this may be blogger suicide, but i ditched my mac for a google chromebook and i will never go back. i am not a apple hater, in fact, i LOVE how they market their products! i think they have done a beautiful job of convincing us that we need their products and have created a design that keeps people coming back! it is a great product and i never had anything bad to say about my macbook or my iphone. BUT there are other great products out there and when i found the same quality in a more affordable package i was sold. now i have the google Nexus 4 and the white google chromebook – i guess you can say i am a google gal.
computers break, phones crack, software gets out of date and sometimes we need to get new technology. i am not telling you that you need to sell your mac to get a chromebook or anything dramatic like that, i am just sharing with you why i love my Chromebook because it is one of the most asked questions on Oak + Oats:
TOP FIVE REASONS I LOVE MY CHROMEBOOK
(and somethings that you should know about the Chromebook)
1. IT FITS MY QUALIFICATIONS: i (i mean my husband…) did TONS of research and this fit what i needed best. when my mac died and i started the search for a computer, my husband told me to make a list and i found that this one met them all.
– low cost (it is less than 300 bucks!!!!)
– high performance
– light weight
– easy to transport to coffee shops (super important 😉 )
– perfect for blogging and shopping online
– can upload my pictures from my camera & has a way to edit them
– it looks pretty
2. IT IS INTERNET BASED: i love that everything that i do on my computer is in google docs or on google chrome. that way i can access my documents, pictures, and projects from any computer just by logging into my google email. it is true that you need to be connected to the internet to work on it but that is not a big deal to me. i cannot even imagine needing to use my computer with out the internet – i use the internet for everything blog related. but you can get ones that come with 3G (like cellphones) OR you can tether your phone’s 3G/ 4G if you are out in a place with no internet access.
3. IT HAS A SOLID STATE DRIVE: which means that it starts up right away when you open it, does not make loud fan noises, and is super light but it cannot hold tons of information (i only know a bit about this because i have a mechanical engineer as a husband!). it has a different configuration than a typical hard drive which spins really fast to transmit the data (these guys hold more information typically) . i have everything saved on google docs including all the pictures on my computer that i upload from my camera. i honestly love that i have to do this because i can access all my projects and pictures from anywhere (as mentioned above). you also can easily plug in an extra hard drive if you need to transfer pictures.
4. IT IS PRACTICAL: it has two USB ports and sound port. it doesn’t have a CD drive but i personally do not need one (if you ever needed to upload a CD, you can just plug a drive into the USB port). it has a super long battery life (like i usually get 5-6 working hours) without plugging it in. and because it is so small AND light AND thin, i can cart it around with me anywhere without hurting my back or carrying multiple bags.
5. GOOGLE DRIVE: i have talked about this in like every point but i love google drive. the computer comes with the whole package of google documents (which is word, excel, powerpoint, etc) which is great because you do not need to buy and install Windows. there are also plenty of free photo editing apps that you can use for editing pictures including one pretty similar to photoshop. be mindful that you cannot download any programs to the computer (like word, photoshop, video games..) but i have not found this a hindrance at all.
so there you have it. my chromebook experience. it really does everything i need it too and more. the $300 price tag was such a bonus because it allowed me to save when i was getting a new computer. it is not necessarily for everyone but it is PERFECT for me!
do you have any other questions? what do you love about your computer?
I love cloud storage too, I use it for everything!
We’re windows people around here (kinda happens by default because of my husband’s job). I use a surface RT for most of my computer needs, and I LOVE it! It’s super light weight, and I love how I can use it as a tablet, but it’s also powerful enough to be a full laptop too. If I ever want to use photoshop, I just hop on my husband’s desktop (although the pro version can run photoshop)!
The windows surface pro 2 was my second choice! I love it too!!! I didn’t need all it had to offer so I saved the two hundred but i do recommend it to people who want photoshop!
This is so timely! After our comment conversation awhile back I started to really look into Chromebooks. I’m like 90% sold on ditching my dying-a-slow-death Mac (well, keeping it for a few uses but moving to a new Chromebook). I’m glad to know which one you use. Also, weird Q, but since you’ve written a bunch on this and been super helpful, do you have an Amazon affiliate link or anything? I would totally buy through that if I do go for it, since you gave such great advice!
Alicia,
That is so sweet! I cannot be an amazon affiliate because I live in Colorado but I just discovered this new affilate place called VigLink (viglink.com/?vgref=1319981) I am still trying to figure it out but I think it looks pretty awesome!! If you use this link you can buy it through Best Buy (and it is the same price everywhere because google sets the price) http://redirect.viglink.com/?key=5fc256f7edf51e8c5b358b32a00eb198&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fsite%2Fpavilion-11-6-chromebook-2gb-memory-16gb-hard-drive%2F3513023.p%3Fid%3D1219091868846%26skuId%3D3513023%26st%3Dcategoryid%24pcmcat244900050010%26cp%3D1%26lp%3D4
Woohoo! I’m going to see if I can use that link to do an order + in-store pickup tonight (hello, instant gratification). I spent a couple hours on my roommate’s, which is an Acer model, last night and did all the things I usually do on the computer to test it out. I definitely see some of the drawbacks I’ve seen mentioned around the web, but for where I’m at right now, I think this is the best option. 🙂 Thanks for all your advice and recs!
Did you buy it? I don’t think that last link works but seriously don’t worry about it! If you are still waiting to buy I have a better link 😉 http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=6jl7ivA/9Kc&subid=&offerid=328435.1&type=10&tmpid=13127&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fsite%2Fsearchpage.jsp%3F_dyncharset%3DUTF-8%2526_dynSessConf%3D%2526id%3Dpcat17071%2526type%3Dpage%2526sc%3DGlobal%2526cp%3D1%2526nrp%3D15%2526sp%3D%2526qp%3D%2526list%3Dn%2526iht%3Dy%2526usc%3DAll%2BCategories%2526ks%3D960%2526fs%3Dsaas%2526saas%3Dsaas%2526keys%3Dkeys%2526st%3Dchromebook
Aw man, I did get it already! I used the “redirect.vigi…” link above. Either way I’m really enjoying it and appreciate the help.
no! I am so glad! I recommend it either way! I didn’t even think about having an affiliate ad until you asked! XOX
Sounds awesome. I moved away from laptops because I’ve always had so many issues with them slowing down. My last laptop was a Sony it only performed well for about 2 years. after that it went kaput and I only used it for web surfing and light editing. I’ve used my desk top for everything else and recently upgraded to a 27in iMac. I love it, its a photographers dream. For blogging on the go I used my iPad mini and keyboard. I don’t think i’ll ever get another laptop but if I did the chrome book sounds awesome. i may need to get one for my mom.
yeah! it is a great take anywhere kind of laptop!!! how fun to have a pretty desktop!
Jared is a mac hater, because he can fix things on PC’s and macs are a whole new world. So we’ve always been PC based. I did have an iPhone for the last two years and recently swapped it out for an android phone -Samsung Note 3- and I LOVE it! I love Google and how I can sign in once and access so much of my stuff. Definitely going to look into a chromebook for the next time we need to upgrade!
Hey! my computer engineer husband of mine would love your husband!!!! My iphone also got switched to an android when we were married 😉 but I do love it!
I’ve been planning on getting one for a while and we recently decided to wait till we get our tax return. I am so excited and this post just confirms what I knew already: that this is just what I need!
P.S. What is the app that is similar to photoshop that you talked about?
https://pixlr.com/editor/
I am thinking of doing a post soon on the photo apps I use and how i edit my photos!
yeah! I am so happy for you!
I suuuuuuper appreciate this. My laptop died during finals last year so I had to scramble and ended up with a super-cheap HP that I’m not terribly happy with. I’ve already been searching for my next move since I doubt this computer will last much longer. Chromebook looks like an awesome alternative!!!
yes! I do love it! SO MUCH!
Hmmm…ive been looking into getting a new laptop. Perhaps this is just the answer!
I love it! for me it is perfect! If you NEED to download things I recommend the Windows Surface Pro 2 http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=6jl7ivA/9Kc&subid=&offerid=328435.1&type=10&tmpid=13127&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fsite%2Fmicrosoft-surface-2-32gb-magnesium%2F2147025.p%3Fid%3D1219070148389%2526skuId%3D2147025%2526ref%3D06%2526loc%3D01%2526ci_src%3D14110944%2526ci_sku%3D2147025%2526extensionType%3D%7Badtype%7D%3A%7Bnetwork%7D%2526s_kwcid%3DPTC%21pla%21%7Bkeyword%7D%21%7Bmatchtype%7D%21%7Badwords_producttargetid%7D%21%7Bnetwork%7D%21%7Bifmobile%3AM%7D%21%7Bcreative%7D%2526kpid%3D2147025%2526k_clickid%3D025ff054-060e-4b00-aaea-b3ec312e7f19%2526ref%3D199%2526loc%3D6jl7ivA%2F9Kc%2526siteID%3D6jl7ivA_9Kc-Qf4guQtYVKFA_wxMwxSwlA
Wow this is really interesting! I’m going to look into this!! Thanks girl, xoxo Katie
yes! you are so welcome!
Right??????? I really, really love mine too. It’s affordable, sturdy and gets the job done. Let’s be real, most of us use Google-everything these days. I know 90% of my work and blogging material is done through Gmail, Chrome, Google Drive, Google Hangout, etc.
So, it was the perfect choice for me. 🙂 Well, of course, I still have a main computer for work, but for on the go, Chromebook is my #1 choice.
I am so glad you can relate! it is kinda scarey paying “so little” for a computer but it is the best one I have ever owned!
Wow…a computer less than $300?!? sounds too good to be true…I do need a new laptop, so I’m definitely hanging onto this post for when I go shopping.
I know! It is crazy and it actually works! I have had it for 6 months and it is still the best computer I have ever owned!