It MUST be some kind of dual-boot thing... Some of them had a weirdo "CE" version of Windows or something. (They were all still there when I went to the same store yesterday.) One sec...
QLive 14p Windows 11. 249 euros it was.
That's the first one. (I have pics of them all and their little price cards with the specs)
Next is Acer CB314-2HT-K6JJ Chromebook (Says it right in the name). 299 euros... Now this one could actually BE Chrome OS... To me Chrome OS and Windows 11 look SO MUCH alike now that I can't tell them apart. But I believe the little card next to it said Windows 11. (Can't see the bottom from the angle I've got). So this particular one could've been a combination of department store clerk mislabeling and me having never seen Chrome OS before. The other one was straight-up Windows 11 though. (Was able to go into the settings and everything.)
Asus C423 Chromebook. 279 Euros. This one DEFINITELY says "Chrome OS" (Or has that little symbol) on the little price card with all the specs.
Another Acer: Acer CB15 Chromebook. 399 euros. Turns out that one is Chrome OS, too.
There's maybe three more. Two more Windows and the third I don't know. I'll update the list as I have more time.
But it looks to be 3 Windows and 3 Chrome books. Maybe the 3 windows aren't ACTUALLY Chromebooks... but jus the same size and the same price. (I'm reading this all off my new Pixel 6a... would be much easier if you guys had an app... I could just upload all the photos...)
Going back to first computer... the QLive (that's the brand of the Auchan department store in France. Toasters, microwaves, computers, and phones... It's crazy) that's not just Windows 11... but Windows 11 Pro. That one I believe them. (You can probably find it on the Auchan site.
Every single one of the computers has virtually the same Intel "N series" CPU. The QLive and the 399 one I think had a slightly newer one (N4020 or N5020 something like that. The rest were something like N2040 or something in the 2000 series...).
So I'm sure they could ALL run Windows 11 if you wanted them to... and honestly... at this point... I don't know the difference between these "N-series" Intel CPUs, the Celerons, and the i3. I probably won't bother with researching this either as now my wife has her heart set on the Yoga from... Acer? I think...?
My new job has me dealing with chromebooks... alot
you can get windows on it with some tomfoolery but its not like a natively supported thing, from what i have gleaned theres a difference in UEFI between chromebooks or non CBs that look like CBs
often a manufacturer will make a hardware set thats identical other than the UEFI and OS.
a CB is a funky thing, i got one for super cheap when i got this job to tinker with. I was looking to put an older version of windows on it for a tool for programming my car and thats when i found a lot of this stuff. Its similar to android with dev modes and all sorts of thing, theres a "write protect" screw in most of them you have to change in order to do a different OS. Your probably better off with a linux distro or something. i hear those are easier to do, also some CBs support native linux apps, which kinda makes sense if you think about it.
the really crappy thing about a CB is their hard baked planned obsolescence. they have whats called an AUE (Auto Update Expiration) and that basically means, even if your hardware is still going strong the device will stop getting updates no matter what. its a hard baked 5 or 7 years before that happens and then you get left behind with a perfectly working thing. kinda ****
i get that they want their money and what not but it really goes to show that google is not the "dont be evil" company it used to be
the ewaste is going to get out of control soon if we dont start actually recycling this stuff
to put into perspective, the CB i got is a Dell P22T, released in 2015 with a Celeron n2840, 4 gig o ram, 16 gig emmc, decent battery, small compact thing. Granted its old but its mainly used to work on the web, cloud and all that crap, a portal to the internet. It starts up super quick, its stopped getting updates and its on OS version 93, the latest version i have seen at work is 109. in the time between those updates some things online just dont work any more. some sites tell me to use another browser and usually suggest chrome. a laptop this old would still work online and would cost a little more between $75 and $100
this cost me $8 on ebay
i feel like we could be doing something with these things, its more powerful than a raspberry pi and it cost like 1/8 the amount
what about using them as old school game servers for things like quake or UT or the like?
also i finally figured out how to enable legacy boot mode on my dell 3120 (p22t) that i got for $8 and i am soooo close to getting a windows install going on it but i am being stopped by the most stupid thing, there arent any function keys (f1-12) on a CB
i boots off of the USB fine, i get the menu for my modified windows install that shows Grub4dos and PLoP boot manager but i cant pick any of them because i dont have any F keys
ugh
what about using them as old school game servers for things like quake or UT or the like?
also i finally figured out how to enable legacy boot mode on my dell 3120 (p22t) that i got for $8 and i am soooo close to getting a windows install going on it but i am being stopped by the most stupid thing, there arent any function keys (f1-12) on a CB
i boots off of the USB fine, i get the menu for my modified windows install that shows Grub4dos and PLoP boot manager but i cant pick any of them because i dont have any F keys
ugh
tried it, doesnt want to work for some reason, i tried a crosssystem command i saw listed on it for enable usb dev mode but it errors out and i dont know enough about the commands to go much further
its strange since its working with the external usb drive just fine after the keyboard doesn't work.
i also cant boot off of the SD card reader so i wonder if its only enabled as a mass storage device and not HID or flash memory
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