Running Ubuntu 14.04 LTS On The Acer C720 Chromebook

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Running Ubuntu 14.04 LTS On The Acer C720 Chromebook

One of the favorite systems reviewed in the last quarter of 2013 was the Acer C720 Chromebook. This Acer Chromebook features an Intel Celeron "Haswell" processor with performant and open-source friendly graphics while the ChromeOS installation can easily be replaced with Ubuntu. Our early tests of the Chromebook were running Ubuntu 13.10 while this weekend we tried it out on a development snapshot of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=19977

[TheOnlyJoey]

Good to see there are some performance gains on the more demanding graphic sets, this means that the graphic drivers used in 14.04 are better optimized for newer and more demanding shaders.

But what i am wondering (I also asked this in the previous C720 thread but without response), what GPU's can you compare the Intel HD from the C720 with?
Is it derived from HD4000 or something like that?
I really hate that Intel does not provide a product number with every GPU, it is horrible to compare with others this way (normally I use videocardbenchmarks.net to get a general idea).

[mendieta]

But what i am wondering (I also asked this in the previous C720 thread but without response), what GPU's can you compare the Intel HD from the C720 with?
Is it derived from HD4000 or something like that?
I really hate that Intel does not provide a product number with every GPU, it is horrible to compare with others this way (normally I use videocardbenchmarks.net to get a general idea).

I agree. They only say Intel HD Graphics. I looked around and found something interesting: it seems like this Celeron is clocked a bit slower (200-1000Mhz vs 350-1200 in the HD 4600 found in core Haswells), but more importantly, it offers 10, instead of 20, execution units. So, the performance should be expected to be something like 40% of what a full Haswell would provide.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Celeron-2955U-Notebook-Processor.98845.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4600.86106.0.html

Granted, the c720 screen has a modest resolution, so it probably keeps up ok. My son's older c710 runs every single steam game ok.

My problem with the c720 is the ram: 2GB is ok, until you start adding tabs in google chrome, to the point you eat it all up. It seems really hard to find c720's with 4gb RAM.

[mum1989]

(...)

My problem with the c720 is the ram: 2GB is ok, until you start adding tabs in google chrome, to the point you eat it all up. It seems really hard to find c720's with 4gb RAM.

arg :/
what is your desktop environnement and distribution ? Unity Ubuntu ?

[peppercats]

My problem with the c720 is the ram: 2GB is ok, until you start adding tabs in google chrome, to the point you eat it all up. It seems really hard to find c720's with 4gb RAM.

If you're not using chromeos, use firefox. I'm using manjaro and I used chromium at first, my c720 would freeze up after 4-5 tabs but I can open 20-30+ on firefox. Chrome memory usage is insane.


I'd definitely recommend the c720, but wtf at having no trackpad drivers in the kernel yet. For $200 it's an excellent netbook.

[DanL]

My problem with the c720 is the ram: 2GB is ok, until you start adding tabs in google chrome, to the point you eat it all up. It seems really hard to find c720's with 4gb RAM.

Can you not just add your own RAM or did they make it impossible to open?

[mum1989]

Can you not just add your own RAM or did they make it impossible to open?

nope :

http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/developer-information-for-chrome-os-devices/acer-c720-chromebook

[peppercats]

Can you not just add your own RAM or did they make it impossible to open?

RAM is soldered on, SSD is upgradeable with m.2(2242) form factor SSDs. I find swap on an SSD + 2gb RAM to be more than fast enough for me, YMMV.

[blackout23]

Why does nobody make such machines in that price range with slightly larger SSD (32 GB) or big but slower HDD and 4 GB RAM with Linux preinstalled? With some proper marketing they would sell like crazy.

[peppercats]

Why does nobody make such machines in that price range with slightly larger SSD (32 GB) or big but slower HDD and 4 GB RAM with Linux preinstalled? With some proper marketing they would sell like crazy.

c720p has 32gb SSD, they had a 4gb ram version but quit making it for some reason. And ChromeOS is linux, realistically the only companies that can do this are google and maybe canonical. Microsoft strong armed linux netbooks out by threatening the OEMs... and Windows netbooks were basically useless because windows was far too slow and bloated on an atom CPU and 1GB of ram. Classic Microsoft embrace, extend, extinguish.