While I know people who could get by with a Chromebook, I personally recommend to them not to use them because their specs are usually on the low end. Celleron processors and the like don’t deserve a place in today’s market IMO (look at how successful the woefully underpowered Atoms were with “netbooks”).

I’ve also yet to see a Chromebook with good specs that couldn’t be matched by a Windows laptop for the same price. Windows laptops can have Linus installed much more easily (I.E. no jailbreaking)