The Chromebook Dilemma 

What is a Chromebook? Should I get one? Its made by Google! It must be great right? I mean, look at the success of Android and all the other products that has popped out of the Google factory.  I think conceptually the Chromebook is a very good idea. I mean majority of the internet users are only using Facebook and YouTube right? So why not make a cheap laptop that only does that! And...out plopped the Chromebook. While seemingly great at first it is effectively a browser only laptop. Though seemingly targeting the computer illiterate with its low prices, it appears to only be usable by those who have a decent understanding of both Windows and Linux or people who are actually willing to learn *gasp*. 

Off-topic side Story:
 When Windows Vista (the fail successor to Windows XP) first came out, my dad while on vacation with a new laptop made a phone call to my mom asking how to turn off his computer. She told him find the start menu and to click "Turn Off Computer," but he complained he could not find either of them. She threw a fit calling him an idiot and told him to just unplug the computer and hung up the phone. Her second suggestion wouldn't have worked since it was a laptop with a battery and her instructions were technically wrong since Vista replaced the start menu with a windows logo and the "Turn Off Computer" button was replaced with a power symbol. Seemingly trivial tasks on the computer can be like learning a new language to those who are computer illiterate!

If you are absolutely dead serious on getting a Chromebook, please don't be this guy. 



Google on the other hand does have high end Chromebooks being produced. Although the new Chromebook Pixel appears quite snazzy with its high resolution display, I really wonder who is going to drop $1200-$1400 for a browser only laptop? 

I don't hate the Chromebook, in fact I like my Acer C7 Chromebook quite a bit. On the other hand, I'm seriously hard pressed to recommend it to ANYONE since to get it to fit my needs, I've had to dabble with settings I think the average Joe should never have to touch. I want to be able to recommend it to people who are computer illiterate since they don't really have to deal with malware and viruses but the lack (stock) versatility of ChromeOS compared to regular Linux, OSX or Windows makes me feel like I would be giving bad advice if I don't warn them about these limitations. 

Can my parents use it? Sure. I replaced their browsers from Chrome near the time Chrome was released. Nevertheless, even if they are used to Chrome, the idea of not being able to use software outside of it would make them feel like they are using something less than a computer--maybe even less than a smart phone. 


As a College Student with a Chromebook

Unlike quite a few of the people who purchased Chromebooks like the user whose posts I linked above, I did my research before buying (a key thing everyone should do for everything they buy). I was aware that the Chromebook would be browser only, and I accepted that fact.




I was hoping that by the time I purchased it, maybe ChromeOS would gain enough traction to have somewhat of an App Store like the Google Playstore for Android. However everything that you can install on ChromeOS is pretty much just a Chrome Extension. The quality of the extensions rely solely on the team who coded it. Although this applies to all software, I feel like the level of quality is somewhat shifty for majority of the extensions I've stumbled upon.

On the other hand, some really high quality ones were great, such as the Secure Shell Extension. I thought this extension was quite nifty. For example in object oriented programming class, instead of using an IDE (Integrated development environment), we would program with VIM using SSH, connecting to a server on the school network. The Secure Shell extension allowed me to do the the work I needed without the necessity for applications like PuTTy or access to a terminal. 

For a couple of classes that required a bit of writing, Google Docs was able to fit my most of my needs, so no biggie here. On the other hand for things like Lab Reports which required strict formatting with margins, page numbering in footers, etc. I had no choice to switch back to Micro$oft Office on my desktop. Other things like creating PowerPoints and what not are fine though Google Docs, but if you want to give it a ZING you'd probably want to use Micro$oft PowerPoint. If Google Docs eventually matches Microsoft Office in features, that'd be pretty awesome.

The biggest thing that irked me from a student perspective was the fact that I couldn't just PRINT from the Chromebook. I was hoping Google would allow Printing via SAMBA like on Ubuntu that would allow me to print wirelessly through a homegroup that is sharing a printer. Unfortunately this was not the case and Google instead employs "Cloud Print". Although it is an interesting service, it simply did not work for me and produced a generic error. 

The 100GB from getting a Chromebook for 2 years is great. However with my pesky 1 mbps upload speed, I'm hard pressed to find any use from it, even though I could use some extra storage on my desktop. Google Fiber please spread across all the states!


Wanting More

Of course eventually  I got bored of what it could do in ChromeOS, so I started looking for ways to get around its limitations. At first I used ChrUbuntu, but it was quite annoying to switch between ChromeOS and Ubuntu. 

For a couple of months I hosted a 5-7 player Minecraft Server. The little Acer C7 processor (1.1 GHz Dual Core Celeron + 2GB Ram) was able to handle the load pretty well. There was pretty bad lag once a player mass bred sheeps (70+ in a small location), but overall worked pretty well. 

But now Instead of ChrUbuntu, there's an even easier method to get more out of your Chromebook through CROUTON: https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton