I was just looking at some of the specs and it seems like its a $400 laptop with a $250 price point. I wonder how the OS is and if its portable enough to carry with you wherever you go.
I'm wondering what it can do that my phone can't. I'm in the market for a new laptop, and this might be an option. [Reply]
I haven't used one since they were first released, but it was effectively just a Chrome browser. They've improved for there, but it's still a pretty specific market.
If you're invested in the Google ecosystem, and only need a lightweight laptop, it's a good buy. For anything more, I'm not sure. [Reply]
Getting one because my 9-year-old uses them in school. Didn't dump too much into it, so if it's a bust I won't cry, but at the very least it seems a little cool.. [Reply]
Pretty disappointing. Incredibly limited "OS". Smartphone OS on a thin laptop is pretty accurate. Tablet would be a better investment than Chromebook. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Fish:
Pretty disappointing. Incredibly limited "OS". Smartphone OS on a thin laptop is pretty accurate. Tablet would be a better investment than Chromebook.
Yep. If you need a laptop, get an actual laptop. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Fish:
Pretty disappointing. Incredibly limited "OS". Smartphone OS on a thin laptop is pretty accurate. Tablet would be a better investment than Chromebook.
Got both and iPad and Samsung tablet. So "check" to those ideas. This deal was to have at home what they're using at school. So the two-fiddy it took to do this deal too seemed kinda simple. If it doesn't work well we'll see how it skims across a lake or something, but it's never bad to have the same option at home as you use in school/work... [Reply]
Just picked up an HP Chromebook 11 yesterday... This thing is fantastic for what I need it to do. Incredibly quick boot time, nice screen for the price (doesn't seem any different from my Macbook's) and as good a keyboard as I've used on a laptop in some time.
The touchpad sucks. No two ways about it. For no reason whatsoever, it sticks when you drag your finger across it. But that's offset by the computer never getting hot (this may have been the biggest thing I was looking for in a laptop; I hated typing on my Macbook and feeling like wrist cancer was imminent). Writing with Google Docs has its limitations, but as the saying goes, 'art through adversity'. I can also testify to never having used 99.999999% of the features offered by MS Word, Pages, WordPerfect etc. Google Docs is fine.
Yes, the OS is fundamentally limited. That said, if I'm being honest, this machine accomplishes 99% of what I did on my old macbook anyway. It sucks that my iTunes library was lost in a crash, but I was getting bored with most of my music anyway.
The other big benefit: my job doesn't give me a real desk, so I'm constantly bouncing between computers; having something this portable and lightweight is tremendously useful.
Full on, these machines are not meant for everyone. However. For the right crowd, they're exceptionally useful. [Reply]
Originally Posted by The_Doctor10:
Just picked up an HP Chromebook 11 yesterday... This thing is fantastic for what I need it to do. Incredibly quick boot time, nice screen for the price (doesn't seem any different from my Macbook's) and as good a keyboard as I've used on a laptop in some time.
The touchpad sucks. No two ways about it. For no reason whatsoever, it sticks when you drag your finger across it. But that's offset by the computer never getting hot (this may have been the biggest thing I was looking for in a laptop; I hated typing on my Macbook and feeling like wrist cancer was imminent). Writing with Google Docs has its limitations, but as the saying goes, 'art through adversity'. I can also testify to never having used 99.999999% of the features offered by MS Word, Pages, WordPerfect etc. Google Docs is fine.
Yes, the OS is fundamentally limited. That said, if I'm being honest, this machine accomplishes 99% of what I did on my old macbook anyway. It sucks that my iTunes library was lost in a crash, but I was getting bored with most of my music anyway.
The other big benefit: my job doesn't give me a real desk, so I'm constantly bouncing between computers; having something this portable and lightweight is tremendously useful.
Full on, these machines are not meant for everyone. However. For the right crowd, they're exceptionally useful.
This... As a person who "owns it all", I'm pretty darn happy with that purchase. And I have a nine-year-old, so it even MORE perfecter!!!
Give them time to expand on it, and I think it'll get all the better.
Originally Posted by :
Yesterday, Google introduced add-ons for Google Docs and Sheets. These add-ons allow you to add all kinds of functionality to your documents, including signing faxes, creating bibliographies, and more. While it's still in its infancy, here are a few of the best add-ons available at launch. P
HelloFaxP
The Best Add-Ons for Google Drive
RELATED
Hellofax Sends the Occasional Fax For Free
Every once in a while you come across an organization who just will not accept an email and requires a faxed form. But who wants to go to a Kinkos to … Read…
We're fans of HelloFax because it's the easiest way for most of us to send the occasional fax. The Google Docs add-on makes that process even easier. Just click on HelloFax in your Add-Ons, enter the fax number you want to send the document to, and you're done. If faxing isn't your thing, the same company also has HelloSign for those times when you need to sign an important document in Google Docs.P
Mapping SheetsP
Mapping Sheets is an easy way to make custom Google Maps using Google Sheets. If you have a Google Sheet filled with names and addresses, you can instantly create a Google Map from it. This means you can create a giant map with all your contacts or easily plot out a vacation plan. Really, you can plot out pretty much any data you want and it only takes a couple of seconds. P
EasyBibP
Creating bibliographies is one of the most tedious and boring parts of writing a paper in college, but EasyBib makes that process a bit better. Enter in a URL or title into EasyBib and it automatically generates a bibliography entry in MLA, APA, or Chicago style. If you're typing your research papers in Google Docs, this is incredibly helpful. Speaking of adding Word functionality to Google Docs, Table of Contents is also worth a look for anyone writing massive research papers.1P
UberConferenceP
UberConference adds audio conference calls to your Google Doc. All you do is load up UberConference, invite your participants, and then everyone will be in the document and on the conference call within seconds. It works surprisingly well, and setup is simple since you don't ever need to leave Google Docs to use UberConference.P
MindMeisterP
RELATED
How to Use Mind Maps to Unleash Your Brain's Creativity and Potential
Mind mapping is one of the best ways to capture your thoughts and bring them to life in visual form. Beyond just note-taking, though, mind maps can… Read…
We love mind maps and Mindmeister makes them easily with Google Docs. Create a bulleted list of items, turn MindMeister on, and then it creates a mind map for your list. It's not nearly as satisfying as creating a mind map on a piece of paper, but it works well enough for digital. P
Track ChangesP
Tracking changes is one of Microsoft Word's best tools and it was always a bummer that it didn't work the same way in Google Docs. Track Changes is an add-on that makes Google Docs work basically the same way as MS Word. P
Make Your Own Add-OnsP
The great thing about all these add-ons is how anyone can make one. You just need to know a little about HTML. If you want to give it a try, Digital Inspiration has a great starter guide to get you going. 2P
Considering these add-ons were just announced, we're sure plenty more great additions will pop up in the coming weeks, but the above list is a good place to start. One word of note though: just like extensions, these add-ons require access to some of your data to work. When you install one, you're taken to the permissions page where you'll see what they get access to, so be careful of what you install.P
My daughter's school just ordered 160 Chromebooks for the kids to work on during the day. If they're still around in a couple of years....I'll probably end up getting her one that she can work on at home. [Reply]
I'm loving my Chromebook. I got a $130 refurbished Acer off Amazon. Its super light and portable. The boot up time is near-instant. It came with 100gb of cloud storage.
I understand that it is a limited piece of equipment, but I have not come up against any of these limitations so far. Its done everything I have wanted it to so far, and I could see things just getting better as more programmers start writing software for Chrome.
Do a bit of research before you buy one so you can make sure you aren't going to be missing out on something for which you would need Windows. It may not be for everyone but I am certainly enjoying mine. [Reply]