Toshiba Chromebook 2

dejongj · 11 Mar 2016

I've been waiting and waiting and waiting to find a suitable replacement for my 2013 MacBook Air i7/8GB/512GB but still nothing sufficiently better to warrant the replacement and hand it down to my daughter....She'll be shadowing me next week, but due to where I work and what we do she won't be allowed to use any of our systems but as we are doing some public cloud stuff a general computer helps....

Anyway I wanted to get her something cheap to tie her over until I'll get a replacement for myself. Queue the Toshiba Chromebook 2.

Why the Chromebook 2;

It's light, very light
It has 4GB of RAM
It has a 13.3 1920x1080 IPS screen
Very good value for money
Well documented for hacks

I picked it up today from John Lewis, got it up and running with Chrome OS pretty quickly, and was well impressed by the screen. Very impressed indeed. But Chrome OS is a little limiting in my opinion, nice as it is, a bit too simplistic although there are python and ruby options which helps with her scripting.

So a little while later, and I've side loaded with thanks to some github public scripts, Elementary OS which is a beautiful distribution based on Ubuntu Linux. And all I can say is wow. What a fantastic little machine, it is fast, responsive, really good value for money and a perfect little linux machine. Ok, don't look at Intel Baytrail for video transcoding or compiling large programmes, but for Office, Web, Light programming/scripting, Photos, Music, Video streaming it is a brilliant little machine.

I'll see how this goes for a week, but think I'll install a full version of Elementary OS on it...

dejongj · 12 Mar 2016

I couldn't wait a week

The hacking has commenced. Got to disable the write protect for the ROM and install an open source one from http://johnlewis.ie.

And remove this;

dejongj · 12 Mar 2016

Phew so far so good. It is booting. Installing Elementary OS Linux now.

ancient_mariner · 12 Mar 2016

Elementary have done a really good job with the DE, though they created a bit of a backlash in the linux community last year over wanting to charge for the OS. I also tried Debian with the latest version of gnome a little while ago, and that looked really good too (still have it installed on a testing HD).

condyk · 12 Mar 2016

I have one of those but with 2mb ram and original screen. Was a bargain as discontinued. Assume mk 1. I like yours better

I have been really impressed with it tho as a day to day tool. All works very nicely as a system. I barely use my big, butch desktop anymore, only for photo's really!

ianp5a · 12 Mar 2016

condyk said:
I have one of those but with 2mb ram and original screen. Was a bargain as discontinued. Assume mk 1. I like yours better I have been really impressed with it tho as a day to day tool. All works very nicely as a system. I barely use my big, butch desktop anymore, only for photo's really!

Did you ditch Chrome OS too?

dejongj · 12 Mar 2016

Yup, I've wiped chrome os fully. Everything is working beautifully and pretty darn quick.

redlion · 12 Mar 2016

This looks ace. Do you have any guides on getting the Elementary OS on the Toshiba Chromebook 2. I needed an interim machine whilst I waited for the new wave of Apple product for light admin tasks.

Found a decent guide here.

dejongj · 12 Mar 2016

ancient_mariner said:
Elementary have done a really good job with the DE, though they created a bit of a backlash in the linux community last year over wanting to charge for the OS. I also tried Debian with the latest version of gnome a little while ago, and that looked really good too (still have it installed on a testing HD).

I will donate a little to them as I love their distribution. Just like John Lewis who created the bios that allows it to be installed. Good work done by both.

dejongj · 12 Mar 2016

redlion said:
This looks ace. Do you have any guides on getting the Elementary OS on the Toshiba Chromebook 2. I needed an interim machine whilst I waited for the new wave of Apple product for light admin tasks.

Found a decent guide here.

That is the guide I followed. Everything works beautifully bar one thing.

I found 16GB storage a little limiting, so got a Samsung Fit usb3 64GB storage key and moved the /home folder to that one. It seems to cause an issue with the default boot disk, but I'm sure I can fix it.

I'm mighty impressed with it, and the general look and feel. The screen is really really good.

dejongj · 12 Mar 2016

I've just got my 10% battery left warning, that is a good 7 hours on battery whilst installing all sorts of software and configuration etc...

hsp70 · 13 Mar 2016

Gallium OS is another good linux distribution you might want to try, based on xubuntu it was designed straight up specifically to be as compatible with chromebook hardware as possible. Looks great too.

dejongj · 13 Mar 2016

Cool, never heard of that one before...Looks interesting if you don't like the OSX'esque look/feel of Elementary...

ianp5a · 13 Mar 2016

hsp70 said:
Gallium OS is another good linux distribution you might want to try, based on xubuntu it was designed straight up specifically to be as compatible with chromebook hardware as possible. Looks great too.

Looks nice, and based on Xubuntu too. Which is what my daughter uses.
https://www.linux.com/learn/tutoria...al-linux-distribution-for-chromebook-hardware
They suggest adding the Software Center from Lubuntu though. As oddly, one doesn't come as standard.

Like Chrome, Gallium is a metal.

condyk · 13 Mar 2016

ianp5a said:
Did you ditch Chrome OS too?

Nah, I love Chrome OS. Works beautifully for me.

But big thanks to the OP for flagging the existence of the IPS 2 version. I never knew about it. The 2GB original can flag with multiple tabs open. I generally have 15 or so site tabs open at once and now and again there's an out of memory out thing. It's no big deal but can just slow down the flow of working. The OneTab app can help, but not 100%. The 4GB, faster processor and IPS screen is going to make this into a superbly effortless portable. So I've sold my Mk I and bagged a Mk II, due hopefully middle of next week sometime. Seems a very cost effective upgrade, with the screen being a real cherry on the top!

dejongj · 13 Mar 2016

Made a small boring screen recording video of Elementary OS on the Toshiba Chromebook 2. Mainly out of an experiment to see how well that runs, whether I can edit a video, and render it. It was surprisingly quick I must say. Amazing for a small cheap laptop.

View: https://youtu.be/WK3qjAwjVx0

dejongj · 15 Mar 2016

My daughter shadowed me at work yesterday, net result she wants to do her sixth form, university and gap years as work is boring

Result

Anyway as she can't use the equipment at my place of work, she was using the Toshiba Chromebook 2 all day to test some publicly accessible software, do some research, write a few documents and reports, do her work shadow diary in powerpoint (well libreoffice equivalent). And I just can't fault the machine. It lasted all day long, she was in from 8:30 until 17:15'ish, and then on the train home.

Absolutely brilliant little machine, and Elementary OS is incredibly stable and super user friendly.

redlion · 17 Mar 2016

Brilliant thread. Thinking of getting my parents one now. Can you dual boot Chrome OS and Linux or does the HDD need wiping solely for Elementary OS?

dejongj · 17 Mar 2016

I'm sure you can dual boot. What I did at first was load a script which can have Linux dual running in a different Windows server. Just press back and forward keys to switch between chrome os and say elementary or Ubuntu etc. I noticed it worked so well I just installed elementary as it allows offline working.

The machine is a hit. My eldest daughter wants it for herself and no longer has a MacBook on her wish list. She is happy with it.

If the Google pixel wasn't so dear I might be persuaded myself. But for now I'll stay with OS X for my main machine.

redlion · 17 Mar 2016

Toshiba Chromebook ordered

hsp70 · 18 Mar 2016

redlion said:
Brilliant thread. Thinking of getting my parents one now. Can you dual boot Chrome OS and Linux or does the HDD need wiping solely for Elementary OS?

Yes it's possible to duel boot. Go to galliumos website and check out their wiki. You may need to patch the firmware first.

dejongj · 18 Mar 2016

dejongj said:
I'm sure you can dual boot. What I did at first was load a script which can have Linux dual running in a different Windows server. Just press back and forward keys to switch between chrome os and say elementary or Ubuntu etc. I noticed it worked so well I just installed elementary as it allows offline working.

The machine is a hit. My eldest daughter wants it for herself and no longer has a MacBook on her wish list. She is happy with it.

If the Google pixel wasn't so dear I might be persuaded myself. But for now I'll stay with OS X for my main machine.

hsp70 said:
Yes it's possible to duel boot. Go to galliumos website and check out their wiki. You may need to patch the firmware first.

I used this script: https://github.com/AldousP/MyDearWatson

Sorry couldn't link it previously as I wasn't near a full size computer...

condyk · 19 Mar 2016

Mine arrived and 110% happy with it as a worthy upgrade to my ex version I. Screen really is as good as dejongj said. No more out of memory messages in Chrome either. Result! The geezer who bought my version I txt'd me yesterday to say he loved it too! So the world is a better place all 'round this morning! And even Ian Duncan Smith as resigned

redlion · 22 Mar 2016

Mine has also arrived. Brilliant piece of kit. The screen is absolutely amazing. Gave it a quick test and it seemed very nippy. Will keep Chrome OS for now and tinker over the Easter holidays with the Linux set-up.

dejongj · 22 Mar 2016

Blimey I should have gotten commission

It is an amazing all rounder. Last night, after I was able to take it from my daughters, I tried a little bit of development on it. I ran my docker images and amazingly the little thing even does that with a Postgres, ELK and Ruby stack.

And battery life remains very good.

redlion · 22 Mar 2016

Your commission is an extra holiday this coming Friday and Monday. How does that sound? It certainly is an good all rounder from my limited testing. Sadly it won't be mine so may order myself one once given it a full test.

Your feedback on the development stack sounds positive. I was looking to tinker with some development tasks so will explore my options.

Phil V · 24 Mar 2016

Will this go on an older machine? I've got an old laptop knocking about looking for a use.

ianp5a · 24 Mar 2016

Yes. I've resurrected several old laptops for the family by putting Xubuntu on them. But Elementary OS or one of the other easy Linuxs will work.

andyscott · 24 Mar 2016

Phil V said:
Will this go on an older machine? I've got an old laptop knocking about looking for a use.

Yes it will

I have used it on an old NC10 and it works great.

I prefer xbuntu though and just load the apps myself .

dejongj · 24 Mar 2016

Phil V said:
Will this go on an older machine? I've got an old laptop knocking about looking for a use.

Most definitely. I've even had it running on my old Dell Inspiron 9100 laptop, but it was too slow and bad battery and heavy....

redlion · 20 Apr 2016

Been running flawlessly for nearly a month now. Having such a long battery is a major plus point for browsing and doing administrative tasks. Going to brave the Elementary install over the weekend. I only have around 6GB left on the Chromebook so worried might not be enough space? Did you ever manage to properly install and run the OS from an SD card?

ancient_mariner · 20 Apr 2016

I chucked Elementary on my old Philips/Twinhead 1.6GHz core 2 duo machine a couple of weeks back and loaned it to a friend. In retrospect I think the current version of Mint-Mate is better (certainly snappier performance) but AFAIK he's getting on OK with it.

redlion · 20 Apr 2016

I have been running Mint Mate in a VM for the past week and first impressions are good. Elementary was for the Chromebook only and seemed a good way to expand what can be done with the machine for times felt restricted using Chrome OS.

ianp5a · 20 Apr 2016

I keep up to date with Mint by listening to https://mintcast.org

dejongj · 26 Jun 2016

Just a little update. They are still loving the Chromebook and using it for all home work and media related activities. On request I switched them to Ubuntu 16 as that is what they use in school

All seems to be very well with this bargain laptop.

ianp5a · 26 Jun 2016

Chromebooks have been getting a boost in the US education sector. Which helped them outsell Mac computers. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/may/23/chromebook-mac-google-pc-sales
Linux is no longer a niche. And even Microsoft has had to team up with Ubuntu to offer Linux features.

But, importantly, Chromebooks will help to erode Microsoft's market share. If US school children become used to Chromebooks and online office use, Microsoft Office domination will be undermined. If you don't need MS Office, you don't need Windows. And Windows domination has held back so much innovation for so long. The effects of this change is going to go very deep.

ancient_mariner · 26 Jun 2016

ianp5a said:
Chromebooks have been getting a boost in the US education sector. Which helped them outsell Mac computers. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/may/23/chromebook-mac-google-pc-sales
Linux is no longer a niche. And even Microsoft has had to team up with Ubuntu to offer Linux features.

But, importantly, Chromebooks will help to erode Microsoft's market share. If US school children become used to Chromebooks and online office use, Microsoft Office domination will be undermined. If you don't need MS Office, you don't need Windows. And Windows domination has held back so much innovation for so long. The effects of this change is going to go very deep.

Office 365 may be the microsoftie solution to that problem.

ianp5a · 26 Jun 2016

But the difference to the situation in the past is huge! Sure they can offer Office 365 alongside all the other online office suites. But Microsoft is just one of many that you can choose from. You are not tied into them. You can chop and change any time you prefer another service. You can be sure the others will do their utmost to be better. And there is no installation or technical barrier. And you don't need Windows to use it.

Now companies are free to invest in a rival to Microsoft. Where before there wasn't much investment going up against the big player.

This freedom will put money into new areas which will change the whole industry. That's how huge this is.

ancient_mariner · 26 Jun 2016

ianp5a said:
But the difference to the situation in the past is huge! Sure they can offer Office 365 alongside all the other online office suites. But Microsoft is just one of many that you can choose from. You are not tied into them. You can chop and change any time you prefer another service. You can be sure the others will do their utmost to be better. And there is no installation or technical barrier. And you don't need Windows to use it.

Now companies are free to invest in a rival to Microsoft. Where before there wasn't much investment going up against the big player.

This freedom will put money into new areas which will change the whole industry. That's how huge this is.

TBH there's no competition - there is only one office suite that ensures compatibility for business, and while some organisations that don't need a professional approach to document presentation may use the alternatives (city councils, for example) few businesses would consider switching.

ianp5a · 26 Jun 2016

Did people in those businesses use Chromebooks at school?