Why Chromebooks are a better choice than Windows 8 for many

Choosing a laptop at the moment in many cases comes down on choosing a Google based Chromebook or Windows 8 from Microsoft. For a more high end choice Apple products would be a consideration but a big factor for me is price so that rules out Apple. After review of the features Chromebooks are a better choice than Windows 8 in my mind for many.

First off Chromebooks are not perfect and there are disadvantages that may be a factor for some. Even if they are not its important to know before your make a purchase.

Disadvantages

• Printers are something you probably would not even really think about when buying a Windows laptop. You know if your current printer is not ancient it probably will just work with your next laptop. That is not the case with Chromebooks. Unless it is 'Google Cloud Print' enabled you cannot print directly to your existing printer even via WiFi!

• Skype and Internet Explorer will not work. Chromebooks do not allow you to install any programs. You can get apps from the Google Chrome store but not programs. You need to use all the Google products that come preinstalled and have same function: Hangouts instead of Skype, Chrome instead of Internet Explorer. Hangouts and Chrome work great on the Chromebook. If you prefer Skype on a laptop then Chromebooks may not be for you.
  
  
• The mouse track pad (on my Acer C7) is not great. Personally I prefer an external wireless mouse so that is not a factor for me. If it is a factor for you, its good to be aware. 

And now to the good parts

Advantages

• Price for me is such a huge factor. Chromebooks are so much cheaper than Windows 8 laptops there really would have to be a huge disadvantage to the chromebooks not to buy


• As you cannot install programs so neither can viruses. Microsoft Windows based computers need antivirus software, the Chromebook by design needs nothing, and good antivirus software is expensive but not guaranteed to get everything. 


• Google are taking care of updates for you and with newer versions of their software things work more efficiently. You don't have the painful process of Windows updates as it just happens without your knowledge


• They are designed to be easy to use. Similar to an Android phone or tablet it is ready to go out of the box and once you put your Google password in and connect to your wireless Internet everything is sitting there ready to go. Windows have gone the opposite way


• You get 100GB of storage space on Google Drive free for 2 years in addition to the 15GB Google already give you. Its easy and straight forward to redeem the extra space. By having your files on Google drive its easy to share with other devices such as an android tablet or your phone


• The Chromebooks connects easily to TVs via HDMI. This is great for streaming YouTube or any web based streaming services. 


• Google Docs now let you open and edit Word, Excel or Powerpoint documents even though they are Microsoft file types. It even lets you save them in the same format so someone using Windows computer can open them again. Google Docs are free and have no restrictions unlike Microsoft Office and are continually adding new features 


• There are lots of free apps on Chrome store which is similar as for Android devices. I tried out quite a few before buying the Chromebook and they are pretty good. There were several photo editing ones that were very good for example.


• It is small and light so you can easy take it to say an art class, the park or commuting.

I hope you find this article useful. In the end for me a laptop for just over $200 that has all the main features most people need is difficult to turn down.