I have had every single gadget and gizmo that I could think of to help me "be productive". My Razr HD has a lot of great apps for blogspot and wordpress. I can get my email all day long on the Verizon network and I am very happy with that. I have dropbox and amazon cloud for my moving file needs. I have an HTC tablet. I have a laptop. I also have an Asus netbook. Yet, I wasn't being as productive as I wanted to be.
My phone works great while I am away from home and drop box helps me get things onto my phone, but it isn't the best for blogging and certainly it is hard to type on that screen pad. My tablet is bigger, but still it is nothing more than an over sized phone, plus it had no key board. My netbook was not great when I got it and just sat around. I had been letting my daughter use it for ABC mouse.com, but it was slow to start. That is why I didn't ever use it much after I got it. My HP laptop is great, but I don't have a dedicated office. I do, however, have a 4 year old that gets into things when I am at work...so it's not like I can leave it laying about. She's very sneaky and I can only imagine what would happen if she figured out how to log onto my computer. So, what do all these things have in common? If they are easy to get out and pack around they don't have a real key board and can't really run everything. If they run things well they can't be left out because of hazards LOL.
That leaves me with the Google Chrome Book. I kept seeing it advertised. I didn't even consider it until my daughter took a real interest in the ABCmouse.com website. I began researching the Chromebook because at 249.00 I could afford to leave it on the kitchen table for everyone to use. I had to drive a long way to get to a Best Buy to look at one, but I am glad I did.
Some of the PROs of the device: starts very quickly, is very fast to get on the internet, and you can use just about any USB device without any problems. I've used an old mouse that is 10+ years old, a wireless Microsoft mouse, a USB flash-drive and a USB port expander. I love the "scratchpad" and the fact that everything saves in the online drive. They keyboard is pretty good for the size for the smallness of the unit. It doesn't feel cheap like someone had said...more like plastic and lightweight, but it doesn't feel cheap. It also has profiles. That way my daughter can't delete anything in my drive!
CONs-where the heck is the delete key? It just has the backspace key. It takes some time to get used to the bar. Also, you sign in with your gmail account so if your bookmarks are on another gmail account you won't have them unless you export and then import them. You can't directly get dropbox or amazon cloud on your computer, BUT you can get your dropbox files from the internet part of both dropbox and amazon.
So, overall the Google Chrome Book is what I wanted my netbook to be like when I got it a few years ago; the problem was it wasn't invented yet. I have seriously considered buying another one and I've only had this one for about 48 hours.
If you want something bigger than a phone or tablet, but not a lot heavier AND you like Google stuff I would highly recommend this! I personally do not see the need to get a more expensive version for the casual user....
My phone works great while I am away from home and drop box helps me get things onto my phone, but it isn't the best for blogging and certainly it is hard to type on that screen pad. My tablet is bigger, but still it is nothing more than an over sized phone, plus it had no key board. My netbook was not great when I got it and just sat around. I had been letting my daughter use it for ABC mouse.com, but it was slow to start. That is why I didn't ever use it much after I got it. My HP laptop is great, but I don't have a dedicated office. I do, however, have a 4 year old that gets into things when I am at work...so it's not like I can leave it laying about. She's very sneaky and I can only imagine what would happen if she figured out how to log onto my computer. So, what do all these things have in common? If they are easy to get out and pack around they don't have a real key board and can't really run everything. If they run things well they can't be left out because of hazards LOL.
That leaves me with the Google Chrome Book. I kept seeing it advertised. I didn't even consider it until my daughter took a real interest in the ABCmouse.com website. I began researching the Chromebook because at 249.00 I could afford to leave it on the kitchen table for everyone to use. I had to drive a long way to get to a Best Buy to look at one, but I am glad I did.
Some of the PROs of the device: starts very quickly, is very fast to get on the internet, and you can use just about any USB device without any problems. I've used an old mouse that is 10+ years old, a wireless Microsoft mouse, a USB flash-drive and a USB port expander. I love the "scratchpad" and the fact that everything saves in the online drive. They keyboard is pretty good for the size for the smallness of the unit. It doesn't feel cheap like someone had said...more like plastic and lightweight, but it doesn't feel cheap. It also has profiles. That way my daughter can't delete anything in my drive!
CONs-where the heck is the delete key? It just has the backspace key. It takes some time to get used to the bar. Also, you sign in with your gmail account so if your bookmarks are on another gmail account you won't have them unless you export and then import them. You can't directly get dropbox or amazon cloud on your computer, BUT you can get your dropbox files from the internet part of both dropbox and amazon.
So, overall the Google Chrome Book is what I wanted my netbook to be like when I got it a few years ago; the problem was it wasn't invented yet. I have seriously considered buying another one and I've only had this one for about 48 hours.
If you want something bigger than a phone or tablet, but not a lot heavier AND you like Google stuff I would highly recommend this! I personally do not see the need to get a more expensive version for the casual user....