Back in June, I finally bought my first Chromebook. It is a laptop with the Chrome operating system and the Chrome browser installed. Was this a good idea?
When I plugged it in and turned it on, it asked me what language I wanted. Choosing English was easy. Unlike Windows, there is only one Chrome Operating System. Chromebooks cannot refuse updates, so they all have the same OS.
Then it asked me what language keyboard I wanted. Bought in Mexico, it had a Spanish keyboard, so I chose that.
Then it scanned all available Wi-Fi and asked which one I wanted. I typed in the password on our modem, and I was online.
It then asked me to sign in to my Google account. I had already gone to Google.com on my Windows 10 machine and set up a free account. If you don’t have one, Chrome will help you set one up.
That’s it. I was online with the Chrome Operating System.
To be continued...
Part 2
Chrome has a Chrome icon in the bottom left part of the screen. Remember that ¨Chrome¨ refers to both the operating system and the internet browser. A Chrome toolbar appeared on top with a link to my Firefox bookmarks from my Win 10 machine. Chrome easily took me to Facebook and other sites, although I had to sign into all of them the first time. (This is normal for any new computer or OS).
With the standard two gigs of RAM and a quad-core ARM chip, my Chromebook is THE cheapest Chromebook available today ($150 US). Yet it rapidly flipped pages, opened tabs, played Christian music from Youtube, and ran multiple tabs with no problem.
When I added bookmarks to Chrome, they appeared on a toolbar at the top and were easy to find.
Part 3
There is a ¨magnifying glass¨ icon in the bottom left corner of the screen, and an identical key on the keyboard. This takes you to your list of Chrome apps, including a link to the Chrome Store. I found hundreds of free apps, including a pretty good Solitaire game. I installed some diagnostic tools, games, and word processing tools with no problems. The ¨Bible App¨ has always been a disappointment to me, but it was the best they had.
I am typing this post on Google Docs, which works as well as any free Windows word processor.
And yes, every app that I installed works fine offline.
I am thinking about getting a Chromebook for my wife. She has a Galaxy Tab 3, which she uses a lot. But I think a Chromebook would let her do more. Which model do you have that's $150?
(08-29-2016, 04:09 PM)The Rogue Tomato Wrote: [ -> ]I am thinking about getting a Chromebook for my wife. She has a Galaxy Tab 3, which she uses a lot. But I think a Chromebook would let her do more. Which model do you have that's $150?
Its been a little while since I've shopped Chromebooks. I recommend you got to Bestbuy, Staples or somewhere you can test drive one. I'm very picky about how touchpads and keyboards feel. The last time I checked Chromebooks, there was a HUGE difference in the feel of these between brands. I can't remember which one preferred. I never did pull the trigger.
It's a Haier Chromebook 11, made in China. there are several online reviews, but it is not available everywhere (I bought mine in Mexico).
Part 4
Okay, I was having fun with my new Chromebook, but we have Mexican kids from our church, an orphanage,and the neighborhood come over in the evenings to play and do homework on our three laptops. How would they like Chrome?
Using my poor Spanish, I pointed to the icons for the internet, Facebook, and Youtube. Despite the small screen, they like it because it is faster than my two Windows 10 laptops. And despite never having seen a Chromebook before, and despite the fact that my WIndows 10 laptops use Firefox, (They had never used the Chrome browser before), they immediately got to work with no problems.
Folks, Chrome is that easy.
Part 5
Understanding Chrome
Google invented the Chrome internet browser, which in April 2016 passed Internet Explorer as the world's most popular browser. Then they invented the Chrome Operating System, whose only function was to go online with the Chrome browser. Then they invented Chromebooks, whose only function is to run the Chrome Operating System.
Chromebooks have improved and can now work offline. They can do serious work and play low-ĺevel and mid-level games. They go on the internet better, faster, cheaper, and safer than Windows.
Chrome does less than Windows offline, but online, Chrome is the champ.
Part 6 Peripherals
I can’t stand touchpads, but the one attached to my keyboard works well.
You can attach the following peripherals form both Windows and Macs to a Chromebook:
Mouse. The cheap Windows mouse that I attached works great and does the same things with its buttons that it does on Windows.
Monitor.
Thumb drive. However, it can only use Chrome documents and programs off the thumb drive, not Windows or Mac programs. You can convert documents to PDF files and transfer them to other machines.
Speakers. Would you believe it? The speakers on this cheap Chromebook of mine work great! I’m listening to George Beverly Shea right now. But you can attach external speakers if you want.
Earphones
But you cannot attach:
A printer. Documents have to be sent over the internet to a Windows or Mac computer with a printer. You can write on the internet and you can cut and paste Google docs (like this one) onto websites. You can convert Google docs to PDF files and transfer them with a thumb drive. You CAN send documents directly to a cloud printer; the documents are sent online and then sent to the cloud printer. But you cannot attach a Windows or Mac printer to a Chromebook.
Optical drive (external DVD player). A few newer, more powerful Chromebooks can have an external optical drive, but can only read Chrome documents and programs off it.
Part 7 The Free Chrome Store
Offering far less than the Windows Store, the Chrome Store did have some very simple apps for running its camera. The kids enjoy making movies of themselves with comical effects added.
They had apps for analyzing your Chromebook and describing its hardware, but nothing for monitoring the internal temperature.
The kids found Minecraft and enjoy playing it.
I actually found some puzzle games that I enjoy.
Two poorly-designed financial programs wanted too much private information.
I was not interested in the usual collection of health, news, and sports apps, but they have them.
Part 8 What model should you buy?
Folks, this obviously comes down to “What do you want to do?”
My blazing fast Haier Chromebook 11 was THE cheapest Chromebook on the market when I bought it. But its tiny 11” non-touch screen helps explain its speed.
Google is setting up Chromebooks to run Android apps. Everything I find on the web states that Android apps are better than Chrome apps but most of them need a touchscreen. Designed for smartphones, Android has expanded into a great series of tablets, so you would probably want a “2-in-1” device that allows the keyboard to swing out of the way to form a tablet.
The standard 16 gig hard drive makes it difficult to successfully run Linux as an alternate operating system. Linux is free, easy to install on a Chromebook, and opens up a lot of possibilities. But I recommend at least a 32 gig hard drive if you want to run Linux.
Surprisingly, the two gigs of RAM isn’t a problem. Even with a larger touchscreen a dual-core Celeron chip is more powerful that the quad-core ARM chip that I have. Everything I’ve found states that 4 gigs of RAM shows no improvement.