The Column
Motto: Writing about Chrome, in Chrome
A couple of months ago I wrote about my change of heart with my Nexus 7. When I bought the 7 inch tablet, I was using it to supplement the Nexus 4. The Nexus 7 was (and still is, frankly) a fantastic device for multimedia consumption. It filled that niche perfectly with it’s glorious 1080p screen. Then I got the Nexus 5. Before long, I realized that I wasn’t defaulting to my tablet for mobile internet browsing. I picked up my tablet one evening and realized it was the first time I’d touched it in over a week. So I sold it. With the money I made back from the tablet sale, I decided I would buy a Chromebook someday. When I moved, I lost Google Fiber. When I lost Google Fiber, I lost my Google Drive storage. That was the trigger I was waiting for (Chromebooks come with 2 years of Google Drive storage). I’m writing this on a Chromebook. Specifically, the Toshiba Chromebook. Before I get too far, I must admit, I’m waiting on a second Chromebook to come in the mail on Friday. I’m going to compare them and send back the one that doesn’t fit me. The Chromebook I’m writing on is much less powerful than my full-blown laptop. It’s got 1/3rd the RAM, a fraction of the processing power… but runs Chrome faster. Faster browser = faster internet. Faster internet = faster 95% of what you do on a computer. I thought I’d get the Chromebook and use it in edge cases. I thought I’d be using it really only when I was going out for the weekend, or going to a coffee shop, or needed to browse the internet from the couch… but now that I’ve got this thing sitting in front of me, I think the opposite is going to be true. I’m only going to use my full-blown laptop in the edge cases that I need to do something outside of the browser. Video editing… that’s really it. I really like this thing.
I’m feeling lazy about the picture for this post. So here’s a test of the webcam on this with the closest thing there is to me. It’s kinda grainy.
Top 5:Advantages of my Chromebook over my Windows laptop 5. It runs Chrome faster, better, and more fluidly. It makes the whole browsing experience way better. 4. Startup time is reduced… dramatically. I vastly underestimated how much I’d appreciate this fact. 3. If I were to leave my Chromebook in a library, drop it in the ocean, run it over with a car, or set it on fire, I’d be able to replace it and pick up exactly where I left off. 2. 8 hour battery life > 2 hour battery life 1. Google > Microsoft.
Quote:
“I, for one, welcome our new Google overlords”
- Jeff Jarvis -