Chromebooks

The GF wants a chromebook, they any decent whats peoples experiences with them and living in the cloud?

Seem's like good things on google about them, she'll only be doing work and processing word files/powerpoint, believe you cant run these though and have to use some other apps? Googles own i imagine?.. How do people find this for working on documents and stuff?

Thanks.

 

You'd essentially be using Google Drive. I think Microsoft also has some web-based tools but they're not nearly as widely used and afaik not as versatile either.

 

I wouldn't recommend Chromebooks. Get another laptop as they're easier to use and typically made better and have more options when it comes to work off of a Chrome. Brand I strongly recommend is Asus

 

Chromebooks are effectively Google Chrome on a computer. Nothing else to them really, I'd suggest just getting an Ultrabook or similar

 

Chromebooks are great.

They're light, have a long battery life, feel fast, and they're inexpensive.

 

Absolutely.

Though it might be worth nothing that Google plans on creating a Hybrid OS between Android and Chrome OS soon, so it might be worthwhile to hold off. Look into that though.

 

Bought one for my mom for Christmas and she absolutely loves it. I recommend anyone looking for a tablet or portable laptop to take a serious look at a Chromebook instead. In most cases it's going to be cheaper and offer you all of the features you're looking for.

For ~$250 you can get a great device, with 8 hours of battery life with full word processing capabilities. Google Drive offers alternatives for Word, Powerpoint and Excel so you'll be able to create all of the documents that you need to. Keep in mind though, that you can transfer these files to their Microsoft Suite equivalents, but often times the formatting gets all fucked up. An easy solution would be to just print straight from your Google Drive, or just open the document through Google Drive instead of trying to use Microsoft software.

 

Cheers for all the comments, think I'm going to go ahead and grab her one for the price tag it's not too much of a hit if it sucks!

 

Can't go wrong with a tidy little asus netbook.. Personally I would stay away from the ones the 2-parters that split from the keyboard but that is just personal preference!

 

chromebooks may be cheap but there are full windows pcs for exactly the same price, the battery may last long but what if you suddenly want more out of the chromebook and it does not deliver?

take a look at this example product
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-stre...d=8&ksaffcode=pg8105&ksdevice=c&ref=212&loc=1

this is 199 usd which is very cheap

 

stay away from chromebooks without an internet connection you can't do anything on them thats before anything els bad about them. I took mine back to the shop the same day i got mine and got standerd laptop for the same price

 

Yeah not sure what I'm gonna grab her now because of the responses on this thread, probably just have to find her a windows laptop 2nd hand or something.

 

Chromebooks are really nice actually, my school recently ordered a bunch of them so all of the students got to try them out. They work great for regular sorts of things (Google Drive + Web Browsing, not gaming obviously) and are great for the basic computer user.

 

Cant you just go to the shop and have a play on one? I know you don't get the whole experience but a general muck around on one should at least give you a taste..

 

I like them. I had one for about 2 years before it started to fall apart.

Pros:
Cheap, simple, fast

Cons:
Can't play games, no java for runescape

 

They are cheap and are alright for work/education purposes.
I tried playing some intensive web games, and it froze though.

 

Chromebooks are pretty pointless in my opinion. They are minimized ultra-books that provide less functionality. They are cheap, but you can find similar spec tablets that can use standard industry applications; for around the same price.

 

Chromebooks are great for the first month or two, then they become too crowded and issues follow after that such as laggy navigation and so forth, I'd say purchase a laptop probably your best bet.

 

Chromebooks are good, if your main activity is just browsing the internet or using Google services. If your gonna run a lot of programs i'd recommend a laptop