Major update to this post as of April 2024, nearly 4 years later The below is woefully out of date. Trying to do the same thing with the same product (but different device) results in tears, mainly around Xiaomi OEM unlocking. The unlock tools simply don't work on the Linux and Windows devices I've tried ... Read more
Because ChromeOS is simply ridiculous in terms of resource requirements (on devices meant for it), the only proper approach is to install or boot from a USB drive running Debian Linux (in this case, Debian Stable. Note: there is GalliumOS but it seems to have stalled development. There are various steps involved in getting this ... Read more
There are low-end and high-end Chromebooks. This is about relatively low-end devices, specifically an ASUS C214MA which is a cheap, somewhat small, ruggedized device meant for the schooling market. It has an 11.6" HD+ screen and a 4gb/32gb RAM/ROM configuration. In our household we've run up against the limits of this device in a variety ... Read more
These specs are meant to help with acquisition decisions. More is usually better, and certainly for future-proofing purchases. Note that these are not adequate for modern games such as Starfield. Desktop and Laptop For processors, there is more leeway, but one should get the latest generation of whichever processor line is needed (e.g, for Intel ... Read more
I've recently migrated between datacenters, but not using any data center tools. Rather this is specific recreation of systems and importing of data. Much cleaner, and it becomes clear that there are advantages to data center processors and database cleanliness. Clearly there are some changes using php-fpm8.2 vs. 7.4 and while the mariadb process has ... Read more
The Asus C214MA-BU0546 is a Q3 2021 durable (milspec) 11.6" 2-in-1 Chromebook. It has: Intel Celeron N4020 Processor, Intel UHD 600 Graphics (Integrated), eMMC 32GB SSD, 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, and 11.6" 1366x768 screen For my mind and money this replaces the venerable Asus C101PA. This device is effectively an update 3 years later, but ... Read more
Update November 2023 This particular device has really held its value and its performance. By value I mean that the same device costs nearly the same five years later (about 8,000 THB, though there are newer, larger screen devices that cost around the same). LineageOS on this has not had any difficulties over this same ... Read more
In this post I outline what I would consider a compelling form factor, one which existed for a while, but which may be is returning for certain niche uses. Usability and Useful Form Factors While the term notebook has been taken over to mean a laptop computer that is much larger on average than a ... Read more
The Asus C101PA is a Rockchip (arm) and has the same baseboard as the Samsung Chromebook Plus. Both of these are up next for getting Crostini / Linux Containers. As a sub platform of ChromeOS it turns out that this is a very good device that is fairly high up in the stack of platforms ... Read more