Chromebook usage

goodValue

The websites I looked at for information on Chromebooks had so much detail that I couldn't see the information I was looking for:

1 Are they small and light, and so suitable for travel?

2 Do they need to be connected to the Web for the operating system to work?

They seem to be restrictive in the apps that they use. Would the following be available:

LibreOffice

VLC

Adobe Reader
Notepad alternative

I did see that they are popular in the Education field, but couldn't see if the lightweight OS translates into a compact, light machine that would be suitable for travel.

I wondered if they would be suitable for holding travel documents whilst travelling, and so would mostly be used offline.

MattMattMattUK

goodValue said:

The websites I looked at for information on Chromebooks had so much detail that I couldn't see the information I was looking for:

1 Are they small and light, and so suitable for travel?

Some are, some are not, it depends on the model. 

goodValue said:

2 Do they need to be connected to the Web for the operating system to work?

No. What you can do is limited, but you can still read stored emails, read and edit documents and lots of/most apps work offline as well.

goodValue said:

They seem to be restrictive in the apps that they use. Would the following be available:

LibreOffice

VLC

Adobe Reader
Notepad alternative

You would want to use Google Docs, Sheets etc. no need for Libre or Notepad. Adobe Reader is pointless on a Chromebook (or indeed almost anything these days), Chrome will open the PDFs for you. Yes to VLC if that is what you want, but depending on what you are trying to play you can just watch them on the native media player. 

goodValue said:

I did see that they are popular in the Education field, but couldn't see if the lightweight OS translates into a compact, light machine that would be suitable for travel.

Some do, some do not. They are popular because they are cheaper than Windows machines by some way and incredibly cheap compared to anything Apple. The OS also integrates with Google Classroom which a lot of schools use.

When it comes to travel I am not sure compact/small and/or light are that important anyway. The difference between a 1.5kg vs a 2kg laptop is pretty much irrelevant when carrying everything else, a small size that makes something impractical for easy usage is equally a negative. Personally when travelling "Small and light" to me reflects impractical and delicate, two things I really do not want to have to deal with. Last time I did any significant travelling where weight might have been a consideration I took a ruggedised notebook, because I did not want it breaking part way through a trek across the Andes. 

goodValue said:

I wondered if they would be suitable for holding travel documents whilst travelling, and so would mostly be used offline.

If you need to hold digital copies of travel documents whilst travelling then the solution is not a single device, phone, cloud, flashdrive and potentially a laptop should all be combined, rather than risking a single point of failure. But beyond copies of passport details and visas, which are easy to keep on your phone, a flash drive and in your email, what documents do you actually need to carry? If you have a copy of your passport details and your passport gets stolen, even if you end up in nothing but your pants, you can go to the embassy, log into your email and they can look you up and issue you a temporary passport to get you home. Remember however that 2FA might not be an option if you lose your phone, hence also having them (password protected) on a/multiple flashdrives. 

born_again

While I would not buy from them.
Pop to Currys & have a look & test some.👍 

Frozen_up_north

From our friends at ChatGPT:

Use Case	Best Choice
General home/office	Windows 11
Web browsing, school, simplicity	Chromebook
Gaming	Windows 11
Creative work (Photoshop, video editing)	Windows 11
Long battery life, fast boot	Chromebook
Offline use	Windows 11

The newer Windows laptops have excellent run time on battery power, but typically cost double the cost of a Chromebook. You can do a lot worse than use a phone with cloud storage for documents.

goodValue

What you can do is limited, but you can still read stored emails, read and edit documents and lots of/most apps work offline as well.

Thanks for such a detailed response. There are lots of items in it that I will have to find out more about.

When it comes to travel I am not sure compact/small and/or light are that important anyway.

Whilst reading your reply I became aware why a small light machine is appealing.

 I never use a mobile for internet work because of visual/dexterity problems. And I don't think a tablet would work because I've now become used to a keyboard.

So I suppose you could look at this as using it for web tasks that most people do on their mobile. Having a larger screen and keyboard would make things much easier for me.

As well as documents, I was also thinking of guides/itineraries, and books via the library (for which Adobe would be a help).

I'm getting the impression that there is quite a difference in Chromebook models, so that there are some that would be suitable for me once I got a feeling for these differences.

I don't store anything online, so IIUC Google Docs wouldn't be suitable for me.

 Remember however that 2FA might not be an option if you lose your phone, hence also having them (password protected) on a/multiple flashdrives.

I didn't understand the implications of this, could you expand on the point please.

Vitor

- and so would mostly be used offline.-

That's almost the inverse of what Chromebooks are meant for, always-connected to high speed internet with documents in cloud storage.

Have you look at an iPad with keyboard/case or if you're using an Android mobile a Samsung Tab S9 with keyboard/case?

goodValue

I had a Kindle Fire that I bought with the idea of using it for travel.
But I ended up mainly using it for reading books.
I have the impression that tablets were relatively expensive compared to other devices.

I now realise that I was mixing two different requirements:
1 storing travel data - mainly offline use
2 a small light device w/o the problems I get using a mobile for internet use

Would Chromebooks and Notebooks be suitable for this?
I suspect the answer is yes, depending on the model.
I'm assuming that a Notebook is just a small version of a laptop - are there other features that are different?

Vitor

-  a Notebook is just a small version of a laptop -

The 'netbook' type devices haven't been sold since 2012, squeezed between tablets and small Windows laptops using ARM CPU like the Samsung Galaxy Book 2.

A left-field suggestion is a Samsung mobile that supports 'DeX', when plugged into a monitor/keyboard the phone provides a desktop display and full screen apps. Works surprisingly well with a USB-C display or via a hub.