Laptop/Chromebook help

[jackjoh]

Looking for a new laptop that will let me use our TV as a monitor. A friend mentioned Chromebook but did not know if it would work with a TV. is this a good idea or should I get a laptop and if so which one? We mostly use email, facebook, RME, U4WDA, Des News, Family History. No games and little social media except for four wheel drive and land use stuff.

 

[moab_cj5]

We have a chromebook abd it has an hdmi out on it that you can plug into your tv. For what you are looking to do, a chromebook would be a good cheap option. There isn't much internal storage, but you can use thumb drives as storage.

 

[nnnnnate]

Is your family history stuff all online or do you have to install some software on the computer? Chromebooks run a special operating system that will most likely cause compatibility issues with any software you already own that you would want or need to install.

Here is a link from Google about the Chromebook: Considering a Chromebook?

 

[skeptic]

First question, what TV inputs do you have available? If it's a newish TV then it's almost guaranteed to have HDMI, so any laptop with HDMI out will do, or even a tablet but I wouldn't recommend a tablet for what you describe.

Next question, do you plan to have it attached to your TV 100% of the time or will you want to use it as a portable device as well? If attached to the TV 100% of the time I'd suggest going with a miniPC instead. Attach it to the back of your TV (or just place it out of sight) and use the wireless keyboard/mouse that comes with most of them. Just be aware that a lot of them don't come with an OS installed, and some of them are sold as "bare bones" devices without a hard drive/memory.

 

[jackjoh]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Family History is online and in our software on the computers. TV has HDMI and USB. Will be used as portable device as well. We have thumb drives and external storage devices. We have I phones and wifi in the house. All of our software is windows. I want to be able to talk between my desktop, laptop, and I phone and use the TV as a monitor. Do you have to hardwire the HDMI cable. Can you FM or WIFI to hearing aids, thought I would throw that in because it would sure help me?

 

[moab_cj5]

Hdmi is just a cable that runs between the devices. Wireless requires a smart tv or a dongle that plugs into the tv.

 

[skeptic]

Actually, there is wireless HDMI. Never tried it so no idea how well it works, and prices are all over the map for the hardware, but it IS possible with a regular old TV and nothing-special laptop. You will need to plug some kind of hardware in on each end though.

 

[nnnnnate]

If you want portability and need to install some software on that new device a Chromebook probably isn't the right choice for you. For this you'd want a PC laptop with Windows and hardware specs beefy enough to handle the family history software. You can find those requirements in the software information. (If you posted up the program you need to run and what version it is we could help you determine how robust of a computer you should need to run it.)

 

[jackjoh]

I am using Legacy 7.5.0.208, last PAF 5.0, and Family Search Tree on line. It looks like a regular PC laptop with HDMI and USB is what I want to get. Any suggestions on the minimum requirements?

 

[skeptic]

I am using Legacy 7.5.0.208, last PAF 5.0, and Family Search Tree on line. It looks like a regular PC laptop with HDMI and USB is what I want to get. Any suggestions on the minimum requirements?

Honestly, just about anything better than an Atom CPU should do. I'd recommend an i5 cpu, 4G ram, and SSD or hybrid drive. You could get away with less, but this should keep you happy for a few years.

 

[Caleb]

Another option is to get something that connects to your TV and allows you to display your computer screen wirelessly. I'm familiar with AppleTVs and through Airplay, you can do it. I wouldn't be surprised if Chromecast would allow you to do the same thing.

 

[jackjoh]

Most stores do not know what a dongle is so I looked it up on Wikipedia and will keep trying.

 

[nnnnnate]

A Chromecast will mirror your computer onto the TV wirelessly. It works really well and is $35, you connect it to your in home wifi and other wifi connected devices can "push" media to it over the air. I use it for screen mirroring (what you want to do) as well as casting my picture folders to the tv and netflix.

 

[jackjoh]

After reading about the Chromecast I will definitely be buying one. Still not sure about the Chromebook or PC.

 

[nnnnnate]

It looks like Legacy Family Tree has a newer version than what you are currently using (v 7.5 is what you said you have, newest is v 8) and the hardware requirements are super low, Pentium class processor, 256 MB RAM, 100 MB hard drive. Will run on windows 8. Cell phones have higher specs than these requirements.

I couldn't find the reqs for PAF because it seems like its not being supported anymore. Based on the reqs for Legacy I'm sure anything will be find though if you are still wanting to run it. The old download page for this program says to use one of the other programs it links to. Info Here.

I'd recommend an i5 cpu, 4G ram, and SSD or hybrid drive.

I'd agree with this recommendation but don't necessarily think that you really need an SSD (solid state drive, these don't have moving parts, its basically the a bunch of the same memory chips that are in your thumb drive soldered on a board). It will make the computer turn on faster and file transfers *could* be quicker as well but you trade speed for storage capacity at the same price point. Basically you can get a bigger capacity regular hard drive for the same money as an SSD.

 

[jackjoh]

I forgot to say thanks to everyone. I am now connected using chrome and all the above advice.