What about Chromebooks?

Considering that, for some time, Chromebooks were the top selling laptops on Amazon I think this forum should have a section dedicated to those things, or at least to Chrome OS.

They are becoming increasingly popular and are very interesting little machines, if thing they should have their on section, and throw in there hybrids like the surface for good measure, even maybe the iPad pro which is basically a laptop now.

 

Yeah that's a good point! A ChromeOS section could be quite useful, alongside the Windows/Mac/etc... sections. Are there any other Chromebook users here that would find this helpful?

 

If Chromebooks are not worth an entire new section by themselves I think that, at least, a section devoted to not so conventional devices like Chromebooks, convertible laptops and laptop-tablet hybrids should exists on this forum, I mean, that seems to be the future of portable personal computers, some kind of mixture between tablets and laptops. I don't particularly like that, like, I can't see myself doing serious work on an iPad pro even with a keyboard but a Chromebook is a really portable and useful machine to take with you while traveling and such, plus I've seen and answered some questions that people have about Chromebooks on other parts of the forum.

 

I could not agree with you more. I actually have a Chromebook and I absolutely love it and it is everything that I need it for, and you are right since they were topping the sales charts they are certainly a popular item, deserving of their own little section I believe. They really are a good option for a lot of people out there, and so I am sure there is some good information to be shared.

 

I thought Chromebooks were only for the internet. Can one use them to write articles on, do they have windows etc. ? Can you watch videos? I would be interested to hear what people are using these little machines for as I need a small cost effective alternative to my laptop. However, I do spend many hours working.

 

Chromebooks are primarily for the Internet. You can use some offline apps (like Google Docs) or any files you download (like MP4 or DOCX). You can't download any programs, use a traditional USB, or play DVDs or CDs (unless you use something that works with Chrome).

The main point: If you need something to get online, a Chromebook is a cheap and easy option. If you want to get involved in downloading programs or programming you need something else. It is possible to do some programming on a Chromebook but you need to know what you're doing.

 

It all depends, what is the nature of your work? If it is, for instance, writing, and you are able to give up Microsoft Word for Google Docs the machine will work for you. It basically runs the Chrome browser and all the extensions that it supports. If I remember correctly there were talks or rumors about the Chromebooks supporting Android applications as wells in the near future. With a little work, you can also install any linux distro on them.

If you think that this could be a machine for you, go with the cheap alternates. not with something like a Pixel because you can get a full fledged computer with the same amount, so it kind of defeats the purpose of the whole thing, if I remember correctly I paid less than 100 bucks for mine.

 

I did not know that Chromebook might support Andoid applications. I have seen some Chromebooks with Microsoft Office, but did not know about this.

 

This was announced about 2 years ago and a couple of android apps were indeed made available in ChromeOS, namely Vine, Evernote and Duolingo. That thing appeared to be vaporware since I had never heard about it ever since o it never took off. I even remember some hacks that involved porting the Chrome extension that made running the apps on ChromeOS possible to Windows and Macs.

If you thing about it, it makes perfect sense for google to merge both platforms and offer an unified experience.

 

I've added the 2 suggested forum sections for you now .

 

I see the new sections now, awesome, I will try to kickstart the Chrome OS one with a few post orienting people about the nature of what can be accomplished using a Chrome Book

 

This does sound interesting. A Chromebook that has Microsoft word on it would be perfect for my work. I also love that it is small an easier to carry around. This means I sit myself down almost anywhere and do my work. I wonder what the battery life is like on a Chromebook?

 

You can't install Microsoft Word on a Chromebook, if you want to do word processing you do it trough any of the browser based word like programs such as google docs or Office 360. Well, technically you can install Linux on it and then something like open office but a little work is needed.

When it comes to battery life it is a matter of the vendor, as you have many vendors offering Chromebooks, like Acer or Samsung, you also have different models with different specs, so that's what's going to tell you something about the battery life not the fact that the machine is a Chromebook. When it comes to Chromebooks though, buying a high end one makes no sense since you could get a laptop with a full fledged operating system for the same price. the really low end cheap ones is where they shine as Chrome OS runs like a breeze on this low specs hardware and a similar laptop with something like Windows 10 is going to feel slow and bloated.