I'd be careful about giving this computer to your family. It sounds good, but there are some issues:
- Your family can't screw up the software, but they're not going to understand that they can't run a bunch of programs they'd expect.
- Woe to the guy/gal who lets his/her family's wi-fi connection go down. (EDIT: Specifically your modem and router)
- There are serious compatibility issues with Google apps. Just try sending yourself a powerpoint or word document and see what I mean. It can be really frustrating trying to collaborate with someone if they're not also working in Google apps.
- Printing is going to be an insane pain in the ass and for some reason that's something that's really hard to troubleshoot far away.
I don't know about your parents, but my parents have low expectations on what a computer can and should do, and they are cheap.
My mom was doing real estate and the only software their stuff ran on was Windows (no, not even on a mac) despite the software being in Java (yeah, I know, WTF?). I can't for the life of me keep malware out of my parents computers and I live 1200 miles away. For further reference, my mom still refers to the internet, and her email (hotmail) as "the e" aka "the only button that works with my things" and asks "what is a browser" when I tell her to open one up.
-I've had no problems with wifi on my chromebook, I'm not sure what you are talking about
-My dad browses ebay and reads motorcycle forums, and that's about it
-My little sister mostly uses her iPod for the internet, which is on OS 2 I think still.
For the most part, Ubuntu works okay for them to fall back on, but even that gets annoying with all the updates, and I once had to talk them in to setting up a reverse tunnel so I could fix a broken video driver, which wasn't exactly a fun 3 hours. None of them deal with spreadsheets, and my mom's HP printer breaks half the time anyways, so that's where I'm coming from.
Will this replace their other computers? I wish, but no. At the end of the day, I'm confident it's still the most reliable way for them to get on the internet and stay on the internet without me intervening at all, and the utter lack of functionality is a benefit, IMO. I'm completely fine pulling an Apple and saying "Sorry, you can't do that with this computer, but here's what you can do."
I hate printers, printers in Linux have actually been easier than printers in Windows for me lately if you're willing to walk to the printer and determine the IP Address or hostname.
But Cloud Print makes it stupid simple. Install it on your desktop connected to the printer via basic USB, then login to your Google Account. You can now print to that printer anywhere in world from Chrome. Seems pretty easy to me.
The requirements to use "Cloud Print" are basically[1] a desktop machine, always on, fully powered and connected to an always on printer, for which one has gone through the hassle of setting up the printer. And after that you can print only from Chrome, and only where you've paired the printer to your account.
"Stupid simple" is only half right.
To me that's a lot of hassle to get basic functionality from a $500 dumb terminal. Better to spend $350 on a laptop, then use printer sharing on that desktop machine. Printer sharing is something that is in all major os's since Windows XP at least. This solutions allows you to print from any app on your laptop.
Better still to perhaps print from the desktop machine which is wasting space, money, and electricity acting as your print spool.
[1] of course cloud ready printers will become more available, but they are rare in the market atm
The assumption is that you've set up a desktop Windows machine. Printers are fickle things at best, made cheaply, and have mechanical in addition to software problems.
He's either got to buy a compatible printer (extra cost) or set up a windows machine too. It probably has to be on. Not the end of the world (and might be just right considering the family computer situation), but I stand by the notion that there are more potential points of failure.
I don't see how it's any more difficult to set-up a printer with a Chrome device than it is with a regular desktop, especially for a random noob user. It's just not that hard, even if you opt against Cloud Print.
Oh come on, at least tell me what's wrong with the post if you're going to downvote it? Even if we leave of Cloud print entirely, how is it harder for a user to configure a printer with this than it is with any conventional laptop? Surely you don't think the Windows process of downloading a 200MB driver hidden in a manufacturer's website is easier than the Chrome utility?
- Your family can't screw up the software, but they're not going to understand that they can't run a bunch of programs they'd expect.
- Woe to the guy/gal who lets his/her family's wi-fi connection go down. (EDIT: Specifically your modem and router)
- There are serious compatibility issues with Google apps. Just try sending yourself a powerpoint or word document and see what I mean. It can be really frustrating trying to collaborate with someone if they're not also working in Google apps.
- Printing is going to be an insane pain in the ass and for some reason that's something that's really hard to troubleshoot far away.