This means that Chromebooks don’t usually come with much storage and don’t require a particularly fast processor - which in turn usually makes them quite cheap compared to ‘normal’ computers.Ĭhromebooks run Chrome OS, a stripped-back, Linux-based operating system which revolves around the Chrome browser. Nearly everything - word processing, spreadsheet-editing, note-taking and so on - is done online via Google’s Chrome browser, and pretty much everything you work on is saved ‘in the cloud.’ An AMD-based Chromebook Let’s start with a look at what a Chromebook actually is.Ī Chromebook is a laptop that you use primarily when you are online, and one that you don’t - generally speaking - save files onto.

This observation, coupled with some adverts featuring shiny computers popping up on Facebook, got me wondering about Chromebooks - and whether I should buy one.Īnd this, of course, led to me buying a cheap Chromebook and writing a blog post about the whole thing! Hopefully it will help you decide whether a Chromebook is right for you. Increasingly, I seem to be neglecting installed productivity apps like Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel in favour of online, cloud-based equivalents (mostly Google products) that run in Chrome.Īnd the e-commerce apps I use for my business - like Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix and Squarespace - all run happily in a browser too. This Chromebook review explores the pros and cons of using Chromebooks and other Chrome OS-based computers, helps you answer that question and highlights a few Chromebooks that you might want to consider using.īecause of the nature of the work I do, and the times we live in, I seem to have ended up using a LOT of different devices.ĭepending on where I’m working, I switch between an iMac, a Windows laptop, an iPhone and an iPad - but one thing I’ve noticed about all these devices is that much of what I’m doing on them is now being done in the Chrome browser. “Should I buy a Chromebook?” is a question that is asked with increasing frequency by individuals, businesses, parents and students looking to reduce their computing costs or work more collaboratively in the cloud.

Microsoft office for chromebook