Please edecate me on Chromebooks

Always been of the philosophy that 'Chrome don't get ya home'.....:R

Thanks or the replies, folks. From the reviews, it appears I'll keep sticking to regular Windows laptops for now. I don't care about faster startups since I'm never in a hurry. Any other benefits of a Chromebook don't impress me either. But I do appreciate all the candid replies.

The cheap laptops, as mentioned, are made to be internet only devices. If you want to do word processing (write a letter or a book) then you have to connect to the internet and you have to use the google (or someone's) storage space (and they have access to it). These cheap laptops do not have software, you use the software on the internet. Without the internet your computer is dumb.

You become dependent on the "cloud". You own nothing that is yours on your laptop, and become a slave since all your stuff is in their cloud. Haha, this can be very convenient to that everything you own in the digital world is accessible anytime you have internet, and you can connect from any device as long as you are able to login.
I have friends that have all their work stuff in the cloud and enjoy the ability to access anything anytime from anywhere.

Most people dont use a computer for what it is capable of, they just do the internet web pages, so the cheap ones are fine for this.

wa8yxm wrote:

Do they have a "Hard Drive" no. they have a SSD. and yes they do have memory you can use Not a lot as a rule though you can always plug in half a terrabyte (500 gig or so for storage. (more or less. I often plug in 16 Gig to transfer to my long term storage / cookbook Windows box

Here's a very short video that explains the difference between an SSD and 'spinning' Hard Drive;

SSD vs HD

zigzagrv wrote:
Had a Chromebook for 2 days. Was almost useless without internet. Returned it and got a real laptop.

What do you use a lap top for then, if you don't need it for internet/on line?

Had a Chromebook for 2 days. Was almost useless without internet. Returned it and got a real laptop.

Ok, First Chromebooks have improved over the years.
Do they have a "Hard Drive" no. they have a SSD. and yes they do have memory you can use Not a lot as a rule though you can always plug in half a terrabyte (500 gig or so for storage. (more or less. I often plug in 16 Gig to transfer to my long term storage / cookbook Windows box

Can you use them offline.. YES but limited Out of the box you can not but there is an app store and some apps like the TEXT editor work rather well offline... Some do not

Many can run a limited version of LINUX as well though I can't tell you the app name to install. I have it on this one

And many can also run many ANDROID apps. this includes Communications apps (need to be on line) and Production apps (Basically Open office type apps. not SPECIFICALLY Open office but a competitor is in the play store).

Big advantage.. I took my old Toshiba out and pressed power Then I took the Chromebook out and turned it on. It ask for a Wi-Fi node. I selected the Dennys I was sitting in and it ask for my GOogle sign in.. and just that fast I was on line.. The Tosh was still in POST.

Catch a virus on teh Windowns (Tosh) and you are in for a job ridding it.

Caught one on the Chromebook caused constant Rebooting.. Managed to get to Settings advanced Power wash between reboots and .. Well the thing wa back up and running in about 4 minutes. Lunch (ordered before I power washed) was yet to be served.

Chrome Web browser by default.

I'm not using 2 Chromebooks most of the time and the Windows box only for "logging" a few minutes every AM and for long term storage and WiRNS (A program that only runs on Widders).

I have a Google Pixelbook and I love it. Battery life is 12 hours cause there is no spinning hard drive or fan to suck power. But it's like anything else; you get what you pay for. The Pixlebook use to be the only one with built in SSD. Don't know if that's still true. What I can say is this thing became my daily driver instantly. If and when it's able to run Turbotax premier, I would abandon the PC's completely. This thing is just as fast as the day I bought it. Updates silently. No spinning hourglass or beach ball problems. You can get most all of the Microsoft office stuff in the play store now if that's important. I do know that some of the cheaper Chromebooks cannot run all the Microsoft apps.

Another thing to mention is the nearly 10 hours of battery life. I have switched from Microsoft spreadsheets and word processing to Google docs and sheets for everything I do. The files are compatible with Microsoft, and available offline.

There is a lot being said about Google spying on your searches etc., but now I get ads that are targeted to my interests, instead of getting ads for womens undergarments, shoes and so forth. I see that as a plus, not spying.

I bought my wife a HP Chromebook a couple weeks ago at the Amazon Prime sale. $200 and quite a bit cheaper than a laptop. It functions nearly identically as her old laptop as she used it. And how, you may ask, did she use it?
She used it for e-mails, facebook and news. So basically all she needed was a web browser. Chrome is an excellent web browser. She doesn't ever use it for anything other than the browser. Yesterday she opened a new tab on the browser and logged on to her medical account to check on some lab tests. Worked great. Also youtube vids, Shutterfly, anything on the web.

It can load and run anything on the Google Play app store.

She loves it.
It starts up from power-off really fast. I mean from the time you hit the power button until you are reading and replying to e-mails is under 30 seconds.
It's small enough for travel and use in bed, but big enough she can actually see the screen. Something she can't do on her 'smart' phone.

Oh and it has a hard drive. It's a solid state hard drive, no moving parts. Also known as SSD. It's a 32GB SSD and has 4GB memory.

One of the best things about this chrome book is that it is a 2-in-1. That means the screen can rotate 360 degrees and work as a tablet. It has touch screen in either keyboard or tablet mode. Very fast to do web searches using both.

It has two cameras; one faces forward, one towards the user. Great for taking photos.

Open/Edit MS Office Files Using Free Embedded Quick Office Editor or Google Docs for Free

Here's what I got her. I did a lot of research and felt this one offered the most bang for the buck plus the quality of HP.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J427KVK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1