Question for you Computer Geeks

cbarnard7 · Nov 22, 2013

Hi All-

I am thinking about buying my wife a chromebook this Christmas. I was looking at the Acer C720-2848 (since the HP was pulled from the shelves). They come in either 2GB or 4GB Ram (Haswell CPU). One is about $50 more.

My question is:

Do I really need to upgrade to the 4GB, or is the 2GB sufficient enough? She's really just going to surf the internet and keep a couple tabs open at a time. Maybe watch a couple youtube videos, but nothing too serious.

I know what you're already saying, "Why not just pay the extra $50 and be safe?" But, I'd rather spend that money on other gifts if I don't need to spend it on the computer.

Thanks!

vimwiz · Nov 22, 2013

I have played with one of the original samsung chromebooks with 2gb of RAM and that was fine, even after it had been rooted and had a "real" OS put on it. I *believe* the RAM is soldered in on these machines, though, so if you think you may need the extra, get it now, but if you are just going to be surfing the net (What much else can you do on a chormebook, anyway?) 2gb should be fine. I did find the chromebook range to be a bit crappy,overall, though, but then again, I am a power user (Probably fine for the 99%).

badrano · Nov 22, 2013

I don't know a whole lot about the chromebook, but for general laptops, I would check to see if the memory is field upgradeable. If you can upgrade the memory at a later date, then go with 2GB and if in the future, upgrade to 4GB if needed. If the memory is fixed and can't be field upgradeable, get the 4GB now to be on the safe side.

SnappingShark · Nov 22, 2013

I would say if that's ALL she is doing, then go for it.
However, if she is likely to be inspired to want to do more, such as flash games or more intensive stuff, then go with the 4gb just to be safe.

cbarnard7 · Nov 22, 2013

Yeah, I mean, we have a desktop at home for anything more involved (I have my LR5 and all my photos on there) so this would really just be used to surf.