Why I Love Chromebooks
Origins
I've been using Windows my whole life. I've grown up with Windows XP with those huge, clunky CRT monitors that get distorted next to magnets (don't question my childhood) along with space-taking, dust-filled, heat-induced PC towers. Those were the days when my childhood self said goodbye to playing outside and hello to the new universe that would swallow me whole.
When Windows 7 came around, technology became more tame with smaller PC towers and better laptops. I spent the remainder of my Windows years on my first laptop, the Lenovo Z575 Thinkpad, as a birthday gift. It was a glorified hunk of junk that had a pretty good keyboard and metal finish, which became whipped as my very own work-horse.
Later on, I realized my laptop wasn't the greatest in the world, since it had a dual-core AMD processor clocked at 1.5GHz, which couldn't keep up with the fast-paced innovations like the burst of full HD cat videos on YouTube.
In highschool, I started having school projects that required taking them to libraries, school, houses, realizing that my laptop was a hassle to carry around because it was so damn heavy, and the battery life was just horrible. It overheated quickly and only lasted 1–2 hours on a charge with medium brightness, which forced me to leave it at home as a home desktop. It was fine, since I had an iPad 4 with a bluetooth keyboard that held up way better because it didn't overheat and lasted for hours on end. Oh, and it also had games, because, you know, I was a kid.
In 2014, the WiFi adapter/card inside the laptop killed itself on me, probably because it finally realized just how bad it was. I resolved the issue by using a slow-ish ethernet connection which also meant that my laptop was forever tethered to a wall, as if it were on life support, begging for its owner to pull the plug. They were some dark times.
The Turnaround
One day, my friend asked me what they thought about Chromebooks — not as a suggestion for me, but as a suggestion for them.
“Are they good? Should I get one? I don’t want to spend a lot of money.”
Honestly, as far as Chromebooks went, I knew that they were cheap budget laptops that ran Chrome and that was about it. I've seen them from Google I/O presentations, but I didn’t look into them that much. The question that my friend asked me just continued echoing in my head, and I had to feed my curiosity by beginning research after I got home.
I ran into Google’s own ChromeOS video that explained a few things and showed their philosophy and mindset towards a computer. To me, it made sense. The browser is the number one application that people click on when they want to do something on their computer.
After looking at what ChromeOS was, I started looking at a few Chromebooks. I ran into The Verge’s Chromebook video, and looked into the Toshiba Chromebook 2. It had a stunning 1080p screen which was eons ahead of my 1366x768 display, which was more than enough to pull me into its appeal.
Though I hate to say it, it is the Macbook of Chromebooks. It looks really similar to a Macbook, which is not bad at all, and even peforms as well as one — at least in spirit.
That’s where the Toshiba Chromebook 2 comes in to my life.
I hopped onto my laptop and wrote a list of all the programs I used and determined if I needed them or not. For the most part, yeah — I can use a Chromebook without ever needing to run those programs. If I did, I could just use my Windows laptop for a few minutes and go back to my Chromebook. That’s the most important thing about this article.
Anyway, I got the TCB2 after a lot of consideration, and went for it — just like that. I’ll admit I’ve been eyeing the Dell XPS 13 for a long time, but at 330 bucks, you can’t really blame me.
Highlights
There are things that a Chromebook just can't do. But what it can do, it does well. Really well.
Here are the biggest things when it comes to a Chromebook:
1. Price. The strongest point of a Chromebook is that you're getting an amazing laptop with a small budget. If you put that same budget into a Windows laptop, you’re getting junk most of the time. I’m sorry, but that’s really how it is. [Microsoft is working on budget Windows 10 laptops, and we’ll have to see how those fare. They may work fast in the beginning but can slow down with more and more programs.]
2. Performance. Even with mediocre specs, ChromeOS will make it fly. Again, it’s just a browser — most of the time, you’re not doing anything more than browsing. You can be running a 1366x768 display with a 1.5GHz processor that works smoothly on a Chromebook, or use a Windows machine that will sputter and ask for its owner to put it out of its misery. Your choice.
2A. Boot-up speed. My Toshiba Chromebook 2 has a dual-core 2.2GHz processor, and it boots up in seconds, literally. When you log in, you don’t wait for any programs to boot up in the background, like Skype or Antivirus, etc. More powerful laptops like the Acer C720 can boot it up in 7-ish seconds.
I should even go as far as mentioning that I turn off my laptop around once a month, because there’s almost no point in turning it off. When I’m done for the day, I close the lid. In the morning, I open the lid and it works just as if I pressed the power button on a phone. It’s that fast.
2B. Update speed. This was so simple that I even forgot to put it here. Updates take seconds, too. You click “update” and then it reboots, and bam — it’s done.
3. Battery Life. Since a ChromeOS is a very light operating system, it’s very simple. You use the browser, and that’s it. Since there’s nothing else really going on, you can run even the cheapest Chromebooks for 14 hours. There’s no funky things like an Anti-virus running in the background, or a Windows update installing while you relentlessly mash your keyboard or mouse trying to get things to work. Even if you don’t have these going on, battery life can still take a major hit.
4. Reliability and Longevity. In terms of reliability, you can damn well expect the Chromebook to work all the time, every time. If I start a word document at school, I can close the lid, bring it home, and open my laptop and continue it without any worries that my files might be lost, or the app crashed. It’s already saved in the cloud. If anything does happen, factory resetting is insanely simple―click Powerwash, log back in, and everything downloads and syncs everything back within minutes.
You can also count on Google to keep your Chromebook updated for many, many years. My Toshiba Chromebook 2 can expect updates up until 2019, which is 5 years of free support without having to buy an update, illegally pirating product keys, or having to go out to the damn store to buy an install disc. This is where I applaude Apple for releasing free updates online — although many, many, don’t even know that they have an update ready.
Actually you know what? I’ll even point out that every ChromeOS update improves your experience every time. There’s no conspiracy about planned obsolescence, which would force you to upgrade your computer because an “update made it slower”.
5. Portability. This applies to 95% of all Chromebooks: everything is portable excluding the Pixel series and the larger 15" Chromebooks (Acer C910). This is the biggest thing I look for in a laptop: how light it is, and how thin it is. Frankly, when it comes to a Windows laptop that can come anywhere near what I want, I’d need to shell out 800–1300 dollars to get a Macbook Air/Pro equivalent (Dell XPS 13, Asus Zenbook). My Chromebook does everything I need at under 3 lbs.
6. Browsing the Internet. It’s obvious, but you are buying a Chromebook because that is basically all you do. If that is true like it is for me, then you're better off getting something that can last hours on a charge. I can watch Netflix, YouTube, write articles, browse Twitter, and more — all in a single day without having to think about charging.
7. Cloud connectivity and Google Services from the heavens. I'm not trying to say that Cloud services are a Chromebook exclusive, but a Chromebook has to deal with cloud services in a very different way. Since all Chromebooks have 16–32gb of storage, you have to put everything into the cloud including Music, Documents, Photos, etc.
Luckily, Google’s got you covered. But that also means that a lot of your stuff requires an internet connection.
Here is what you can't do with a Chromebook:
1. Run intensive programs. Yeah, you should already know this. You're not going to be able to run any programs like Final Cut Pro or anything like that. Don't even try. If you want to do something along these lines, you can install a new OS like Ubuntu, and dual-boot it! (As long as your processor supports it―Intel Processors, to be exact)
2. Support your phone. This one is tricky. If you have an iPhone, good luck backing it up to iTunes―it doesn't exist. If you have a Samsung or LG, etc, then good luck trying to use Samsung Kies or LG Support Tool. That doesn’t exist, either. If you want to update your phone, you have to do it through OTA or on a Windows machine or Mac. This is actually why I keep my Windows machine around, actually―to root, install, and do other things. I own a Nexus 6 and there’s a fantastic software called WugFresh root tool and it does everything you need with the click of a button.
Hell, you can't even transfer files through USB on your Android yet (there’s a flag to enable it), but I personally use Portal and Pushbullet to wirelessly send files.
3. Play PC games. This should be obvious, but some #pcmasterrace people complain that a Chromebook isn't capable of doing anything like playing games. This is not why you are buying a damn Chromebook. If you want to do that, build a PC, because you've saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars by buying a Chromebook anyways. There’s some games on the Chrome Web Store, but not real games. If you can, you can dual-boot into Ubuntu to do some heavier gaming. I’ve seen it done.
4. Everything else. There’s just so many things that a Chromebook can’t do, but you should know what you’re getting into. Do what I did, and look at everything you do and evaluate it. You can’t do simple things like downloading torrents, unzipping RAR files, etc. *There are internet solutions such as uTorrent’s cloud system, but they can be janky. There is also a torrent extension on the Web Store but it costs around $5.*
4A. WiFi: Okay, look. It’s in the name. Chromebook. 90% of what you’re going to be doing on this laptop is on a browser, which needs WiFi. Does that mean that your laptop is rendered useless if you’re not in a coffee shop? The answer is actually no―You can still access your offline files, create files, and modify files (such as Docs) without the internet. When you get connected to WiFi again, then everything syncs back.
4B. Entertainment: Yeah, don’t expect to listen to music without an Internet connection if you use Google Play Music. It’s in the cloud, not your laptop. Just use your phone or something. Oh, and good luck with the whole movies thing, because that also applies.
You can put your music and movies into the internal storage of your Chromebook, but the media player for music is pretty bad and you’re still limited to 16–32gb storage on a Chromebook.
ChromeOS Software
A mix of OSX and Windows
The software design of ChromeOS is actually more aesthetically pleasing than OSX and Windows, in my own experience. Since Google invented Material Design, you can damn well expect it to be on ChromeOS. From the file manager to the multi-tasking screen designs, you would think that ChromeOS is a full-fledged operating system (it kind of is).
As a person who has used OSX and Windows concurrently, I can definitely see Google’s inspirations behind ChromeOS design. The dock is Windows-inspired, and yet the minimalism goes beyond Apple’s own philosophy — there’s no icons on the homescreen, and the top row on the keyboard has shortcuts to toggles.
Even the little things like the volume switcher — which is materialized on ChromeOS — exceeds the design of OSX and Windows.
Why I use a Chromebook and a Windows Laptop
The Little Quirks
Since it is a Chromebook and is personalized to ChromeOS, there’s these little quirks that no one really mentions.
The most obvious: There is no caps-lock. Say what you will, but I’m glad it’s gone. I haven’t used that stupid button in years because I use shift for everything. Instead, the search giant added… a search button that is in the same place where caps-lock would be. The search button is actually really ingenious in the way that it displays a materialized Google search with all your apps in place, as well as Google Now integrated.
Oh, and if you really need caps-lock, the shortcut is alt-search.
The next most obvious: Physical browser buttons are in place where the F commands would be on Windows. You still get esc (thankfully), but then you get back, forward, reload, full-screen (my favorite button), multi-tasking, brightness, mute, sound, and power. All of these makes ChromeOS, ChromeOS.
Finally, the most subtle feature that I forgot didn't even exist on Mac or Windows: it boots itself up when you open the lid. I actually forgot there was even a power button on my Chromebook!
Ending Notes
My biggest advice to anyone that isn’t in the intensive-program industry (AKA everyone else, including me):
Buy a Chromebook, and keep a Mac/Windows device handy. I actually use my Windows laptop once every 2 months or even less, because I rarely need it. But when I do need it, I need it. I do things involving Android a lot, so that means I need my Windows device to root and install flash images to test Android M, etc.
Overall, it’s been the best investment I've made. I love this Chromebook. I bring it to school way more often than my old Windows laptop because it’s reliable and lasts forever.
To me, the best combo is this: rather than buying a $1,000+ laptop, buy a Chromebook for under $300 and then build a PC for $500-$1000+ for all your big workloads. That’s what I plan to do when I get the money. I would even go as far as buying a Chromebook and a nice Windows laptop because I like both a lot, but ChromeOS more. It’s a simpler OS, and it’s also the prettiest between ChromeOS/Windows10/MacOSX.
If you can only afford a Chromebook, that’s still probably your best choice. For $330, I bought the Toshiba Chromebook 2 that has a better screen than even an 800 dollar laptop, and the battery life just kills everything under 800 dollars. Research every possible option.
If you are in the market for a Chromebook, please visit reddit.com/r/ChromeOS, which is a community dedicated to Chromebooks and ChromeOS!
Thank you for reading, and don't forget to recommend this or share it!
