Chromebooks, the new google mini-laptop, have been interesting topics of late. Seeing that recently the school has acquired some, much as I had about 6 months ago, a review would be in order. This review will be specifically of the  Samsung XE303, the version of the Chromebook the school has purchased.

Overview: The reason I refer to the Chromebook as a mini-laptop is that the Chromebook has little to no hard drive. You can barely store anything on it. BUT, you can store things such as documents on the cloud. It runs fairly nicely, it has a camera, and it’s fairly well protected from viruses. Think of it like a tablet that has everything online, rather than instantly accessible, it’s more secure.

The Good: Being an online affair, the Chromebook offers a more in-depth connection experience (Connection 24/7) for users. This means that no matter where you are on your computer, Google will always be there with you. If you get a message from someone on Google+ (as unlikely as that may be) Google will tell you. If changes are made to a document to on drive, Google will tell you. If an event pops up on your Google calendar, Google will tell you. And the best part is that the only thing you need to do to synch your chrome book with the internet is log in to your Google account.

Another great thing about the Chromebook is that it’s quick and convenient. Turning the Chrome Book on takes less than a minute, and most Chromebooks load a website in 3-9 seconds. This combined with the fact that you have shortcuts to almost all Google sites on your desktop, and you have yourself one fast and convenient computer.

The Bad: The Chrome Book is very centered on a 24/7 internet connection. If you lose your connection, your entire computer becomes almost obsolete, due to a lack of local applications and lack of storage space. Thus, if you find yourself without internet often, you may want to make sure that you can really benefit from the Chromebook, seeing as you may not be able to use it often.

Final Say: When it you weigh the good versus the bad, the Chromebook ends up being a useful mini-computer with limited local access and a well done online experience.

8.5/10

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