Best Chromebooks. A buying guide on Google Chromebook PCs excellent substitutes for classic notebooks with Windows and modern MacBooks.
Today Chromebooks with the Chrome OS operating system can boast amazing successes both because we are talking about cheap devices and because they completely rely on the apps downloadable from Google-Shop.
Windows users have the option to remain independent of Microsoft, with Google this is not possible. Upon power-up, the Chromebook asks users to log in via Google account to create their own user account.
Here we had selected the latest and advanced models of the best Chromebooks that are listed below.
Buying Guide to Select the Best Chromebooks
Using a Chromebook computer is not difficult and it is also more intuitive than a normal notebook or desktop. The Chrome OS is in fact designed to guarantee speed and immediacy.
All you have to do when you first turn it on is to log in with your Gmail or Google account and you will be ready to start your work or study activities.
Storage Space
A Chromebook is generally not equipped with a lot of storage space, we usually speak of a minimum of 16 up to a maximum of 128 GB. What makes the difference is the media on which this space is available.
The less expensive ones rely on flash memories eMMC, which stands for embedded MultiMedia Card. These are low-cost memories that can be found in smartphones and tablets and their inclusion in Chromebooks or sometimes even notebooks, allows you to reduce the cost of ‘purchase.
If you are looking for a more reliable product with more space available, you will necessarily have to rely on a Chromebook with SSD, or a Solid State Drive. In this case, however, the cost could be much higher even if you opt for a simple 16 GB drive.
As you may have noticed, these devices do not shine for storage capacity but they have not even been designed for this purpose. So make sure you have space on the Cloud to upload your files or even an external storage disk, to be connected to the Chromebook via USB port.
Ram
Although the Chrome OS is very light and does not adversely affect the stressed computer, it is necessary to have an appropriate amount of RAM to avoid crashes and freezes during work. Most Chromebooks have 2 or 4 GB of RAM.
The difference, of course, exists. The former are generally slower and are able to perform fewer operations simultaneously, the latter, on the other hand, guarantee a little more speed, especially when opening many pages in the Chrome browser.
Those who tolerate such low values could also choose a device equipped with 8 GB of RAM, however the size of the Chromebooks require miniaturization of the ad hoc components, this, therefore, entails an increase in the price of the laptop if you need more RAM.
Display and Resolution
It is not said that with the Chromebook you only have to work, it is also possible to enjoy some videos, be they films, TV series, or even shorter clips via the YouTube platform. To make sure that the vision is optimal, however, you need to point to a display that is at least in HD.
Usually, all Chromebooks, both smaller ones and those with a 14-inch screen, offer a minimum resolution of 1,366 x 768 which, although it may be fine, is not exactly equal to Full HD.
If your primary purpose is to view multimedia content, then you should aim for a display capable of displaying 1,920 x 1,080 pixels.
Weight and Size
These are the last factors to be taken into consideration, even if they are no less important than the others. The Chromebook was born to be carried with you, so we invite you to always keep in mind the weight of the device that oscillates from a minimum of one up to even two kg.
Usually, a higher weight corresponds to a larger and more comfortable display to work, if you intend to leave it at work, therefore, it would be better to opt for a larger Chromebook but on which you will avoid straining your eyes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Chromebooks, What Are They?
The term Chromebook refers to a type of computer designed to perform internet browsing quickly and smoothly through the Google Chrome browser.
These computers usually have a small size display and little storage space since their purpose is to be exploited via internet connection.
They mount an operating system created ad hoc by Google, called Chrome OS, and therefore do not allow the installation of other systems such as Windows or Mac OS or programs designed to be used by a normal notebook or desktop.
Why Buy a Chromebook?
If you are a university student or work mainly online with the suite offered by Google, the Chromebook could be a good choice since they usually have a low cost and are extremely compact and light, perfect to be always carried with you.
What Can I Do with A Chromebook?
What the Chromebook excels in is internet browsing, however, the other available programs should not be underestimated, from those of writing to the creation of presentations, creation of tables, photo editors.
Even the possibility to listen to your music and watch video files both offline and online. Although they don’t have a CD or DVD player for space reasons, they often have several USB ports or sometimes even SD card readers.
You can then connect various peripherals such as HDD or external SSD to increase the storage space or a DVD player to watch films from your personal collection.
How a Chromebook Works?
A Chromebook cannot be considered a normal computer, nor can it be considered similar to a smartphone or tablet. First of all, it uses a proprietary operating system, Chrome OS, which was created by Google specifically for these devices.
Compared to the more complicated Windows has basic functions that allow anyone to send e-mails, surf the internet, listen to music, watch videos, and use the various social networks.
These are mostly activities to be carried out online and, in fact, for those who are wondering, Chromebooks do not have a great offline utility.
Although there are some activities that can be performed without an internet connection, such as writing or executing files saved on the internal disk, all other activities will be precluded.
Considering also that the storage space rarely exceeds 32 GB, it is easy to understand how the best way to use the Chromebook is through a constant internet connection.
How to Install Chromebook?
If you have an old PC that is unable to perform well with the updates from the latest versions of Windows, you could consider turning it into a Chromebook to be used simply for navigation, giving it new life.
The best way to do this is to first download CloudReady, a program capable of performing the procedure and installing it on a USB memory.
When you have the software ready on an external storage device, you can format the PC to be transformed into a Chromebook. Make sure to keep all your important files safe as formatting will erase them completely.
Alternatively, you can select the boot from USB from the computer BIOS, in this way the installation from CloudReady will overwrite Windows and you will not need to completely format the PC.
You can also choose two installation modes: Standalone, with deletion of Windows, or even Dual Boot, which will leave you the ability to choose at every startup if you prefer Windows or Chrome OS.
After this simple procedure, which helps you understand how to turn a PC into a Chromebook, you will simply have to log in to your Google account in order to start using the operating system.
