I received a Chromebook for Christmas (after begging for one claiming I could use it to add more features to our newsletter 🙂 ). Of course, I couldn’t wait to extricate it from its packaging. As I had figured, Google makes setting up a Chromebook extremely easy. An on-screen guide helps you along. If you don’t have a Gmail account, it will help you set one up, if you do, just enter your username and password and your Chromebook is ready to go.
I’m still playing around with it and learning it, but in just two weeks I find myself using it more than Windows computer for checking email, surfing the Web, looking things up, reading the news and keeping up with the weather. I even used it to book airline tickets on Southwest.com. I just hope they fly me to the right airport 🙂
Anyway, as time goes by I’ll be adding more tips and tricks for Chrome and Chromebooks. But let me tell you now if you’re a Windows XP user and you are not financially able to upgrade to a decent Windows 8.1 computer, you should consider a Chromebook. The model I’m using right now cost $199 (you don’t think my family is going to spend more than on what they consider a toy for me, do you?) and it does everything I want it to do. And what I like best of all, I can turn it off and then boot it up in less than 20 seconds and check the weather to see how miserable the coming weeks are going to be.
OK let’s get down to business…
While it’s true you can buy a Windows 8.1 computer for around $300, and it may suffice for many users, it will be an underpowered machine with less-than-amazing graphics capability. For $200 you can buy a Chromebook that boots up in 10 seconds to a ready-to-use state. But Chromebooks have limitations too. It all depends on how you use your computer.
A Chromebook is a simple laptop you pick up when you need to browse the web, watch videos, type emails, write documents, and do other things you can do with a browser.
Chromebooks have their advantages and their disadvantages – just like low-end Windows computers.
Here are some of the major advantages of Chromebooks
1. Chromebooks are much cheaper than comparable Windows laptops, with several decent Chromebooks selling for as low as $199. And compared to Apple computers, Chromebooks are extremely inexpensive. Consider that you could get four Chromebooks for less than the price of one MacBook Air.
2. Chromebooks are immune to Windows malware, viruses and exploits.
3. If you are someone who uses a web browser on your computer all of the time and most of your computer time is spent surfing the Web, emailing, updating your Facebook or other social media sites, working with documents, watching videos, and/or playing games — you should consider a Chromebook., Chromebooks are optimized browsing and applications that run in a Web browser. Chromebooks are simply simpler.
4. Chromebooks are very low maintenance: Chromebooks are the only computers we know of that actually improve with age. A Chromebook automatically updates itself and your installed apps in the background – quietly while you work. You don’t have to do anything nor will you be interrupted with notices to update your computer. System maintenance is a breeze since there isn’t any.
5. Chromebooks boot up in less than 20 seconds and are ready to use.
6. You have access to thousands of apps on Google Play — and many of them are excellent.
7. Chromebooks are extremely simple to set up and use. Most Windows users will have no problem using a Chromebook.
But there are disadvantages too.
1. Chromebooks feature a web based operating system. If you’re into laptop gaming (installed games), CAD drawing, heavy graphics work, or 3D modeling, Chromebooks are not for you.
2. Most of the more inexpensive Chromebooks come with very small 16 or 32 GB solid-state drives. While these drives are ultra-fast, they’re not made for storing a lot of data or for installing a lot of desktop programs. Google provides new Chromebook users with an additional 100GB of free Google Drive space (cloud storage) for two years. Plus you can use other Cloud storage sites to add additional storage.
3. While you can use a Chromebook offline and even work with Gmail and Google Docs offline, Chromebooks aren’t very useful if you don’t have an Internet connection. But since most people have access to Wi-Fi or Ethernet connections, this isn’t a major disadvantage unless you prefer to do most of your computer work offline.
The biggest problem with a Chromebook is software compatibility. Chromebooks can’t run Windows or Mac desktop software, so you’ll have to use web-based software. Depending on what you do and which programs you use, this can be a deal-breaker. You won’t be playing the latest PC games, using CAD software, doing 3D modeling, or performing other advanced tasks that require specialized desktop software on a Chromebook.
Chromebooks also have very little local storage, often coming with a 16 GB solid-state drive. This drive is fast, but is clearly not meant to store all your personal files and data. Chromebooks are all about storing data in cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox, which is why Google gives you 100 GB of free additional Google Drive space for two years with most Chromebooks.
Can you do everything with a Chromebook you can do with a Windows laptop? But if you use you computer for email, Web brow