Chromebook for Camping & A Curious Tech Thought

focal98108

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Hello all,

My partner and I are looking to simplify our tech setup for longer trips in the van. We're considering a Chromebook for the usual camping tasks: checking weather forecasts, planning routes, a bit of web browsing, and streaming in the evenings.

We've heard they are low-power, have great battery life, and are generally hassle-free—which sounds perfect. Does anyone else use one camping and have any specific model recommendations or things to watch out for when relying on a mobile signal?

This might seem like a strange tangent, but it got me thinking about computing power. This little Chromebook runs on a simple, low-wattage processor. It's a world away from the Xeon 16 Core 2.2GHz server processors I work with, which are designed for running dozens of users and complex tasks 24/7.

It's funny how the right tool for the job changes completely with the environment. Out here, simplicity and efficiency are king, not raw power!

Cheers
 
When my last laptop died, I sacked off Windows and went with an Acer 314 Chromebook. I use it it for everything and take it it in the van. Posting this now from Hondarribia in Spain using a Tiekom sim in a Netgear Nighthawk M2 router.I am not in the least techy, it just works.
 
We have had one for a few years. Unless you want to use Excel sheets or Windows specific programs you will be fine.
They have no storage as everything is saved to a cloud, to make this seamless you need to be connected to the Internet when using.
That said, they are so much faster to use and have no virus issues.
Big plus, no need to buy a Windows 11 type product.
It took me a bit of time to fly the machine, but no different than switcing phones from Apple to Android.
 
Just switched phones from Pixel to Samsung Galaxy, and the 'free gift' Chromebook from the latter arrived on Saturday. Might be useful for the Spanish Winter Sun Trip to Spain, but the faff getting the Samsung Phone to transfer files to the Samsung SSD Drive makes me somewhat [more] cynical ... The Pixel could transfer files to the SSD Drive straight out of the box; the Samsung Phone required repeated watching of a video narrated by an Asian gentleman [pronounced 'debugging' as 'dedeh' ...] to enter the Developer Section and amend the File Settings after 'phoning' a *#0808#' number to connect and save the setup. If there had been a Google Pixel 10 available on Monday, I would have written off my Samsung Phone as a waste of £1200 and bought the Google. I'm convinced that 'USB' is an acronym for 'Utter Samsung Bull$h1t' ...

Steve
 
marchie said:
Just switched phones from Pixel to Samsung Galaxy, and the 'free gift' Chromebook from the latter arrived on Saturday. Might be useful for the Spanish Winter Sun Trip to Spain, but the faff getting the Samsung Phone to transfer files to the Samsung SSD Drive makes me somewhat [more] cynical ... The Pixel could transfer files to the SSD Drive straight out of the box; the Samsung Phone required repeated watching of a video narrated by an Asian gentleman [pronounced 'debugging' as 'dedeh' ...] to enter the Developer Section and amend the File Settings after 'phoning' a *#0808#' number to connect and save the setup. If there had been a Google Pixel 10 available on Monday, I would have written off my Samsung Phone as a waste of £1200 and bought the Google. I'm convinced that 'USB' is an acronym for 'Utter Samsung Bull$h1t' ...

Steve
Click to expand...
What do you think @trevskoda ? On a similar note, I'm a Samsung fan, my new Samsung phone wouldn't connect to mirror on my Samsung Tv, without 1/2 hr of prating around last night.
 
YeoBlade said:
What do you think @trevskoda ? On a similar note, I'm a Samsung fan, my new Samsung phone wouldn't connect to mirror on my Samsung Tv, without 1/2 hr of prating around last night.
Click to expand...
Samsung do their damndest to get people to buy everything electronic from them, and then offer a 'works straight out of the box' solution to their largest competitor, whilst making it almost impossible to get the Samsung kit to connect ... Wonder which 'Marketing Campaigns for Idiots' Guide they subscribe to ... :rolleyes:. It was partly to enable us to Screen Mirror the TV [Google Pixel blocked this ability up to Pixel 8, I believe, but reinstated on Pixel 9} and partly because of the Stylus for Note Taking when out and about. The Samsung Galaxy S21 *had* the SSD File Transer function out of the box [as did the S22-S24], but some bright spark, sired by a Toc H lamp, took it away in the S25 ... Samsung Forums full of 'Why take away/How to get it back' questions/complaints

Steve
 
mike w said:
We have had one for a few years. Unless you want to use Excel sheets or Windows specific programs you will be fine.
They have no storage as everything is saved to a cloud, to make this seamless you need to be connected to the Internet when using.
That said, they are so much faster to use and have no virus issues.
Big plus, no need to buy a Windows 11 type product.
It took me a bit of time to fly the machine, but no different than switcing phones from Apple to Android.
Click to expand...
We take a cheapie Samsung tablet with us to watch downloaded TV and so that I can keep complicated finances up to date.

I was Excel through and through but decided to use Google Sheets as it's free. You can save files for off line use, but not my huge financial ones going back to last century. I have a slimmed down version to use whilst away, and occasionally I use my phone as a hot-spot to update it to the cloud. You can use Google Drive files offline on a Chromebook too. You just change the settings in Google Drive to make specific files and folders available offline. Next time the CB is online it will sync automatically.
 
focal98108 said:
Hello all,

My partner and I are looking to simplify our tech setup for longer trips in the van. We're considering a Chromebook for the usual camping tasks: checking weather forecasts, planning routes, a bit of web browsing, and streaming in the evenings.

We've heard they are low-power, have great battery life, and are generally hassle-free—which sounds perfect. Does anyone else use one camping and have any specific model recommendations or things to watch out for when relying on a mobile signal?

This might seem like a strange tangent, but it got me thinking about computing power. This little Chromebook runs on a simple, low-wattage processor. It's a world away from the Xeon 16 Core 2.2GHz server processors I work with, which are designed for running dozens of users and complex tasks 24/7.

It's funny how the right tool for the job changes completely with the environment. Out here, simplicity and efficiency are king, not raw power!

Cheers
Click to expand...
I have one, tried it in the van last trip, won't be taking it again for actual online use, it was slow and buggy, although forums and emails were fine, it worked great for downloaded Netflix and Prime stuff., very handy as it has USB C charging so a ciggy socket etc is handy, plus it has a charge point on either side, wish PC laptops had that.

I'm thinking of selling it as I have 3 Dell Latitudes.
 
The lovely Lesley has a Samsung tablet, I have a Google Pixel tablet. The reason she has the Sammy is she won it in a raffle. She rarely uses it! Compared to the Google Pixel, it appears "clunky" and as has been said, they want to sign you up for everything. By contrast, we both have Pixel Pro phones, my tablet was seamless. Sign into google and they sync my data. Wherever I go, even without my phone or tablet, I can access my data on any electronic gadget.

I did have a Chromebook, but once I had the tablet, I found it much better. Paired to my phone or our M6 router, it is very good. The battery lasts well, although charging regularly is not a problem in a van. It has 256 gig of storage so I can download the pictures I take, to transfer to the PC at home. (I have 2 TB cloud storage with Google, but I like to keep important stuff in more than one place.) I can also use it as sat nav if I want, I sometimes find the bigger screen is easier to see.
 
marchie said:
Just switched phones from Pixel to Samsung Galaxy, and the 'free gift' Chromebook from the latter arrived on Saturday. Might be useful for the Spanish Winter Sun Trip to Spain, but the faff getting the Samsung Phone to transfer files to the Samsung SSD Drive makes me somewhat [more] cynical ... The Pixel could transfer files to the SSD Drive straight out of the box; the Samsung Phone required repeated watching of a video narrated by an Asian gentleman [pronounced 'debugging' as 'dedeh' ...] to enter the Developer Section and amend the File Settings after 'phoning' a *#0808#' number to connect and save the setup. If there had been a Google Pixel 10 available on Monday, I would have written off my Samsung Phone as a waste of £1200 and bought the Google. I'm convinced that 'USB' is an acronym for 'Utter Samsung Bull$h1t' ...

Steve
Click to expand...
You could have bought a linux ph for that dosh, more secure by miles, and upgradable and repairable.
linux android phones.jpg
 
My Son has a Chromebook which is fine for his current needs. In just over a years time he will be starting his own business and it will be no good at all for that purpose and he needs to buy a Windows computer to produce documentation and photos. So I suppose it is horses for courses. If I play my cards right, I might be receiving a lightly used Chromebook to play with as my Netbook is Windows 10 and long in the tooth. 😁
 
I use one for all my computing and have no problems with anything. Ive had it for 8 years - it was a bit weird at first beause it has only minimal storage so no use if you want to store docs - you have to store everything in the cloud. V bad for carbon reduction!
 
Damn, this pops up in the email digest and yet again it’s seems to be the op has vanished!
 
Thistle said:
Damn, this pops up in the email digest and yet again it’s seems to be the op has vanished!
Click to expand...

As soon as I read the OP I thought it was going to be one of those to be honest.

Personally I don't think anybody should be allowed to mention products as a first post or at least until they have introduced themselves properly (which I think should be obligatory before any further posts), but policing it would be a nightmare.
 
My laptop runs an 8 core 2.4Ghz I9 processor and battery lasts for ages. Battery is probably a lot bigger than a Chromebook and mine will use more power but its the runtime that's important to me on a laptop if I want to actually use it on battery.

Also if thinking of Chromebooks check what you want it for can be done if you are somewhere with no internet access. Unless they have changed them they used to pretty useless if you couldn't connect.
 
On the Chromebook? No, don't intend to. It did all I needed as is, just not using it right now, It would run Brave, but not happy about it, the Dell is happier with it.
 
Can you use Google drive and access files offline.
A without a usb stick
B with a usb stick

Finally Can you print direct to a usb connected printer
I now do most things on a good tablet
Just considering if my desktop pc dies

Another question can you access files on a local NAS box
This may then may make questions A and B irrelevant
 
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