Chromebook + remote desktop... A feasible solution for a student?

[posh]

Hi guys,

Recently I have been looking at getting a new laptop - as a high school graduate, the education department took my old one away...  :angry:

Anyway, I have noticed that Chromebooks are very cheap, and upon some quick research found that they are capable of remote desktop.

 

So my question is: Is it feasible to use a Chromebook as a remote access to my desktop for applications that are incompatible with it?

I do not want to game, but will need to use software such as Blender, adobe Photoshop and programming tools on a fairly regular basis. Is this type of work feasible on an over the internet connection to a remote desktop?

 

Another point to consider is that I live in Australia, so the internet connection is an incredibly impressive 5Mb/s

My desktop itself is not an issue as it is fairly sturdy build.

[RevoltTrain]

Welcome to the forums! Don't forget to follow your topics.

 

I'd say that would be a pretty solid option, but I also don't have experience with that personally, so wait for some other answers.

[comicsansms]

What do you mean by the Education department took away your laptop?

[ZetZet]

What do you mean by the Education department took away your laptop?

They gave him one, he finished high school they took it back.

 

 

 

I would buy a windows laptop. They are the same price and the same performance, but much more versatile. 5mb/s is shitty for any type of video streaming, for remote desktop it's unbearable.

[squirrl]

You need to look at your home upload speed more than anything. If that's a lot less than that 5mb/s (i'm guessing download?) then youre-going-to-have-a-bad-time.png 

[posh]

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

@Comic_Sans_MS Like what ZetZet said. When we finish they take back our 7 year old laptops and do god knows what with them.

 

@ZetZet I wouldn't mind a windows laptop, but from personal experience I have found windows on low end gear to be really slow.... (do you have some good recommendations... )

The Chromebook was attractive to me because it runs such a lightweight OS.

 

@squirrl My upload speed is very very depressing so look away now if you are slowaphobic or something... here goes... 0.74Mb/s

[thomas harding]

use ay pc that is cheap on fast internet and use team viewer that is free which is free

[posh]

@thomas harding Thanks for the reply, but unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world (or is it just me?), so just using a PC on fast internet isn't an option. Else I'd jump on that service faster than [a good metaphor].

 

Looks like i'll be sticking to good old windows and paying a bit more.

[squirrl]

 

 

@squirrl My upload speed is very very depressing so look away now if you are slowaphobic or something... here goes... 0.74Mb/s

Yeah, that won't cut it No matter what download speed you are getting where you are with your laptop, you will only be able to talk to your computer at that speed.

[posh]

I set up a little test using the Chrome Remote Desktop browser app, using my desktop on my home wifi and my phone on its data service

and to my surprise, it worked like a charm! There was a little delay, but it was usable. I think it is amazing that my phone now has most of the functionality of my desktop...

When big changes to the screen happen, such as closing a window, there was definitely an uncomfortable delay, however the applications I use are largely static interfaces so that should not be a problem.

 

On further thought, is it possible the delay is bottle-necked by the phone's hardware? Seems strange to me that small changes to the screen had almost unnoticeable delay compared to closing a window.

 

I also found that my phones data is over 3 x faster than my home broadband  :mellow: welp.

 

[EDIT] Upon further investigation, I have found that the delay is network bottle-necked, as over LAN my phone very quickly reacts to the opening and closing of windows, and I could even play Rocket League with a one second delay (albeit very choppily). However over my phone's external network Rocket League was delayed 6 or 7 seconds, and the frame rate was less than 1 fps. But I'm not looking to game (goody two shoes here), so these results look promising!