ARM Chromebooks- What happened?

[Michael Goff]

Am I missing something here? Isn't ARM perfect for something as low power as a Chromebook? I know there are some lower cost machines that use weaker ARM chips and cost about 150$, but I'm thinking that we could use a higher end ARM chip (say an 820, MediaTek, newer Exynos) in one of these.

Instead, we get atom for the fanless, and maybe a Core M if the laptop is more expensive.

 

[nj-morris]

Am I missing something? Because you seem to be referencing a particular laptop.

 

[Michael Goff]

Am I missing something? Because you seem to be referencing a particular laptop.

I'm referencing the fact that we get almost no good ARM Chromebooks and a thousand and one Intel Celeron ones.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Because x86 is more compatible and faster?!?

It's not rocket science.

 

[sracer]

I'm referencing the fact that we get almost no good ARM Chromebooks and a thousand and one Intel Celeron ones.

Probably because virtually all Chromebook manufacturers are Windows notebook/laptop makers. It's easier and cheaper for them to use existing stuff from their massive "parts bin" to manufacture chromebooks where basically they are Windows-capable notebooks but without the Microsoft tax. Swap out a harddrive for a 32GB eMMC module -> money saved. 2GB RAM vs 4+ GB -> money saved. non-touch screen (though that is soon changing) -> money saved.

Because x86 is more compatible and faster?!?
It's not rocket science.

I recommend sticking to rockets.

 

[Michael Goff]

Because x86 is more compatible and faster?!?

It's not rocket science.

What does compatibility have to do with Chromebooks?

Probably because virtually all Chromebook manufacturers are Windows notebook/laptop makers. It's easier and cheaper for them to use existing stuff from their massive "parts bin" to manufacture chromebooks where basically they are Windows-capable notebooks but without the Microsoft tax. Swap out a harddrive for a 32GB eMMC module -> money saved. 2GB RAM vs 4+ GB -> money saved. non-touch screen (though that is soon changing) -> money saved.



I recommend sticking to rockets.

That makes sense. Thanks.

 

[RickTaylor]

The Asus flip is a popular chromebook that uses an ARM processor (Rockchip RK3288C). Perhaps that's because it's small and doubles as a tablet.