Chromebooks

Never personally used one myself, but I just finished up student teaching in a 5th grade class where Chromebooks were frequently used. They're designed primarily for internet use (for example, using Google Doc instead of a word processing software like Microsoft). They're pretty lightweight too which is always a plus.

 

I'm writing from a chromebook now! I love mine, an acer. As long as you have reliable access to the internet and don't mind investing yourself in Google Drive, Google Docs, etc... They're awesome and cheap!

 

I've only played with Chromebooks in stores. That said, I like a lot about them. The small size is a plus for people taking the Chromebook places (I can see myself grabbing it "just in case I need it", whereas a 17" laptop would only get grabbed if I knew it was likely I'd need). The ones I've seen also appear to have amazing surface quality for a cheap laptop--they make the already trashy-looking Windows laptops at X2+ the price look even trashier. And I like the fact that they have good OS security, and run something other than Windows.

That said...they have disadvantages. They are designed to be Internet appliances. Not that big a deal now in today's connected world. But I like keeping some things "local". Writing, for example. And there is one web browser, which is concerning. (What if Chrome turns really awful?!?) And, of course, it's from Google, which some people don't like.

I personally wouldn't want a Chromebook to be my only computer, but I can see buying one as portable computer. I would not, for example, have a problem using it as my one and only computer when travelling out of town.

 

I am completely clueless in terms of computery stuff, but I do have one so I might as well give my input. It works very good if you want to use for internet browsing, but it's not great for much else. They're super cheap and easy to carry around, so it certainly has it's advantages but it really depends on what you plan to do with it.

 

My only experience with a chromebook are the ones that my high school has provided for the students. Which are trash. At least the ones given to my grade were. The thing is, I suppose to save budget, the school gave the senior class the absolute garbage chromebooks since we'll only use them for one year, but I can't stand using mine. My school chromebook is constantly giving me random connection errors that should not be happening, and sometimes it will randomly crash/reset in the middle of me doing something. It's one of the worst pieces of technology I've ever had to deal with.

However, I've heard that basically every single model besides the crummy ones we got are actually not bad. Don't let my salt get to you: it'll probably be a decent computer. I simply saw a thread entitled "chromebooks" and had to let out my seething rage at the district-provided toasters.

 

I have a chromebook (currently writting from it) and uses it as my only laptop and given the choice I would not buy one again. Don't get me wrong, mine isn't bad and is actually perfect if you exclusively use it to surf the web which obviously is the point of the chromebook but you won't realize the amount of things you need/want of a laptop offline that chromebook won't give you until you buy one and uses it as your main laptop like me.

I personally don't play games or anything of the sort offline and mostly just surf the web or check facebook so thought a chromebook would fit my needs perfectly AND the price was more than reasonable so I got myself one. What I didn't realize is that the laptop would be totally USELESS without an internet connection.
There is barely NO apps that will work offline, the laptop has barely no space to store docs and pictures (let alone movies or videos) which is massive problem for me since I travel a lot and like taking pictures and don't want them all on the net so was hoping I could store them all on my new laptop which is not possible unfortunately.
Me travelling often, also means that I need and want to keep in touch with people from around the globe and for this Skype is perfect, unfortunately Skype is NOT available on Chromebook which has made my life a tad bit more complicated. A lot of of the apps that windows offer and that I hadn't realized I used and loved that much are not available in the google store which sucks. Which also can be a problem if you are a student and are asked to use specific programs. A lot of stuff also can't be download on the laptop which can be a problem so I guess it really depends what you'll use it for.

if it's only for facebook, your mail etc... then it's fine, if it's for gaming, writing and photography then less so.

I bought mine a year ago, yet I am planning to get a new laptop since this one doesn't fit my profile.

It's a nice product but definitely not for everyone.

 

I've had a look at them in stores and online, but they just don't have enough features to be interesting to me. Of course it depends on what you want to use them for.

 

Unless I'm sure of being OK with carrying a 1 TB hard disk with me wherever I go, I won't be buying a Chromebook.

 

My Chromebook freaking sucks and is basically just a googling machine but if all you want to do with it is browse on the internet/watch videos then you should be okay.

 

I have a Chromebook, and I have to say, it wasn't one of the best purchases I've made.

It does replace a lot of things I did with netbooks prior, although it really lacks software out of the box.

At the same time... You CAN install some Linux software on there, and it makes it a cheap machine to use for that sorta stuff... can get libraoffice on it with a few modifications.

 

My experience with Chromebooks are from what my school has provided me and hundreds of other students as part of a 1:1 program. In my opinion, they're pretty nice. Although a lot of people don't like them, you can still do a lot with them. You can easily do a lot of things online, and if you're willing to do most of your work in the cloud and on web apps, it's perfect. They are amazing at doing light work like writing papers and listening to music. However, they can't go very far in terms of coding. I frequently have to finish code for java programs as part of my AP Computer Science class, and the only thing you can really do with code on a Chromebook is write it, not compile it, which is one big reason why my Windows laptop is still my main daily computer. Also, my chromebook can be monitored and is filtered, which I understand but hate.

All in all, they are nice little netbooks. But try to be reasonable and know that they can't do everything.

 

I have one we inherited from a friend, a Samsung, and it's pretty nice, all in all. I don't expect it to be a lap-top, but it's very fast for surfing the web; faster than the iPads I've tried, and not nearly as costly. I've used it a bit for writing, using the cloud based aspect, and have been able to import Word documents via the USB port, which is about all I ask for. I'm not a gamer, so for a low-cost, portable device, it's been very handy.

If I have one complaint, it might be the monitor...the resolution is just fine, but it seems very dependent on the angle you're viewing it from, which can be a bit pesky.

Overall, I like it because it's easy to use, and for a person not so much into computers for their own sake, or doing complex tasks, it's been great to have.

It's also never froze up, crashed, or done anything all my other computing devices have tended to do. Great reliability.

 

I personally think chromebooks are useless. They are basically a browser and the laptop is just taken up all by google if Im not mistaken. I would just stick with my windows personally.

 

Yeah. Chromebooks are more "toys". They replace those ancient word processing devices like "alpha smarts", and the "quick pads", though.

 

Ya I really thought that too.