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I'm thinking of getting a Chromebook for my father, and this is a man whose only been online via a library and who has no internet connection at home (or even a
by buro9 15y ago
I'm thinking of getting a Chromebook for my father, and this is a man whose only been online via a library and who has no internet connection at home (or even a TV for that matter).
The things I'm curious about are:
1) How is the 3g? Is it invisibly always connected like a mobile phone is, or is it more like a laptop where you have to connect and disconnect?
2) How is the Camera? And how easy is it to upload a photo to flickr (or Picasa if it's easier) having taking a photo? My father also doesn't have a digital camera, but is selling a camper van... I want him to be able to take a photo using the Chromebook and to be able to figure out how to upload it to somewhere useful... would this be effortless for someone not deeply familiar with computers?
3) How is the battery life? In real usage, of occasionally accessing the internet, opening and closing it, etc... how does it fare? Also... can you buy spare batteries? Especially batteries that are chargeable off a car socket? i.e. Could he charge the battery whilst driving along, and without needing the laptop to all be wired up which he might consider weird.
4) How are the prompts? So it asked for an update... but did it do that in language that even my father would not find confusing or intimidating? Are the alerts and prompts too numerous so as to dumb him down, or are they are few and far between and phrased in such clear English that anyone could really grasp them even without knowing why or how software updates happen?
5) How are the native apps such as Maps? I realise that the Chromebook is designed to be online all the time, but one of his use-cases will be searching for a place, driving to it, and then referring to the previous search to do the last bit of navigation (he's too old school even for sat-nav). So... is there caching for when signal fails? Is it adequate and useful enough to be helpful?
Basically... the Chromebook for me, is going to help get the last few people in my family and network online. In a way that even the iPad hasn't. I cannot tell you the number of times my father has walked into a computer shop intending to get online, and walked out as soon as what he regards as techno-babble starts.
The Chromebook really could be the thing that works for him... he hated the iPad (couldn't grasp modality of being in apps and not in apps, and was frustrated that things he felt should work together - apps - didn't).
So I'd love it if someone who has a Chromebook does a review either watching someone who has virtually never used a computer use one, or who sits there and really is able to consider how a new user might find one.
That or someone here in the know just answer the questions above ;)
- bockris 15y agoI bought a Chromebook for my parents which are very similar to your dad in computer skills. Over Christmas I got them set up with a Google account using my CR48. 1. I always disable the mobile data when I'm on wifi cause I don't want to burn up my bandwidth. Otherwise I believe that once you turn it on it will connect. (after setup of course) As an experiment, my parents are trying 3G only until they can determine a usage pattern and find that $35/month internet through their ISP will be cheaper. They do travel to visit family and have the 3G as a fallback is great. 2. On my CR48, the camera is only useful for video chat. I never found an appropriate flash based camera app to just take photos. Likewise I haven't yet tried plugging an SD card in to see how it does uploading to Picasa. 3. Battery life is awesome, I charge my CR48 every 3-4 days with light use. Even if I use it a lot, I've always lasted an entire day (but I'm not watching videos or anything like that) 4. The updates download in the background and you will see a little green upward pointing arrow on the menu bar. Click on it and you get a dialog that prompts you to restart now. If you don't ever hit the button, the next time you shutdown it will start back up with the new code installed. 5. The apps are the web app versions so it's not like Android with the navigation. My CR48 has a GPS chip but it's not turned on yet in the builds. It is close though, because people have got the daemon started and Google Maps will find your location. The other thing I like that I know their gmail password and can sign in to their account and can add apps/bookmarks and it will sync automatically to their Chromebook. I can't judge how well your father will do but I had my parents using my CR48 just fine. The problems were things that just needed practice: Using the touchpad, knowing how to close windows and recognize links to click on. I feel _much_ better about their online safety with this machine vs windows or mac when I'm trying to troubleshoot from 800 miles away. Feel free to email me if you want to discuss any other points. (email in my profile) To everyone who says just buy a windows netbook and install Chrome are totally missing the point. Yes, of course you could do that but it wouldn't work the same. If you already know how to run windows/mac and need or want native apps, the chromebook is not for you unless you want a 2nd machine. Both my wife and I have laptops that mostly stay on their respective desks now that I have the CR48. It is the form factor and the speed of booting/wakeup and the ease of switching users. Both of my young children have accounts and they can use it just fine. It really is 'our' computer instead of 'my' computer and that makes it perfect as a companion machine. Of course this is all just my opinion.