Can ChromeOS Flex Revive Your Old Laptop?

[@zenith251]

To follow-up the video: if you have a laptop with 1-2GB of RAM there are super slimline Linux variants that will work where Chrome OS Flex doesn't. I'm currently playing around with a Puppy Linux variant that seems to be working well on an old 1GB Atom netbook.

[@imtekcs]

I have used puppy Linux. It is good barebones distro. It allows you to add what you need. I carry around a puppy Linux usb with some device management apps, anti-virus, and parted magic. It is really useful

[@AlejandroRodolfoMendez]

I used puppylinux in the past and was great but now with all the meta distro I don't know which one is for the atom netbook so I put rasbian and worked decently well

[@imtekcs]

@Alejandro Rodolfo Mendez definitely. So many Linux options now compared to 25 years ago. You can find something for just about any need

[@thodorful]

antix as well ~200 mb idle

[@AlejandroRodolfoMendez]

@@imtekcs yes for example Batocera for old games and emulation

[@_GhostMiner]

*Don't throw it away. Make it even more useless than it already is.* 😂

[@EnigmaticGentleman]

Chrome OS is the definition of dumbed down to the point of uselessness, honestly laughable that theyre trying to market it as anything other than an OS for your grandma to look up recipes on

[@yotaiji012]

Lol

[@TankDestroyer13]

Exactly

[@drishalballaney]

Lmao Just install a lightweight Linux distro like void

[@tazomfs]

what do you suggest then?

[@DaimyoD0]

As other people have mentioned in the comments, there was already an LTT video on this premise, and IIRC, their (your) testing suggested that ChromeOS Flex didn't really help in the majority of cases, sometimes even making things worse, and your best chances of improved performance were to install a lightweight distribution of Linux. I don't really get the point of this Techquickie. I was expecting a DIY Perks-style guide on how to scavenge your old laptop for parts and upcycle them into new projects.

[@devilsknight]

Glad you mentioned DIYPerks as I was thinking the same.

[@DaimyoD0]

@@devilsknight He is inspiring. He really makes me feel like I could complete projects I would otherwise never take on by myself. And some of his stuff is remarkably functional. Like his 4K projector? Higher quality than a $2000 model, made out of a couple hundred in supplies and upcycled e-waste. When/if my current laptop dies I am absolutely going to convert its 144Hz display into an external monitor, per his suggestion.

[@GSBarlev]

Good excuse to go back and watch an old DIY Perks. He's turned me into a frickin' vulture--any time someone has an old laptop or a broken TV or a dang rusty *satellite dish*, I'm like the guy at the dinner party looking at someone else's plate and going, "You gonna finish that?"

[@arnox4554]

THANK YOU. ChromeOS Flex is so freaking pointless. "It can run webapps!" You know what else can do that? Literally every other operating system! Easy to deploy? Linux has had that AGES ago as well. Runs light? So do certain distros of Linux! Hell, even "heavy" or "medium" weight versions of Linux still run MUCH better than Windows 10/11. "Well, maybe at least you can lock down computers more easily with it if you're a business or an educational institution." Oh look, now we're back to regular ChromeOS, or... You guessed it! Linux again! :D

[@BraydenPrice30]

Link to that video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fovMknt7oqpshrM

[@PwnyPony]

I thought the takeaway from the last time LTT talked about Chrome OS Flex was to install a lightweight Linux distro like AntiX instead. Since Chrome OS ended up preforming worse in most cases except boot time.

[@lgpa565]

Anything is better than antix this shit kept fucking up my drivers until I changed to lubuntu

[@K1ngwing]

LXLE (Based on Lubuntu) is a better alternative

[@swordz2330]

@@K1ngwing why the fuck just not use lubuntu tf. You might as well install a standalone window manager if your pc is so old that it cant even run LXQT

[@coldshock5181]

You can't expect a most likely older person who owns an old laptop that can't run modern windows to have the tech knowledge to use Linux lol

[@bill_and_amanda]

I thought it performed pretty well on the video they recently did on LTT. Good enough it actually convinced me to switch my kids laptops from Raspberry Pi OS to Flex and it's been great, without headaches from driver issues (especially WiFi drivers) and the normal Linux tinkering and futzing (mounting, permissions, using the CLI, etc) that's fine for me but not for my elementary school age kids.

[@electricnezumi]

I love how Riley mentions Kali as something you would just randomly decide to install on an old pc. Clearly whoever wrote this has no idea what Kali is used for (Kali is not meant to be a daily driver, it's pretty much exclusively for pentesting and such).

[@sdasda7777]

Yup, this so much.

[@robonator2945]

if it wasn't clear to everyone before, this video ought to seal the deal frankly. Just about the entire team behind LTT (with one, maaaybe two exceptions) are completely tech illiterate, basically just faking it until they make it. Being able to get access to ultra-exclusive PC parts doesn't make you any more knowledgeable about technology and they have repeatedly shown complete illiteracy. The funniest thing is that, despite the channel LITERALLY being called LINUS, TECH, TIPS, implying Linus himself is not technologically illiterate and has some degree of competency, (otherwise why would anyone want his tech tips) in his linux challenge he kept trying to pretend to be just an average user, despite constantly being the reason for his issues. "Oh I'm just an average user I didn't do anything insane", cut to him bypassing the GUI and running a command he found online as sudo without reading the multiple pages of warnings he was given. "I don't have hardware that is that exotic" cut to his repeated issues with his monitor being so absurdly big that he literally didn't see notifications. They keep switching up to whatever is more convenient at the time. One moment they're knowledgeable and giving explanations of X Y or Z, the next they're super relatable "basic windows gamers" who don't know anything and are the victims. (even when, again, their problems are almost always self-inflicted) I'm not saying everyone has to be super tech literate here, but jesus christ if you can't even be bothered to know the basics you shouldn't be running a channel claiming to give, and I stress again, TECH TIPS. I rarely watch LTT content and every single video I pick up from them and watch just reinforces their complete illiteracy when it comes to tech. Again, I get it, not everyone needs to be a technowizard, but jesus christ those people ain't running tech tips channels. These people are literally making their living by pretending to be competent at technology when I can only think of one or two members of the entire team who have ever shown any degree of technological literacy.

[@nameless-uk]

It's also funny how they added arch, I doubt many in the LTT team have ever used a terminal before. (blackarch repo > kali)

[@electricnezumi]

@@nameless-uk that's just blatantly not true. there are too many videos to count where they end up using terminals

[@robonator2945]

​@@electricnezumi using a terminal and knowing enough about computers to use a terminal competently are not the same thing. Anyone can blindly copy and paste from the arch wiki to install it, the point he was making is that very very very few people in the LTT team are competent enough to be able to actually work in the terminal comfortably which, they aren't, not even close, and I want to be clear that not everyone NEEDS to be comfortable in the terminal, just like not everyone NEEDS to be tech literate, but when you host or run a channel that's only call to credibility is technology, you ought to understand technology. Their videos have countless major errors and have had for YEARS. I said it in my own comment but, I get it, not everyone needs to be super tech literate, I wouldn't even say I'm personally all that advanced myself I've just done enough research to weed out the bullshit. The issue is "everyone" isn't the head of or employee of a now multi-million dollar company mass producing products and content like a god damn factory which specifically gains it's credibility from being tech literate. There is a reason this comment section basically unilaterally is correcting them, this was an abusrdly simple and patently obvious error to anyone with any understanding of technology.

[@Wh0isTh3D0ct0r]

My spouse wanted me to recycle our ~10-year-old Sony Vaio laptop earlier this week. Instead, I cloned the drive to a SATA SSD and it's now running better and faster than when it was brand new!

[@AlLiberali]

I daily drive a VAIO. It's really unfortunate that Sony sold off its laptop business. It's really well built. I haven't seen a modern laptop with the same IO, easy access to storage, memory and battery, decent keyboard and no flex yet.

[@Chalisque]

My 2010 Vaio still has the nicest screen of any of my laptops. It runs Xubuntu and it it weren't for the fan going crazy all the time, (despite it being cleaned out), and the rubbish battery life, it would be perfect for watching movies on.

[@Wh0isTh3D0ct0r]

Strange how people seem to have latched onto the fact that it’s a Sony Vaio versus it having an SSD. 😂

[@AlLiberali]

@@Chalisque Sony still sells replacement parts. You can get a genuine bat for cheap

[@AlLiberali]

@@Wh0isTh3D0ct0r Legendary brand

[@gunswinger3110]

Wouldn't a lightweight linux distro work better than installing a mostly web based OS?

[@sireuchre]

What do you do most with your machine? If that answer involves just using a bunch of websites, you don't need anything more than a Chromebook/Chrome OS Flex device.

[@TheFoyer13]

Or just windows 7, hey a lot of browsers still support it. Kind of.

[@kipa_chu]

@@sireuchre Not everyone is a noob like you

[@startingbark0356]

@@kipa_chu not everyone wants to use command console all the time

[@robonator2945]

@@sireuchre okay? And? Not NEEDING something critically, doesn't really serve as a reason to pick the factually inferiour option when the better option costs nothing. That's like being offered a free steak and chosing to take the shitty 2 dollar steak over the fillet mignon because you "don't need a fancy steak". Sure, you don't need it, but why would you choose the worse option for literally no reason?

[@irwainnornossa4605]

I've put Mint on my old ntb. Works absolutely great. I'd never put there something as limiting and limited as basically phone OS.

[@gb76231]

i mean, it runs linux apps

[@robonator2945]

​@@gb76231 poorly. ChromeOS is less feature rich, in many cases more bloated, less secure, less private, and frankly across the board worse than just about any linux distro. All this, and yet it's somehow MORE complicated to install, requiring you to use a bloody browser extension and a convoluted setup process.

[@abdusalam3ar]

You're better off throwing it away than installing a giant privacy invading spyware disguised as an OS.

[@aarivex]

I'm surprised that I had to scroll this far to finally see a comment like this.

[@Doramyplays]

privacy is a joke tbh

[@BurgerKingHarkinian]

@@Doramyplays you are a joke tbh

[@tralphstreet]

Windows is the same. Linux is the only real option.

[@abdusalam3ar]

@@Doramyplays That's what tech giants want to you to believe in order for them to keep gaining more and more control over your tech and data. I'd recommend you to research Free and Open Source Software or FOSS to learn more and see for yourself how you can make your tech much more private than you think

[@devrandvar]

A Linux distro is usually going to better then Chrome OS in most cases its performance is not really that much better then windows on old hardware. I have revived several laptops using a Linux distro over the years. I am not a Linux expert by any means, but there are plenty of decent tutorials online on how to install most distros, so it is not hard as long as you are able to follow instructions. I have had a issue with a old laptop not working with most distos for some reason, Ubuntu, Debian, and several others that I tried would not install at all or would not run correctly once installed, but Fedora worked perfectly. I never understood the issue there, but most of the time any of the distros will install on just about anything and usually run better then windows on old hardware.

[@sogerc1]

It's easier to get an SSD, they are dirt cheap these days, and then install a Debian+XFCE on the computer. I just did it on a 14 years old laptop, runs youtube on 720p.

[@pikaknight_]

I wouldnt give Linux to my mother or grandma. They need simpler OS, whicb couldn't be broken so simply as Debian/Ubuntu/Mint

[@jamesjacob9632]

@@pikaknight_ the GUI also feels better on chrome OS Flex than Linux. For example, on linux the touchpad acceleration curve is very bad. Chrome OS Flex's UI feels much more polished.

[@samius1149]

I wonder how it would affect KZbin video streaming - a big issue I've seen in older hardware is they can't quite keep up with KZbin's decompression requirements on 720/1080 60fps videos - which are becoming more popular. It can force you to upgrade an otherwise adequate Email/Word/KZbin-watching machine

[@pessoaanonima6345]

I don't understand how can they make youtube so heavy. These machines can probably reproduce even a 4k local video, and also perform well if watching youtube through a third party client.

[@SyrFlora]

@@pessoaanonima6345 basically because of bandwidth.. vp9 codec video mostly be used as defaults.. And it quite heavy to decode for older deviece that got weak cpu as it got no hardware decoding for that particular codec... Some extension if im not mistaken can force youtube to use h264.. Codec.. This is currently the workarounds for these old device for watching utube.. In future av1 will be common codec as it more bandwidth efficient at near same or better quality than vp9.. And of course will be hugely ahead at size efficiency when compared to h264

[@pessoaanonima6345]

@@SyrFlora From my experience it doesn't make that big of a difference. I tried to force h264, but I suppose my old computer doesn't support hardware h264 decoding either, as it appeared to drop even more frames.

[@vinizan]

I tryed in a 12 years old netbook with Intel Atom and youtube works fine in 480p, its good enough for its 11" screen

[@ligametis]

@@SyrFlora till vp9 becomes a thing for lowest end old devices it will take over a decade. Now only the newest stuff hard it

[@SteveRand]

Here's a use-case. I had an old Chromebook that no longer received updates. With some aftermarket UEFI BIOS mod, I was able to install Flex and it's now totally useable!

[@clemmcguinness1087]

Can you share the name of that?

[@deanstyles2567]

​@@clemmcguinness1087 MrChromebox is the common one for Chromebooks

[@FireFoxDestroyer]

Imagine if we get to the point where the things in the actual operating system are a USB service, an Internet connection prompt, an Internet connection service, and an application that is launched on startup that is just a portal to a cloud server. I'll call it: "TrueCloudOS." Just a portal to a cloud server with an operating system.

[@csumme7]

Switched today by the way. Thanks for the video. It breathed new life back into my HP Elitebook 820 G3.

[@BlazeOGlory]

If it'll run Flex it'll run a bunch of other Linux distros that will have WAY more functionality and usability (many of which will run better)

[@irvalfirestar6265]

We used old laptops for temporary server setups, mostly for testing out system we wanted to deploy at home. Seeing that most of the things we wanted to try are usually super light, old laptops are perfect for testing them. Had Home Assistant and Plex running off of an old Lenovo once before we built a proper home server for it.

[@stefanos6505]

ChromeOS is essentially a bootloader for a browser with extra steps in telemetry.

[@GankMamaElite]

I like flex honestly, I don't use a laptop for anything else other than school and youtube. So to be able to buy a really cheap used laptop and just use it for school is great. I think the idea behind flex is to be cheap, user friendly, and help with e-waste.

[@PipmasterD]

I agree, I installed it on one of my computers, I can care less about gaming and all the bloatwear crap that comes with windows 10, for people that just do stuff on the web, Twitter, KZbin, checking their banking, reading news articles its totally fine. People get pissy because they dont read before they install Google Chrome Flex, that you cant put steam on it or play high end games, it was never designed for that. For people that have old computers this can be installed and yes keep people from tossing usable computers in the landfill for no reason.

[@WyvernDotRed]

For this exact situation, I am using Clear Linux set up with Dash to Dock and their browser of choice pre-installed. As simple to use to them, but a complete FlatPak distro (like SteamOS), that fully auto-updates without breaking. As discovered in the LTT video about Chrome OS Flex, any Linux distro would be better and if this works at all, it is one of the more idiot-proof options.

[@belthesheep3550]

Throw in an SSD to make it run more nicely. Download mouse without borders. You now have a "second monitor" for lightweight apps that won't slow down your main pc.

[@gb76231]

nice tip

[@TheFoyer13]

mouse without borders is the worst app I've ever used hands down. It could be so much better, but the wrecked it.

[@belthesheep3550]

@@TheFoyer13 I dunno what problems you had with it but it worked flawlessly for me for two years straight.

[@TheFoyer13]

@@belthesheep3550 um I dunno the fact that lately the last time I used it, it wants me to input a uuid by hand between computers on the same network for security reasons seems asinine

[@greggv8]

I was given an old Dell tiny notebook with 2 gig RAM, 32 gig SSD, and Windows 10 installed. I've no idea what Microsoft's people were smoking, allowing OEMs to ship Windows 10 systems with anything less than 128 gig storage. You can barely install any additional software and even with absolutely nothing but Windows installed it's impossible to do a major build upgrade because there's not enough room. So I tried Chrome OS Flex on it and it worked decently but my plan was to have it used to do one thing with a shortcut to an HTML file on the desktop - and I could not find any way to put a shortcut to a file on its desktop. The HTML file worked, just couldn't have a shortcut for people who don't know their way around a computer, especially not something 'weird' like Chrome OS. My fallback was to find a tiny Windows 10 install and upgrade the RAM to 4 gig. Hooray. That works perfectly for the task. Shortcut on the desktop, just doubleclick that and go.

[@DarkWorldQ8]

Linux Mint and many other Linux distros can run fine on my old Celeron CPU 2GB RAM laptop. I definitely recommend Linux over Chrome OS, especially if the RAM is below 4GB

[@BeautifulAngelBlossom]

My ThinkPad from 2009 and it has issues on Linux without screen going scrambled it got dual Graphics card however it for 3650HD I can't run Linux on it with glitchs .so I got Windows 11 on it no issues

[@DarkWorldQ8]

@@BeautifulAngelBlossom that sucks for you.

[@faealiciadotsys]

Linux provides so many more options than Chrome OS, though. For me personally, I gotta admit, installing a new SSD in my old laptop, plopping Xubuntu 22.04 on it, and hooking up an external HDD enclosure with a fresh hard drive in it was the best choice I ever made. You don't need an old desktop to make a cheap NAS. An old laptop can work too. (To be clear, the reason for Xubuntu is purely because I'm already familiar with it due to running it as my daily driver on my main desktop since 2014. I'll take performance over spyware anyday, tyvm, so Microsoft can look elsewhere for rubes to steal data from. Anyway, with Xubuntu, I don't have to learn how to use new software. I simply just hook up the drive to the USB port and create a network share same as I would on my desktop. But unlike my desktop, I can just stick this in my closet and forget about it other than to remotely SSH in to run updates every so often.

[@robspiess]

I loved the Clippit animations during the end credits!

[@AnthonyZ.]

One good thing chrome so flex laptops have that chromebooks don’t, A DEDICATED CAPS LOCK BUTTON!

[@PlanetLinuxChannel]

Umm, not comfortable with the Linux Mint interface? It’s literally laid out just like Windows. A bottom bar with the menu at the left, pinned / open programs next to it, and status icons and clock at the right. It’s about as identical an interface to Windows as you can get.

[@rodrigomaero]

I have a 2008 Dell with an Intel dual core. Runs fine with W10 on an SSD

[@GamerLMA]

"Old" "2010 or newer" Wow I'm old

[@morpho9989]

Don't throw away a perfectly good old laptop. Install Chrome OS then throw it away because now it's not only old, but also undesirable!

[@colbythompson]

I mean I hate to add to the other comments here but just use Linux. There are plenty of light weight options like Zorin OS lite, or Peppermint OS that only need 1GB of RAM. They will get updates longer than Chrome OS as well with chrome OS stopping updates after 8 years from the product launch. Depending on how old your hardware is that could mean you running out of support much sooner than you thought. Linux on the other hand is barely starting to consider dropping support for the 486 which came out in 1989. Yes just because a hardware is old doesn't make it useless like your video is trying to say but really you should be saying what is the better option.

[@danimayb]

Just to question the Chrome OS 8 years support from product launch (I think it varies by system), This wouldn't apply to flex, Only to purpose built Chrome books with full fat Chrome OS. Flex will be supported for as long as Google keeps it alive.

[@NotSoGoodDark]

The millions that are still using pirated windows 7: I'll think about it.

[@rb368370]

I liked windows 7 best. Much better graphics.

[@imtekcs]

I think it would be better to use a lightweight Linux distro than use ChromeOSFlex. It is fine for web browsing and email. I do not know if it would be good for anything else.

[@notjustforhackers4252]

What else it would be good at would depend on your hardware, web browsing, playing games or making movies with Maya.

[@bill_and_amanda]

Chrome OS is a variant of Linux, just like Android

[@imtekcs]

@Bill Boyles Yes true but it isn't exactly the same as ChromeOS. You can install apps from the app store but, imo, kinda useless. If you want something but with more application support, a netbook or a lite version of Linux is much better

[@bill_and_amanda]

@@imtekcs my own use case may not be everyone's, since I'm basically using this for my elementary school age kids, but Chrome OS Flex is a lot faster and easier for them to navigate and use than Raspberry Pi OS, which is what I had in these laptops before. It's not perfect but it's definitely a lightweight distro intended for use on hardware with very limited capabilities.

[@imtekcs]

@Bill Boyles I agree. My kids use chrome books for school. Which is primarily web apps. I am not knocking ChromeOS. It has a purpose but very limited scope for what it can be used for.

[@pyromethious]

It took a bit of doing, but I have a Flex VM to toy with and it's pretty snappy. It gets a little tricky though as you're limited with driver compatibility and I've had some issues with being able to wake it up.

[@steelfalconx2000]

Is there a difference between throwing it away and installing chrome os?

[@Feeble_cursed_one]

You have a laptop

[@steelfalconx2000]

@@Feeble_cursed_one Of course you're right I forgot about the obvious best use of chrome os. A high tech paperweight.

[@Feeble_cursed_one]

@@steelfalconx2000 that's a whole new sentence. You keep a laptop.

[@robonator2945]

@@Feeble_cursed_one you left out the quotations, here's what you meant to type You have a "laptop"

[@Feeble_cursed_one]

@@robonator2945 you have a laptop. There, you tech weirdos get upset over the most benign things

[@NigelMelanisticSmith]

ChromeOS Flex is perfect for when you have a friend that uses a shitty laptop and you know that they'll keep calling you if you install Linux Mint to speed it up

[@tasmimferdous7051]

I am running Win10 (Not activated, I don't mind the watermark) with Core I5 2nd gen + 4 GB Of DDR3 ram+ 120 GB SSD in my Hp laptop. It works really well. For day-to-day work not a problem. I think it would be better deal than Chrome OS flex in this moment.

[@superpork1superboy771]

Yeah, the main thing that makes these laptops unusable is the ancient hard drive in them (an ssd is absolutely required as a boot drive). I have nearly the same specs, just with a 512 gb ssd and a Pentium from the same generation. It's pretty good for web based stuff and 2d gaming.

[@juls_99_]

Hi. I would like an OS (Linux, etc.) for an old laptop (2in1 intel) my mother use at home. That will give me a Stable OS with touch support and Play Store. Is there anything?

[@RKBock]

how is that better than a linux distro that is basically equivalent to windows for non-power users? (mint, ubuntu)

[@AlawiKD999]

PopOs

[@hirakchatterjee5240]

Ubuntu is resource hunry and doesnt run well with just 4 gb ram.

[@Finkelfunk]

Real talk: If you have an old laptop kicking around you have the option of installing a fast, light weight, well maintained, stable, well tested, widely used and very beginner friendly operating system that is EXTREMELY resource friendly and breathes new life into your tech-junk... ...and then you choose to install the spyware that is ChromeOS instead of Linux. Yikes.

[@connorsullivan5996]

Its hard to even see this as an operating system, but rather a slightly more complex web browser application running on top of a kernel

[@cejannuzi]

Really you are much better off with one of the basic, entry-level Linux distros--MX, Mint, Pop!, Lite, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc. If you have a real dud of an old computer, Anti-x Linux is one of the best for making a highly functional netbook.

[@Klaevin]

My parents had SUPER old laptop lying around. Like, Vista Era. I needed a laptop so I installed an ssd and Linux mint on it. As a result, I guess it runs. Sometimes, the fan even turns off. I would plug it into a TV with the vga port and that would overload the GPU. Never would I ever install chrome on the poor thing

[@ristudios69]

Vista was released in 06

[@nameless-uk]

Linux mint is quite a resource heavy os as it's for new linux users, if you wanted to get more out of it using something like arco (arch but with an easy setup window) would help. (& installing firefox instead of chrome)

[@Klaevin]

@@nameless-uk I AM a new user. I don't want to deal with a command line or with arch Linux. So what are other options? Rasbpian?

[@billcodey1430]

What do i do with my old chromebook? No longer under software support....

[@zomfgroflmao1337]

Linux is by far the best option if you just want to surf and answer some mails (and it is also way more lightweight if you use the right distro).

[@laysson_boy]

But how well does it handle older laptops with a hybrid graphics configuration (integrated + discrete GPUs) ?

[@civictunerz]

I figured this video would be about installing Gallium (linux) on older chromebooks. I have one and it made it like a whole new machine compared to having chrome os installed.

[@randy-johnkostapapas9944]

Been trying to figure how to download it for a few days. How about a video on that.

[@imjustsomeguy]

I was about to say, this sounds interesting but then you said "there's no native android app support"

[@fredV35]

Clippy easter-egg at the end, NICE

[@scsiuw]

2010 CPU 4GB RAM is not old for me

[@Destroyer243]

The one guy with a 2009 laptop is screwed

[@ayyildiz-ccc]

With 4GB of RAM, you can run PopOS instead.

[@the_tech_nexus]

ChromeOS Flex would be great, but it does not have Google Play Support, this greatly diminishes what a user can do with the device as they will have to use web apps only as they do not have the option to install apps (Unless they use the Linux Environment).

[@KillerCat03]

I love installing full chrome os through the brunch framework. That way I can use the android versions of emulators with nice front ends

[@ha69]

It is x86 at 0:43 and 2:50 . I think you confused it with 64 bit

[@bkinder83]

Intentionally install spyware?

[@yurimbarbosa0]

Indeed. A lightweight Linux distro like mint xfce much better.

[@The_Wailing_Doom]

"Bring yourself back here for another video when this one's over, which it is now." I just love the delivery of this line. Haha.

[@inosukehashibara5930]

I'd rather put my old laptop to windows 7 or XP so I can still run them smoothly than using Chrome OS.

[@Killabyte-ie3ql]

Don't throw away your old laptop!...there's important homework folders on there!

[@utfigyii5987]

Just put mint or Fedora on it. Much more useful and much less creepy.

[@Stiky_Piston]

I sped up my laptop even more by installing Windows 8.1 (Boot times: ChromeOS: 1 minute 40 secs Windows 8.1: 26 secs) (On an Intel Centrino btw)

[@windows9556]

Windows 10's system requirements are way lower than that of chrome os'. Not to mention that chrome os is useless for anything except web browsing

[@ArtOfHealth]

I know it has been a whole year. Have you tried Gemini 1.5 Pro? It really is a delight. It is different from Microsoft AI. Thanks

[@Cloxxki]

With a ChromeOS Flex laptop, any chance that DeX would run on it as an app? Or the laptop will be used as lapdock for a DeX phone?

[@ciubciubpl]

YOOO you guys should make a video comparing a light linux distro (fedora xfce for example) with chromeos to see how bad chromeos is

[@robonator2945]

frankly even GNOME would blow it out of the water. The only reason ChromeOS was a market success was because it catered to the enterprise and academic groups where having a super locked down and monitored system is a feature, not a bug. It's literally just a hyper-bloated and incompetent linux distro. Seriously, install Garuda, de-dragonize it (takes around 15min to an hour depending on if you know what you're doing) and you have a relatively light weight yet hyper customizable OS with constant backups that take functionally 0 diskspace, (btrfs ftw) the most up-to-date packages, no telemetry, and the ability to do basically whatever you want on your system. I used garuda as an example since it has excellent btrfs integration but honestly ANY distro is almost certainly magnitudes better.

[@ciubciubpl]

Yes I can't understand why they promote ChromeOS ,when in their own testing they showed it's the same as windows. Especially since ChromeOS is just shit

[@Psyyyyyyyyyyyyyy]

Why would you use a linux distribution that has no native package manager and forced use of chrome and its web apps while installing an actual linux distro like ubuntu and having way more functionality

[@IEJ7654321]

How to make an old laptop better. 1. Install SSD 2. Install Linux, not ChromeOS flex, since you can do more with Linux than ChromeOS can ever do.

[@sireuchre]

As someone who sells a lot of laptops to average humans (not tech savvy gamers, geeks, and nerds), the 'more' you speak of is almost never done by the bulk of those customers. They don't edit pics or video, they don't do office suite productivity much or at all, they don't code, they don't render 3D models, and don't play games on their computer - they've got consoles for that. What do they do? Facebook, 'shop' (all websites), email, watch KZbin videos - things that are basically all done in a browser. Well, Chrome OS is basically just doing all your computer work in a browser, so it fits them well. It updates as seamlessly as any Windows or MacOS machine. There's never any reason to touch a command line. Most of the machines they buy are under $400, a very substantial percentage below $350. After they've had the machine for 2-3 years and have pooched Windows from clicking the wrong ads, but can't afford a new laptop, Chrome OS Flex will cost them nothing, and be easier to install than any Linux distro. That's the real market for Chrome OS Flex.

[@joelperillotempra9324]

Is the google allow the 2 Chrome apps in one PC or OS Android Because i have an a 2 Chrome apps installed separately in my device

[@GSBarlev]

4GB of RAM?!? An *x64* processor? I thought we were talking about old, underpowered potatoes here, not supercomputers! Seriously, though, no--Xubuntu requires only *1GB* of memory, and Mint is still officially supported on 32-bit CPUs until April. Either is a better choice than ChromeOS.

[@JamesCWilliamsPhotography]

There are a lot of details not being spelled out by any reviews. I am a photographer who archives images on discs. Flex will read from a DVD drive, but will not burn to it. Another issue I have is, my preferred browser is Firefox for security, but Flex ONLY supports Google Chrome. The selection of apps is very limited to extensions for Chrome. Another misinformation I kept finding was that Flex is Linux compatible, but when I went to enable Linux Development Environment, it said Linux was not available on my Chromebook. This is literally an OS for people who just want to browse the web. I wish I had known that before installing, but as I say, nobody is really spelling out all of the limitations. The one good thing I will add is that streaming videos play much better on Flex than Windows 10 on my laptop. So, before you go replying to this, telling me to go buy a new laptop, I don't want to. Everything on my laptop works fine, it just can't handle the bloat of Windows 10 because it was made to run Windows 7. Thanks Microsoft! Guess I'll try Linux.

[@pessoaanonima6345]

Windows 10 works fine on core 2 era machines, especially with 4gb of ram and a ssd, which wouldn't work on chrome os because it's older than 2010. I'd even use windows 7, it would be really fast even with an HDD, but if you care about security updates, new programs which are incompatible with it, and don't want a linux distro, windows 10 would be fine too. Even for compatible computers, I wouldn't ever install it, as it's missing too many basic features and other linux distributions are better than it in every aspect.

[@jhgvvetyjj6589]

Windows Vista is going to run faster than Windows 7 and 8 and 8.1 and 10

[@pessoaanonima6345]

@@jhgvvetyjj6589 Usually yes, but Windows 7 usually has better support for hardware made after 2009, as vista wasn't that popular. Anyway, Vista doesn't support the latest software and is too outdated, so nowadays 7 is a better option. If you want it to run faster and don't care about being outdated, I'd say XP is a far better option than vista.

[@bobalex6323]

I just revived a - how can I say - sub-spec notebook. It has a Intel N3010 processor - somewhat slow and it was no feasible Windows or Linux installation, even the lightest ones. So I tried ChromeOS Flex and it is running ok. I still have to dig into my pile of old hardware to find a replacement for the old spinning 500GB hard drive. But it works, all ports, camera, mic. Brought it from the dead.

[@Daniel-Gomez-M]

If you have some old laptop you should try Linux Mint, however if you need Windows then try with W7 SP1 32-bit Home Basic

[@pessoaanonima6345]

Agreed. However, I don't think the windows 7 editions matter for the performance, as long as you disable aero.

[@Daniel-Gomez-M]

@@pessoaanonima6345 It does, give it a try, if you have a very old laptop, and you need every bit of performance, W7 SP1 32-bit Home Basic will have the minimum impact on CPU, RAM and HDD or SSD. You won't be able to run 64-bit programs or games but you'll get a nice boost. A more powerful old laptop should be able to run W7 Pro 64-bit. Also you may want to find the so called "SP2" if you want to use W7.

[@pessoaanonima6345]

@@Daniel-Gomez-M 32 or 64 bits definitely make a difference. However, have you tried comparing Home Basic 32 bit vs ultimate 32 bit? As far as I know the latter is just as heavy if you disable aero. I recently upgraded from Home Premium to Ultimate (both 64bit) and it seems to use the same resources.

[@Daniel-Gomez-M]

@@pessoaanonima6345 Sure, Home Basic will prevent loading a lot of useless stuff into your HDD/SSD and RAM. If you have a laptop or netbook with low RAM then you don't want Ultimate loading a lot of stuff into RAM also taking some CPU from time to time. Also some laptops have a very small SSD, you'll want as much free space as possible.

[@Lucian_Andries]

"Don't Throw Away Your Old Laptop!"......... Install Chrome OS on it, THEN throw it away!

[@little_forest]

Yeah... I did not hear too much good about Chrome OS Flex from reviewers. Especially if you are not "tech savvy", you will have a hard time getting it installed and the possibilities are really not much more that using the browser. You can just as easily install a simple linux distro, also on 2000 computers in two days, and you will have so much more possibilities. So.. Don't Throw Away Your Old Laptop! Throw Away Chrome Os Flex Instead!

[@Olivyay]

"lightweight web-based apps" is an oxymoron.

[@M2rsh]

literally my old laptop that I'm using (because my pc broke) has like i3-3110M 2.4GHz and integrated Intel graphics card (3rd gen) with 8gb of ddr3 ram basically is old as fuck (maybe except for the ram because I added 4 GB) and runs perfectly smooth on arch it can easily handle some load (Most of the games just crash instantly or have like 10 fps (Minecraft runs in about 50 on the newest version and for the rest I'm using GeForce NOW cloud gaming)) it boots up in about 5-6 seconds there's literally no reason for installing Chrome OS except if you're scared of the terminal I forgot to mention that I use arch btw (literally the only context that it's not annoying in)

[@warmoaran3]

Yup, laptops in the time frame to run chromeos work fine with windows. its the laptops from 2000-2009 that struggle with newer windows. I have a i5-2410M and upgraded 8GB 1,066MHz DDR3 RAM, runs win7 like a dream, the HDD is slow tho. I also have a few laptops from 2006, intel core duos, T2400 and T7200, with a max RAM of about 4GB. I'm just gonna toss their original OS onto them.

[@hoverbike]

Yes! Bring back clippy! Also, what about 32bit processors? Surely, there is an option for actual old computers? No?

[@Broadsword7]

puppy linux

[@Stefan.Stefanov]

Lol, any basic CPU from 2010 or later and 4GB RAM can run Win10 and some of them even Win11 (if you bypass TPM and SecureBoot). So, Chrome Flex is pointless, there is no PlayStore. Btw, I have an old laptop with i3-380M and 4GB ram and I can run Win10 and Win11 without problems, but I can't install Chrome Flex because can't boot. That's why I think Chrome Flex is not worth it.

[@markusTegelane]

Might as well throw it out of the window, because it’s running Chrome OS

[@deez_nu1s]

Dude, like seriously,ChromeOS???

[@sireuchre]

I created the installation media for Chrome OS Flex and live booted on a couple of my laptops, one a very low spec HP laptop that just barely runs more than one app on Windows 10 at a time acceptably, and a Lenovo X200 that was running an older build of Ubuntu. They're both faster than their installed OS for just doing the browser based stuff that constitutes easily 75% or more of my computer use time. I didn't want to give up the webcam and optical drive abilities on the HP, but the Lenovo has neither, so it is now a Chromebook. I was barely using it anyway, but now if I want an ultraportable laptop I can do my web based stuff on, it is dandy for that. There's a not of naysayers in the comments, but Chrome OS Flex definitely has a place in the real computer use world.

[@dstinnettmusic]

You should do another video on opencore. Easily three times as hard as installing Linux and with half the benefits, but it is a good _flex_ on Arch users. (Oh, you use Arch,btw? Hold my plist.) Runs pretty well on older hardware once you get it going, but you will be limited by hardware compatibility.

[@YG-Repack]

man seeing Clippy do those animations bring back memories working on grandma's pc ..

[@Faraz-cse]

Using Windows 10 x86 with 2 GB 800 MHz LPDDR3 RAM and 256 GB SSD and old Intel Pentium dual core processor of 1.1 GHz base frequency and max 3 GHz. I don't think Chrome OS Flex is for me with that cheap specification.

[@logicalfundy]

Yeah, that kinda confuses me about this video. Windows 10 has a few years of support left, and it supports older machines just fine. In fact, most older machines are likely running Windows 10 to begin with. So why put another OS on it? If the machine really is too old to even run Windows 10, then quite frankly it's time to put Linux on it. The scaremongering in the video about Linux is quite overblown.

[@brunopereira8811]

Can you install software programs like adobes (photoshop or illustration)?

[@OcteractSG]

MX Linux’s Xfce and Fluxbox editions are a great way to go, or you could just use a server edition of corporate or upstream distro (e.g., Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, OpenSUSE, Arch, etc.) and make the laptop into an energy-efficient server.

[@Chalisque]

My music player and video server is a Thinkpad T420 that I got off eBay for £30 due to it having a smashed screen. Give it an SSD, and stick a 1TB HDD in the optical bay, and I can stream ripped DVDs and Blurays to my TV, and it runs mpd (through a spare audio interface for good quality sound) so I have a music player I can control over the network from my PCs/tablets/phones. My rpi is running a trivial python webserver so that, via ssh and wake-on-lan, I can wake and sleep it via my phone. Linux rocks once you know how to work it.

[@eraldorh]

If you use brunchframe work you can enable android apps as well which actually makes it useful.

[@codyred3732]

You guys literally just did a video about how chrome OS doesn’t improve old hardware at all ….. What is wrong with you guys?

[@flameshana9]

Google must have given them a big fat bag of cash 💰

[@H3LLGHA5T]

@@flameshana9 seems to be a recurring theme on Techquicky and ShortCircuit. The Philips monitor video was sad.

[@kittenzrulz]

People dont realize how easy it is to install Arch. Just use the Archinstall command and you get a TUI (Terminal User Interface) to easily install Arch.

[@npgoalkeeper]

I wouldn’t call archinstall easy to use. Expecting users to not use a mouse + understand what stuff like networkmanager is and what time zone they’re in + how to partition without losing data is just begging for trouble when it comes to appealing to the masses

[@kittenzrulz]

@@npgoalkeeper The partition manager is harder because its not meant for dual booting. Also Archinstall gives info about a section when selected.

[@nameless-uk]

@@npgoalkeeper easy solution: Arco os

[@NekoiNemo]

"4Gb of RAM", welp, there goes my idea to install it onto a netbook (who remembers those?), that had Intel Atom and came with 1Gb RAM with an aftermarket upgrade to 2Gb. I guess it's back to Arch which works flawlessly on it

[@mcmadness110]

I added Linux mint xfce on my aspire one netbook.

[@RogerioPereiradaSilva77]

I have AntiX on mine. Runs like a champ. I still use it to play lullabies and IPTV in my baby's bedroom. It can actually do KZbin up to 720p through SMTube.

[@neomorphosallomorphis7395]

Why not go for linux then, if you are using it as a secondary computer anyway and are technical. And you don't want to give this to a friend / family member as it's basically giving google even more access to their privacy...

[@KristophM]

I use Arch, BTW. 🙃 On my 10 year old Dell laptop. It's excellent.

[@brunoais]

3:03 Oh? I didn't expect that guy to have a comeback on this channel group!

[@Anonymous4045]

Or just use PuppyOS or similar, or turn it into a home server

[@DaimyoD0]

Do you have a suggestion of what to look up to find a guide? Like is "use old laptop as home server setup" serviceable?

[@Anonymous4045]

@@DaimyoD0 Personally I started out with this great video by TechHut kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqnZd6h9o8-igNE. He guides you through installing Fedora server, which is a pretty nice OS for servers and comes with Cockpit, a web UI for managing lots of server stuff (updates, monitoring, ssh, etc.). He also shows installing docker + yacht, which makes setting up the services you want to run (media servers, ad blockers, search engines, etc.) pretty easy, all for free ofc. Would recommend watching it if you wanna get into self hosting stuff/administrating a home server

[@nonstandarduser_]

I feel like they made this video catering for the stigma "linux is too hard" that many people have, and so proposed an more 'polished' alternative, but now people are pointing to linux... Ironic. I use linux and agree that it's much better(that and I hate chromeOS), but wouldn't it make sense as 'better than Windows'?

[@_GhostMiner]

*I don't even get what's LMG trying to accomplish here.* They're just telling people that installing basically Android, but without all features of Android on your laptop Is a good option instead of using some Linux (or even windows) versions that are made specially to be as light as possible. BTW. Video was Published 26 seconds ago 👌

[@muzlee7479]

I don't even get what you are trying to accomplish here. You are trying to tell people to install basicly Linux, but without the point of using linux on your laptop is a good option instead of using a simple and safe option that doesn't requier a neckbeard to help you out with the most basic things. BTW. Published 2 minutes ago 👌

[@randoguy7488]

@@muzlee7479 What ? You don't want to give your grandparents a distro with garbage or even nonexistant UX/UI design ? How dare you speak against the open source !!

[@muzlee7479]

@@randoguy7488 Sure I'd give them one that is easier to use but it's still linux, her favorite mahjong program wouldn't run on it. Open source is good.. for enthusiasts. Normal people shouldn't touch it. We are speaking about an op system where you can literally uninstall the UI... Just look up the video Linus made about linux gaming. There is no overarching documentation or help since every single neckbeard feels like they are unique and write the 523487568734256923487523rd linux distro, tearing the community into small pieces.

[@dirlrido2522]

@@muzlee7479 What are you on about?

[@namenlosNamenlos]

Can techquickie made video base on old laptop works while the screen broken. What alternatives?

[@Anonymous4045]

You can turn it into a server. You'd need to connect it to an external display while you install a server os, but after that, you can control it remotely from another computer. I have an old macbook w/ ubuntu server that I haven't touched in months, it's running pihole and jellyfin

[@Kedvespatikus]

No ChromeOS, thx

[@daanwilmer]

ChromeOS Flex supports CPUs from 2010 or newer. Linux, meanwhile, just dropped support for the intel 386 - from 1985.