Chromebook

My laptop went down again and it looks like it will take a while for me to figure out what is needed so I decided to try the Samsung Chromebook. (Yes, my family calls me the "tech girl", especially when they have a question.) It has been one week and overall it seems to meet most of my my needs for email and browsing. It was very easy for me to get started because I was already a Chrome browser user and familiar with the add-on extensions. Once I logged into my Gmail account all my browser favorites and extensions loaded. I did have to log into the extensions and added apps using their specific passwords (such as Pocket and Kindle) but that is normal.

What is most interesting is how others respond when viewing the Chromebook. Most are puzzled by something that cannot install software, but in truth I have only encountered 2 items where I wish I could download needed software:  Audible and Overdrive Media Console. I use both of these for audiobook downloads but they do not (yet) have a Chromebook option.

PROS

• Instant on
• Google gives you 100 GB of free cloud storage for 2 years
• Good keyboard which has been customized for use with Chrome browser
• Several apps work offline (Google Docs, Kindle Cloud Reader, etc.)
• Hulu.com works just fine (The free Hulu.com site is blocked on my Nexus 7 but works on the Chromebook)
• Amazon Prime Instant Video works fine (apparently Flash is enabled)
• Good battery life
• Thin and weighs less only 2.4 pounds (1.10 kg)

CONS

• While I like the matte screen it may not appeal to everyone
• Bluetooth not working yet (Google is working on it for a future update)
• Small screen font means I constantly adjusting the magnification 

If you want to learn more about the Chromebook check out the YouTube videos by H2Tech Videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/H2TechVideos. He does a nice review of many different tech items (e.g., phones, Kindle, etc.) and addresses the basic features in easy to understand manner. Even those who are reluctant to watch tech videos will find that his short videos tells you the basics clearly without tech-speak.

I will share some tips later but signing off for now.

P.S. Writing a Blogger post is MUCH easier on the Chromebook than on my laptop. For some reason my laptop never liked Blogger.