Reddit mentions of HP 11-ae051wm 11.6” X360 Touchscreen Chromebook - Intel Celeron N3350 1.1GHz 4GB RAM 64GB eMMC Snow White (Renewed)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07HKLQ1CB?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

It's not brand-new, Amazon renewed. Bought it because of the other members help here. Similar spec but cheaper and don't have to wait (I mainly wanted a microsd slot instead of the SD slot, that's why I went with this one).

I ended up getting a HP x360 11. (Here's an Amazon link)

MrChromebox sold me on why the Spin was the better choice especially in regards to long term support, and put to rest any worries I had on the R11 being the a faster machine. But then before I went to buy the Spin I looked at some more reviews and finally came to the conclusion that there wasn't that much discernible difference between the 11" convertibles with the N3350 processor. So I ended up finding the HP on ebay which cost $175 with shipping and had a 64GB harddrive. In my experience I think Acer makes a better laptop than HP but I couldn't beat the price and I felt I would rather have the bigger harddrive the HP had than the stylus that the Spin came with (especially since I couldn't upgrade these harddrives like I did with my C720).

So far I've been pretty happy with my purchase. The HP does what I need it to do, like listening to Spotify and writing in Google Docs which my 2GB C720 had a problem with. I can even play XCOM Enemy Within (Android version) which I was pleasantly surprised with.I haven't installed Crouton yet and just been playing around with Crostini for the time being. The Android Steam streaming app works okay but I still want to see how it works from Linux.

At this point it's replaced my Nook HD+, although reading books on the Nook is a better experience. I think the screen ratio on the HP is little wonky so holding it in portrait mode makes the pages seem too long. Also, some of the Android permissions seem to be restricted, which limits those apps. For instance, I use Moonreader and on the Nook I can easily adjust the screen brightness using the controls within the app but doing this on the HP has no effect and I have to make the changes from shelf/mini-menu that shows my open apps. Still, it's not a big issue so I find I would rather just put up with it than carry two devices around.

>I'm neither, I'm the guy who builds firmware that actually works and is supported. https://mrchromebox.tech

Never knew. Thank you for telling me. I'll take a look at the website and your method for taking on this challenge.

>if you use RW_LEGACY firmware with the stock firmware and remove ChromeOS, then you 1) have to hit CTRL-L every boot, 2) risk losing the ability to boot in Legacy Boot Mode if the battery is removed or full run down, and 3) lose out on all the improvements of running a modern firmware build. There's also potentially device-specific limitations with Legacy Boot Mode

To be honest, I'm okay with this method. I don't mind having to press CTRL-L to enter the bootloader to boot up Linux. That said, are you saying your firmware bypasses this step, without having to remove the write screw?

>A google search for that exact model comes up empty. If it's an x360 / SNAPPY (all device support is based on the ChromeOS board name, not model #) and is Apollolake based, then you made a bad choice since suspend/resume will be broken, built-in audio won't work, and there's no UEFI firmware support for it.

I mistyped the model. It's an HP 11-ae051wm x360: this is what I bought, also see here, and here

I wasn't able to find the board name. How do I do that? The CPU is an Apollolake though, at least that's what I see under Code Name. It's disheartening to see that I've made a bad choice. But thank you for pointing it out.

>it doesn't exist (with Linux support). You can have a Braswell model with 4GB/32GB/quad-core Celeron-N which will be fully functional under some distros, or a 2015 Broadwell model with an upgradeable SSD.

I see what you're saying. I was hoping I could find a 64GB model, as I'm looking to keep the system pretty tame, but given that the new Chromebook Models apparently don't offer the 64GB model and that I'll have to upgrade the SSD instead has me thinking twice.

>not by me, I'm the guy telling you that your approach will lead to frustration and disappointment. If you want a dedicated Linux device, a newer Chromebook is a terrible choice. Some older ones aren't bad choices. But trying to do it without running the proper firmware is silly -- there's significant downsides, not the least of which is losing the ability to boot your OS when the battery is drained.

I totally understand. I was never aware of the battery drain issue. Seems like a huge misstep on the manufacturers part. Thank you for all your help so far. I've taken a look at your list of supported devices. I'll consider going down that route instead and will return the device that I have coming.

Finally - I do want to ask you, with your firmware, it will be possible to:

1. Overwrite ChromeOS with a alternative Linux distro (Ubuntu 18, is what I plan on using - unless you recommend something different).
   
2. Bypass the bootloader, without having to remove the write screw and boot directly into Linux
   
3. And this will be the most proper method to date? Is that what I am hearing from you?
   
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   Thanks again.
   
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