chromebook 11 (2014)

5. Acer Chromebook C720

6. Dell Chromebook 11 (2015)

7. Acer Chromebook 15

8. Lenovo IdeaPad N20p

9. Samsung Chromebook 2

10. HP Chromebook 14

More at Paste Magazine

Must-have Chrome OS apps for your Chromebook

Speaking of Chromebooks, a redditor on the Chrome OS subreddit is getting a new Chromebook and wanted to know which apps he should install on it:

Notmuch asked his question:

“My nine year old macbook is pretty much done (may it rest in peace) and I have an acer chromebook (13″, 4gb ram) being delivered today. I have an android phone so i’m kind of used to google’s platform. Any must-have apps I should download right away, or any other useful tips / hints i should be aware of? many thanks in advance.”

More at Reddit

His fellow Chrome OS redditors responded with their app recommendations:

Jackalriot: “Better History because its interface makes it easier for me to find sites I’ve previously visited.

Flix Plus by Lifehacker for extra features and customization of Netflix.

Google Calendar (by Google) for an easy dropdown menu of my next calendar events. It’s also really nice to just be able to glance up to see how long until my next event.

Google Dictionary (by Google) for easily checking up on words I might not know, without having to leave the page I’m on.

Google Translate for easily translating words without having to leave the page I’m on, just as with Google Dictionary.

imgur Extension by Metronomik for fast and easy capturing and uploading to Imgur.

Magic Actions for YouTube to stop autoplay and always play in my specified quality.

Reddit Enhancement Suite for an enhanced Reddit experience, like user tagging, inline image viewing, live comment preview and new comment counter.

Spotify Web Player Hotkeys to control Spotify Web Player.

TechSmith Snagit for recording video of my screen.

If you only meant apps, and not also extensions, then it’s a rather short list: Caret for my various coding needs.

Chrome Remote Desktop for accessing my own Chromebook remotely, and provide tech support for my family.

Pixlr Editor as my lite-Photoshop. This is however just a glorified bookmark to their web editor.

Sunrise Calendar for my (you guessed it) calendars.

Spotify for music listening. Just as with Pixlr Editor though, it’s just a glorified bookmark. But it comes in handy, because I can pin it to my shelf.

I’d also like to throw in my support for /u/DavidA122 ‘s picks of h264ify, uBlock Origin and Pushbullet.

Chanixh: “Some more which I use : Google Cast, Hangout and Keep, The Great Suspender, Secure Shell.”

Zuxicovp: “Also want to mention Honey, for shopping online, and OneTab, for making it easier to manage a bunch of tabs. Also, Hacker Vision, which is the best night mode I’ve been able to find to make the web easier on the eyes at night.”

DavidA: “With you having an Android phone, PushBullet is something you should take a look at. It’s great for integration between your phone and Chromebook. uBlock origin is a great ad-blocker, and h264ify is a useful extension for YouTube if the videos stutter, which can be common sometimes.”

Mortenlu: “Alientube for youtube replaces youtube comments with reddit comments. Really good for finding relevant discussions.”

Prairiedock: “Every computer should have a text editor. (Google Docs is really a word processor, not a plaintext editor.) “Caret” is hands-down the best for Chrome OS.”

Hrlngrv: “If you have some old 16-bit DOS games you’d like to play again, you’ll want DOSBox. There are extensions to mount DropBox and OneDrive so they’re available in the File app. If you use those for online storage, you may find these extensions handy. Finally, if you’re a US Xfinity subscriber, you may also want to install the Xfinity extension to watch TV.”

Crasbowl: “Last pass is an extension that stores all your passwords and even makes up passwords for you.”

More at Reddit

DistroWatch reviews VectorLinux 7.1

VectorLinux 7.1 is a distribution based on Slackware, and DistroWatch has a full review of it. VectorLinux 7.1 might be a nice alternative for those who are tired of Debian based distros, Ubuntu spins, etc.

Jesse Smith reports for DistroWatch:

The Vector distribution is fairly small (by modern standards), the distribution offers good performance and was generally stable. The Xfce desktop usually stays out of the way and the distribution offers a good collection of software for performing day to day tasks.

My one serious concern with Vector is how the distribution approaches security. I was not comfortable with the root account not being locked or password protected by default. It is up to the administrator to lock down the root account once the distribution has been installed. I would also have preferred that Vector either not run network services or enable a firewall to protect these services. I am of the opinion network ports should not be open to the public by default.

Vector offers a relatively low-resource, responsive distribution that can function as either a server or as a desktop platform. The distribution may not have all the bells and whistles of some other distributions, but what Vector does provide is a fast, stable platform that will run on most desktop computers made this century. Vector offers a desktop experience with minimal frills, a good deal of functionality and the tools most people look for in a desktop operating system.

Vector comes across as a solid, dependable, traditional Linux distribution. It’s a fairly minimal platform that I found easy to use. The distribution may appear a bit dated (visually), but Vector provides a good deal of useful desktop software, works well and has a friendly installer. I think this distribution would be well suited for rescuing older computers from the trash heap or for giving an older computer a performance boost.

More at DistroWatch

GOG improves Linux games installer

GOG has been supporting Linux games for a while now, but now the site has upgraded its installer to provide an experience comparable to Windows and OS X.

Silviu Stahie reports for Softpedia:

A new type of installer is being put forward, which brings a much better installation experience, and it’s somewhat similar to what can be found on the other platforms as well. The fact that everyone gets the same kind of installation procedure and that everything is packaged in a nice way ensures a consistent experience for everyone, the same way Valve does it with Steam.

“We want to share with you a few new updates to the way that installing our games on Linux will work. Based on what we’ve learned and on your feedback, we have revamped our installers to offer a much-improved experience, and make it more consistent with the way we do things on Windows and OS X. Our Linux games will come with all-new installers that include more features, combine the best of our previous solutions, and plain ol’ look better,” said one of the developers on the official forums.

Users should be able to install the games on any Linux OS, support for installing DLCs has been implemented, and incremental patches can also be used. All in all, Linux is looking more like a friendly way of playing games, and that can only be a good thing.

More at Softpedia

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