What is a Chromebook? Are they any good? Should you buy one?

A Chromebook is a device similar to a net book or laptop but instead of having Windows as the operating system it has the Chrome web browser and only the Chrome web browser. That may seem like a bad thing but it actually makes perfect sense for a lot of users, let me explain why.  More and more of the what people do with a laptop or PC is web based, email, social media, streaming services and more and more web apps are being developed all the time. Google and Microsoft both have web versions of word and data processors and can be used within a web browser so can be used with a Chromebook.

Weather you love Windows or hate it, you have to appreciate that it is used for so many applications and has tons of features that most everyday users do not use or need. The license for the Windows OS is expensive and it requires regular maintenance due to having so many features. This is the other benefit of a Chromebook, it’s basically a web browser and does not have all the features a Windows laptop or desktop has so the maintenance is far les taxing. Having the lack of features and functionality is great for most home users but is a problem if trying to use it in a corporate environment as you can’t install third party applications to it or join it to an existing Windows domain.

So, should you buy one? If you only use the machine to surf the web then it’s perfect for you. If you have any third-party apps that you use then you need to see if there is a web-based version that could be used as an alternative. Things like Sage, its primarily a Windows based application but there is now a cloud or web-based version.

Chromebooks range in price due to the spec of the hardware. There are many different suppliers to choose from. Check out the latest range here: https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/chromebook/find-yours/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqLKlyfy85gIVh7HtCh11NQeLEAAYASAAEgJJvPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds