Chromebooks

[SebastianSchuetz]

Hello everyone,

does anybody know how I can get a Chromebook (Toshiba Chromebook 2) here in Thailand? Or any reasonably cheap ways to get it shipped here?

Thanks in advance,

Sebastian

[yankee99]

where are you located?

[Clear Sky]

I'm looking at them as well, the Chromebook website in Thailand is http://www.chrome.in.th/ and the email link to purchase one is

[email protected]

The 11-inch Chromebook is 14,500 baht in Thailand, but the 14-inch one has better specs and is only 500 baht more. It looks, however, as though it would be quite a bit cheaper to purchase it in your country of origin than here in Thailand.

Cheers

[SebastianSchuetz]

I am in Bangkok, Yankee.

Yea, well, the Chromebook website is really not that helpful regarding newer models. I am leaning towards the Toshiba but they are not selling it here in Thailand unfortunately.

[riceyummm]

Be careful with the Chromebook, you can only load Google apps and the gui is frustrating. I paid about B6k for one in the US. I gave it to my wife so we can use Hangouts when I'm not in Thailand. She can't figure it out either and she's a whiz with her regular laptop. No Skype allowed on it unless it's changed in the last six months. You'd be much better of with a standard 10 to 12k laptop, you can decide which apps you want.

[MexicanFarang]

Walmart sells the HP14 Chromebook for $350USD. I only use mine for streaming videos and comes with built in T-Mobile, which I never use and 100G of Google Drive storage.

My smartphone has Skype, so not interested in that.

I love the SSD, which boots up in under 5 seconds. Can't do that on a Windows or Mac...

[SebastianSchuetz]

Chromebooks for sure are not for everyone but for light usage and consumption they are great.

Riceyumm, you can sideload Android apps these days which makes it a bit more useful.

Still searching for the Toshiba 2, though

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Be careful with the Chromebook, you can only load Google apps and the gui is frustrating. I paid about B6k for one in the US. I gave it to my wife so we can use Hangouts when I'm not in Thailand. She can't figure it out either and she's a whiz with her regular laptop. No Skype allowed on it unless it's changed in the last six months. You'd be much better of with a standard 10 to 12k laptop, you can decide which apps you want.

These days, Google Hangouts, or similar apps, ought to function as a replacement for Skype on Chrombooks.

Also, probably within a few months, Google supposedly is updating the OS so that regular Android apps can be run on the Chromebooks, which would represent a vast improvement in functionality. And I'd assume that would open the door to using the Android Skype app on Chromebooks.

I regularly see Chromebooks on sale in the U.S. for $200 to $300 from many online sources, Walmart, Amazon, NewEgg, etc etc.

It would be CRAZY to spend 15,000 baht (almost $500) to buy a run of the mill Chromebook here.

I'm leaning toward buying one, but want to wait to see if the "able to run regular Android apps" functionality really materializes. If it does, I'll buy one online in the U.S. and have it shipped here. They're pretty small and light, so the shipping cost wouldn't be too bad.

A lot of the U.S. e-tailers won't ship directly to Thailand, so that's where using a U.S. reshipper like Shipito.com comes into the picture.

BTW, I saw mention in one of the Skype forums that it might be possible to run Skype thru Outlook.com in a web browser (Chrome for a Chromebook), now that MS has integrated Skype functionality into the web version of Outlook.

And, in looking at the Chrome webstore, I see the Outlook.com app for Chrome specifically mentions having Skype integration.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/outlookcom/pfpeapihoiogbcmdmnibeplnikfnhoge?utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-et-na-us-oc-webstrhm&utm_medium=et

• Skype video call from your inbox - use Skype to video call your Skype

or Outlook.com friends, even if neither of you have the Skype client installed.

Edited October 16, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[SebastianSchuetz]

TallGuyJohninBKK, give me a heads up when you want to ship something from the US. I would be glad to share costs.

[technologybytes]

I bought a chromebook on Amazon.com and had to delivered here in Thailand. It's a Samsung and it works well.

It's true that it has it's limitations, but it's very light, has amazing battery life and it wouldn't be the end of the world if it got lost/damaged/stolen so I tend to use it for travel.

I like that it's not windows, I usually use a Mac and I'd rather use a chromebook than start messing with windows and anti virus software.

It's very fast to turn on and off, very useful when travelling. The screen is a bit smaller than I'd like it to be, but I can see why it's so popular. I can do most of the stuff that I do on my desktop, not all, but most.

[davidron]

Difficult to find these chromebooks in Asia. You can have them shipped from the U.S.

I got mine in.... Cambodia, of all places.

http://www.bcscomputer.net/product/list/Toshiba/158/

The box showed it was purchased in Australia. I think the shop's owner is Khmer-Aussie who buys his stuff in Australia and resells them here.

It's a CB30 and I'm very very very happy with it. I had my reservations initially as I thought it might be a fake but it turns out Chrome OS will not run on fake devices. It does a systems check every time you turn on the computer.

[SebastianSchuetz]

Nice one! Too bad the don´t have the 4GB Ram/1080p version available.

[davidron]

Nice one! Too bad the don´t have the 4GB Ram/1080p version available.

Yeah I know, I was also hoping to find one with 4GB ram but they are non-existent in Asia. Was in Singapore and checked out all those electronics malls.... Funan IT, Challenger, Harvey Norman, Courts, Best Denki.. none, nada.

I'm not a fan of Acer products but it's the only Chromebook with an NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor. Regardless, I'm keeping my distance from any Acer product.

Toshiba's Chromebooks consistently rank high in user reviews so I got myself one. Shame it's just 2GB but I only need it to protect my bitcoins from thieves installing malware, keyloggers, ransomware and other nefarious stuff.

No regrets at all.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

As mentioned above, I'd been exploring getting a Chromebook from the U.S.

But lately, HP has come out with the very well reviewed HP Stream 11 and 13 Windows 8.1 laptops....very well priced and good specs.

Given that Chromebooks seem to still have some problems dealing well with VPN services, I'm now leaning back toward a Windows approach.

[SebastianSchuetz]

Good hint! Options are the HP Stream or Asus XT205, though it looks like the latter isnt available in Thailand (correct me if I´m wrong?!).

[Covertjay]

Hey guys, I'm looking for Toshiba Chromebook 2 retailers in Thailand, specifically Bangkok. Any thoughts??

 

[mtls2005]

Not sure Toshiba Thailand localizes Chromebooks here?

 

You may have to source it elsewhere: U.S., Singapore, HKG?

 

Not a lot of uptake on Chromebooks here for a number of reasons.

[mtls2005]

Not too many Chromebooks here for too many reasons to mention, but I did find this one locally

 

http://www.wemall.com/products/true-idc-chromebook-11-2129972335840.html

 

 

[Covertjay]

At Zeer Rangsit today and not one to be seen. Anybody seen one in a shop?

[mtls2005]

Again, not a lot have been localized as there really isn't any demand.

 

You could look in some Thai forums for grey-market imports.