What I need: internet browsing/streaming, ability to serve as a laptop for work on occasion (Microsoft Office, specifically Word)

What I want: 2 in 1, but not necessary

What I want to spend: <$400

Does this exist? Any recommendations with Black Friday on the horizon?

You can check out TechBargains here for laptops

why not a chromebook

One of the biggest issues I'm seeing with a chromebook is not being able to run Google Earth on it, as I use it extensively for work related stuff. I deal with a shapefiles pretty regularly at work, and the ease of displaying them in Google Earth is a big help.

From what I've researched, Earth won't run on a chromebook, which could be a deal breaker. Any insight on that from anyone?

Another negative mark I'm seeing for Chromebooks is the lack of any model that has a built in 10 key pad.

Already on Project Fi for phone service, and much prefer Google platform overall.

Anyone have thoughts on these options? I'm pretty ignorant on the differences between Intel vs. AMD.

ASUS - VivoBook 15 15.6" Laptop - Intel Core i3 - 4GB Memory - 1TB + 8GB Hybrid Hard Drive

ASUS - 15.6" Laptop - AMD A12-Series - 8GB Memory - AMD Radeon R7 - 1TB + 8GB Hybrid Hard Drive

Acer Aspire E 15, 15.6" Full HD, 8th Gen Intel Core i3-8130U, 6GB RAM Memory, 1TB HDD, 8X DVD, E5-576-392H

Lenovo ideapad 330s 15.6" Laptop, Intel Core i5-8250U Quad-Core processor, 20GB (4GB + 16GB Intel Optane) Memory, 1TB Hard Drive, Windows 10

Go to Costco and get a surface. You won't be disappointed. Love mine for work.

rather be fishing said:

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One of the biggest issues I'm seeing with a chromebook is not being able to run Google Earth on it, as I use it extensively for work related stuff. I deal with a shapefiles pretty regularly at work, and the ease of displaying them in Google Earth is a big help.

From what I've researched, Earth won't run on a chromebook, which could be a deal breaker. Any insight on that from anyone?

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Wait, Google Earth won't run on Google Chromebook?

That seems like a weird miss.

YouBet said:

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rather be fishing said:

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One of the biggest issues I'm seeing with a chromebook is not being able to run Google Earth on it, as I use it extensively for work related stuff. I deal with a shapefiles pretty regularly at work, and the ease of displaying them in Google Earth is a big help.

From what I've researched, Earth won't run on a chromebook, which could be a deal breaker. Any insight on that from anyone?

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Wait, Google Earth won't run on Google Chromebook?

That seems like a weird miss.

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I don't fully understand all of it, but Google Earth application as you would use on your desktop is not setup for Chromebooks. You can access a lot of GE via the web based version, but it doesn't have all of the functionality as the app.

hodgesco said:

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Go to Costco and get a surface. You won't be disappointed. Love mine for work.

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I don't have a membership and it won't show prices. What are they running?