Temptation to Buy a Chromebook

mr. ed wrote:


Yes, I have some concerns with anything Google. I never use Chrome browser, but prefer Firefox instead (sometimes Edge). Even so, I think I'd give a Chromebook a try.

Another thing I have some concerns with the iPad, is that they receive updates for only about 4-5 years, or so I've read.

Chromebooks "expire" (End of Life), once Google decides to pull the update support plug on that specific Chromebook hardware it will no longer get software and security updates. Once it hits EOL, it can still be used but now you will find that apps you once had, may no longer available or found if you do a powerwash. Some apps may refuse to work and your OS will be far less secure than using Win95 on the wobbly web.. While I can't say for sure, I suspect Apple pulls the same trick..

At least with Windows PCs, you often can easily keep older PC hardware working fine for many, many yrs. I have successfully installed Win10 on many older PC hardware platforms that were built for Windows XP, Vista and Win7 and it works reasonably well. I suspect that even when "11" is offered, most PCs running Win7, 8, 10 will also be upgradeable to "11" in some form or fashion.

By the way, a Chromebook is nothing more than a another version of Android but is optimized for folks looking for a closer to Windows experience than Android without the price of Windows.

Android is optimized to run on dirt cheap "ARM" processors which have very low processing speed with very little on board memory. Android doesn't do well if you are looking to have multiple programs open and running at all times. Android and Chromebooks are also designed and optimized for the touchscreen tablet crowd which often makes many things you take for granted that are easy to do on Windows either difficult or impossible to do without pulling your hair out. Android has considerable limitations in onboard memory and even accessing something simple like a large USB drive can be an issue. Chromebooks most likely suffer the same fate..

Not all USB devices may be compatible with Android or Chromebooks which can severely limit what you can plug in and have it work.

Printing can be a hassle as there is no direct printing from Android, it is done via a cloud app, even if your printer is a few feet away from your device.

You can read up on file types and external drive and hardware devices for Chrome HERE

Chromebooks might be nice for light websurfing, checking your emails and perhaps reading/writing documents but if you are wanting to do a lot of other things there are limitations as to how much Chromebooks can really do.

They are cheap for a reason, and a lot of people love cheap, but being cheap, you can't expect a lot out of it..

Gdetrailer wrote:

mr. ed wrote:


Yes, I have some concerns with anything Google. I never use Chrome browser, but prefer Firefox instead (sometimes Edge). Even so, I think I'd give a Chromebook a try.

Another thing I have some concerns with the iPad, is that they receive updates for only about 4-5 years, or so I've read.

Chromebooks "expire" (End of Life), once Google decides to pull the update support plug on that specific Chromebook hardware it will no longer get software and security updates. Once it hits EOL, it can still be used but now you will find that apps you once had, may no longer available or found if you do a powerwash. Some apps may refuse to work and your OS will be far less secure than using Win95 on the wobbly web.. While I can't say for sure, I suspect Apple pulls the same trick




At least with Windows PCs, you often can easily keep older PC hardware working fine for many, many yrs. I have successfully installed Win10 on many older PC hardware platforms that were built for Windows XP, Vista and Win7 and it works reasonably well. I suspect that even when "11" is offered, most PCs running Win7, 8, 10 will also be upgradeable to "11" in some form or fashion.

By the way, a Chromebook is nothing more than a another version of Android but is optimized for folks looking for a closer to Windows experience than Android without the price of Windows.

Android is optimized to run on dirt cheap "ARM" processors which have very low processing speed with very little on board memory. Android doesn't do well if you are looking to have multiple programs open and running at all times. Android and Chromebooks are also designed and optimized for the touchscreen tablet crowd which often makes many things you take for granted that are easy to do on Windows either difficult or impossible to do without pulling your hair out. Android has considerable limitations in onboard memory and even accessing something simple like a large USB drive can be an issue. Chromebooks most likely suffer the same fate..

Not all USB devices may be compatible with Android or Chromebooks which can severely limit what you can plug in and have it work.

Printing can be a hassle as there is no direct printing from Android, it is done via a cloud app, even if your printer is a few feet away from your device.

You can read up on file types and external drive and hardware devices for Chrome HERE

Chromebooks might be nice for light websurfing, checking your emails and perhaps reading/writing documents but if you are wanting to do a lot of other things there are limitations as to how much Chromebooks can really do.

They are cheap for a reason, and a lot of people love cheap, but being cheap, you can't expect a lot out of it..

Thanks for the “heads up”. I didn’t realize those negative points about Chromebooks, as I’m still learning. I do like Windows, and have been using that’s OS since the days of XP.
If my trusty Toshiba breaks down and I don’t wish to use my iiPad as my main computer, I’ll probably just stick with Windows. It’s always worked well for me. :)

Many Chomebooks also run a LIMITED version of linux (Terminal only no GUI)

But... As to the "Chromebooks have a limited life"
Same with Windows.. Oh you can sometimes install the newer OS on an older machine, and sometimes you can not. I might add Microsoft does NOT comply with the uniform commercial code.. they will terminate support for a computer sold last week.

I'm still exploring possibilities. Checking on the web, I see more positive comments on CB's than negative ones. I'm still a bit cautious about anything "Google" since they're notorious for obtaining users' information to build a profile for advertising purposes. If I could be persuaded they've stopped doing that, I'd be more inclined towards getting a CB even though I believe my iPad could be a good substitute for a regular PC laptop (I've been using it quite a bit in that configuration,and so far it looks like a winner.) Of course, I've read Apple may also do a bit of "spying" on its users, as well as Microsoft. There's just no escaping from "spies":E

I'm using a CB right now. For storage I use a thumb drive or the cloud. Some things I do miss like Paint. I never print.

... your OS will be far less secure than using Win95 on the wobbly web..

I don't know where this idea come from, unless you enable Developer Mode.

As for Cloud Storage, I still have more 13G unused from the 15G that Google give me... I use a 1T External Hard drive.