Google Pixel questions: GMail as main email client; benefits of Ubuntu?

May 27, 2013 4:43 PM

I just nabbed a 32gb WiFi Chromebook Pixel off Craigslist and it's a fun machine. I'd like to get the most out of it and have a two questions, one about ubuntu and one about GMail (as my main email client).

1. Can I use Gmail to check my Pop and IMAP email addresses? I like the interface but cannot figure out how to do this. I only can see how to use the "send as" feature, which doesn't allow me to receive email at those addresses, but will allow me to send from them, which is only marginally useful.

2. I know I can't plug a DVD drive into it and watch movies and I can't use an external CD drive to rip CDs or use it to print to an old HP Laser Printer... but what if I install ubuntu via these instructions. Can I do all those things if I boot to that?

I mostly bought the machine to just use for writing which is why I didn't investigate these things first, but the screen is so gorgeous that it'd be great to watch movies on and I'd love to get rid of my MacBook Air and just use this. Seems weird just to keep it to access music and DVDs.

Thanks!

posted by dobbs to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

1. Click the gear in the top right, settings, Forwarding and POP/IMAP. Does that not do what you need it to?
posted by magnetsphere at 5:22 PM on May 27, 2013

Click on the gear go to settings, ACCOUNTS, check mail from other accounts using POP
posted by JohnnyGunn at 5:28 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: It's letting me check the POP but not the IMAP. But it's letting me "send from" the IMAP.

Weird.
posted by dobbs at 5:38 PM on May 27, 2013

Just because you can't play DVDs doesn't mean you can't watch video.
posted by Bonzai at 6:42 PM on May 27, 2013

It does not have incoming IMAP as far as I know. Only POP
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:44 PM on May 27, 2013

Response by poster: Bonzai, yes, I know, but I have an extensive film collection, including all the good ones Criterion's put out. Be nice to see them on the screen.

NetFlix in Canada blows.
posted by dobbs at 7:22 PM on May 27, 2013

With Ubuntu it should just work like any other laptop, printing and optical drive support included. The only hiccup might be content protection on commercial DVDs -- haven't played a DVD in years so can't really remember how fiddly that was to get working. But even then, worst-case scenario is that you fork out $24.95 for the Fluendo DVD player from the software centre, which AFAIK does include the official DVD decoding licence.

You can always try before you install by running Ubuntu off a USB stick -- will be slower than an installed system but should let you test the features you require.
posted by pont at 10:30 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]

One note is that if you are going to try to use an external DVD drive in Ubuntu, make sure you're booting into Ubuntu rather than going the Crouton method outlined in your link. The Crouton runs alongside ChromeOS and isn't actually driving any of the hardware.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:52 AM on June 12, 2013