Why you should consider buying a Chromebook By CNET

Chromebooks are 10 years old, and a lot has changed with them over the years. If you remember them at the start, they were this sort of cheap, small laptops that basically ran google's Chrome browser and not much else, and they always had to have a web connection. To be clear, I didn't like the first Chromebooks, and it wasn't until a few years ago that they became worthwhile for me and more people. They do much more now and there's a greater variety of them, and really they are enough for most people's needs. If you're still not sure, though, here's why a Chromebook may be right for you now most of the people who've asked me about getting a Chromebook. Where people buying them for their kids, but these q a session they usually turned into them? Asking? Should I buy one for myself and my stock answer is usually, it depends on your needs, but I do mention Chromebooks as a starting place, because they typically have great battery life they're thin and light.

They can be more secure and safe to use, and you generally get more for your money. This, for instance, is Acer's Chromebook spin 713. , it's a two in one with an Intel Core, i5 processor, a nice looking 13.5 inch display a good backlit keyboard and a fingerprint reader and nearly 13 hours of battery life, and it's priced at 700 and that's premium for a Chromebook. Now you might be saying recommending Chromebooks is terrible advice, josh, hashtag, bad advice and yeah. It would be bad advice to tell you can do everything with a Chromebook because you can't, but what I am saying is that many people simply don't need to do so much more and the simplicity of a Chromebook makes more sense.

And again you can do quite a bit more now with a Chromebook than you could 10 years ago. If you're not sure a Chromebook is right for you, the best place to start- and really this goes for any computer purchase- is to make a list of exactly what you need to do on a computer and also include what you'd potentially like to do too. If everything on your list is done in a web browser, congratulations Chromebooks are a perfect fit now that might seem unlikely, but chrome has a store full of web apps and extensions, and if you can't find a web app to meet your needs, all current Chromebooks can run android apps too, from the Google Play Store. But this combination and some other key chrome OS features that I'll get to in a second are what make Chromebooks an easier recommendation than they were just a few years ago. There are things that are a bit trickier like running Microsoft, office or adobe, creative cloud or other native windows or Mac software.

There are webs and mobile app versions with most, but not all features duplicated. So that's something you'll want to check on. You can also switch on Linux, support and use Linux software in your Chromebook, and if you want to take things a step further, you can get something like this. This is a hp elite, c1030, running chrome enterprise, and you can use it with parallel's desktop for chrome OS in order to run windows software. This way you can have the simplicity of a Chromebook, but still have full Microsoft Office offline or run that one lingering piece of legacy software that you need for work.

You can also use chrome's remote desktop as a workaround too. If you were considering a Chromebook to complement a windows or mac desktop with the Chromebook's remote connection, you can tap into your desktop and its software when you need it. One other hang up for people are gaming. You won't be able to play the latest Windows games directly from a Chromebook. What you can play on them are android Linux and browser-based games, and you can use game streaming.

Services like Google Stadia GeForce now and Xbox cloud gaming and Chromebooks are even starting to get geared up for gaming uh. This ASUS Chromebook cm5, for example, even has the uh was keys, blocked out ready for gaming. Again, I'm not saying everyone should switch to a Chromebook and sure at some point there are diminishing returns and the workarounds aren't worth it. You may also have feelings about google as a company, or that Chromebooks have auto, update expiration dates, and eventually they stop getting feature and security updates. All things worth considering for me with the latest features in chrome, OS, a broader range of devices, with faster performance and longer battery life and prices for good models starting around two to three hundred dollars.

You can't just toss them aside as cheap toys anymore. That can't do anything other than browse the web. That's why they've become my go-to recommendation when starting to talk to people about laptops now? What do you think are Chromebooks, finally, serious competition for windows and Mac laptops, or are they still just toys? Let us know in the comments and check out our Chromebook and laptop reviews on cnet. com, and as always, thanks for watching.

Source : CNET