[circa81]

When my latest laptop dies, which it will, I'm changing my buying tactics. Internet access takes up about 98 percent of what Iv use my computer for, so virtually all the other functions and programs are wasted. And what keeps failing most often is my hard drive and and my RAM no longer being powerful enough. With an SSD and the chromebook's unique OS, neither would be a problem. I'm also considering buying a tablet instead, and either would serve as my ONLY computer, so I have some questions for you guys before I decide.


Can you, with a chromebook, create folders and text documents offline? Can I download pictures, documents and webpages and view them offline as well?

How long on average does a chromebook's battery last on standby?

I know each app that is in use is it's own tab, but are the plain old browser tabs the same thing? Like, do both take up the same amount of memory?

Is there an app that lets you sign in to amazon, and its instant video library?

All my email is on yahoo; does anyone know a simple way to transfer all of it to Google?

Can you download apps that work offline? like sticky notes and a daily reminder?

That's all I have for now. Thanks for reading all of this.

 

[surfaday]

You have the same reasons as I did for switching to a chromebook for most of my computer needs. I'm very happy with my chromebook. I don't have answers to all your questions, but I have some opinions and notes on what worked for me.

I have both a tablet, (nexus 7 2013), and a chromebook, (Acer C710-2815), and for the purposes of this conversation, a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone.

I use them completely differently. The tablet and the phone overlap the most, with the tablet serving more time as e-reader and video streamer. The phone can do everything the tablet can, but smaller, obviously, but I've come so dependent on the tablet, when I broke my 2012 nexus 7, I went out and got a replacement after trying to justify not needing it.

I do not think the tablet serves as a desktop or notebook replacement, even with a bluetooth keyboard and a cloud printer which all 3 devices can print to.

The chromebook is leaps and bounds better for document creation, email and even texting. (There are apps and extensions that allow you to text over a network to your phone.) With a wireless mouse and cloud storage, I could survive without my desktop, though I would have to give up some programs that require hard disk installation.

Bottom line, I would have a phone first, of course, and given no other personal computer at all, I would have the chromebook. The tablet is a luxury, albeit a very important one, like a microwave in your kitchen. You can live without it, but why?

***************

This is what I found important to me when I was shopping around:

*SSD drive for durability, as you noted. The acer can be upgraded to a larger ssd, but it might void your warranty, so I haven't done it yet, and after a bit of time with the chromebook, I don't foresee a need to upgrade yet, but I love the ability to do so.

*4 gigs ram - I've heard 2 things: 2 gigs is not enough for smooth video watching and 2) the acer can be upgraded to 2x 8 gig ddr3. I haven't tried it, (you'll void your warranty, I think, you have to take off a little sticker that says so), but again, I love to tinker, so I will probably do so at some time.

*6-7 hour battery, it does not add any bulk that bothers me, and I don't know how the 4 hour battery fits, as there are no batteries in the demo units, but the extra bulk of the 6 hour batter serves as a nice tilt feature for the keyboard. Because the chromebook sleeps and wakes so quickly, I easily use the unit all day, off and on without plugging it in until night.

Anyway, this is what worked for me, I'm happy with the chromebook and I could imagine having it be my only computer as long as you have a cloud printer, though at the very worst, you could email documents to your self and print them out when you're at a wired printer.

Walter

 

[surfaday]

Here is also something I was told, (on this forum I think), in relation to your question about apps vs tabs in your browser:

Installing an app is the same as using a tab in your browser except installing an app creates a shortcut in your apps folder, otherwise the "app" is the same space as a tab.