Now comes the off for Windows? After the success of Android on smartphones and tablets, Google blows with Chrome OS to attack Windows. But are the cheap Chromebooks with prices starting at 280 euros suitable for everyone? What can the devices, what not? We have all the answers!
Question: What is a Chromebook, what does it draw?
Chromebooks are small notebooks in the 12 to 14 inch format, on which Google's operating system Chrome OS is preinstalled. The first devices appeared in the summer of 2011, a new generation of Chromebooks has recently been released: the Acer C710 (280 euros), the Samsung 303C12-A01 (300 euros) and the quite similar Samsung 303C12-H01 (350 euros). Google's self-developed Chromebook pixel is not yet available.
Question: What is Chrome OS? Is it similar to Android?
Chrome OS is a Linux distribution, further developed by Google, in which the in-house browser Chrome plays the central role: All applications run as an app in the browser window. Chrome OS resembles Android less than a notebook, where you can do everything in the browser.
Question: Do I need an online connection?
Data and settings are stored primarily on the Internet, ie in a cloud - a permanent online connection is therefore useful. The new Chromebooks bring a limited offline mode for the first time, but you have to install special offline apps. Google has listed these offline apps: there are more than 600 apps.
Question: What technology and hardware components are there?
Your own data and documents need not necessarily be stored in the cloud, but can also be copied to local data carriers.
The three Chromebook vendors Acer, Google and Samsung go different ways in hardware. Acers C710 is reminiscent of a netbook: the device is equipped with an Intel Celeron 847 dual-core processor, 2 GB of memory and a 320 GB hard disk. Apart from the mirrored display, the similarities to the in-house Netbook Aspire One 756 are hardly to be overlooked.
In the two Samsung Chromebooks, on the other hand, smartphone and tablet technology: the built-in Exynos 5 processor drives the Google Tablet Nexus 10 as well. The memory is scarce with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of eMMC, but is sufficient.
The Chromebook pixel, which Google does not (yet) distributes in the United States, reminds of an Ultrabook. Its powerful Intel Core i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM and an SSD drive. With a resolution of 2560 x 1700 image points, it even turns the Apple iPad into the retina display of a MacBook Pro. All further technical details can be found in the table.
Chromebooks are a real fast-start: it takes no ten seconds until the Samsung Chromebook is ready for use. As in Windows, multiple users can share a device and have access to their data. A dedicated Google account for each user is mandatory. The Chrome OS desktop is similar to Windows. You have a modifiable background image and at the bottom a taskliste. Instead of the Windows Start button, the Chrome logo is used to start the browser.
Chrome OS is designed to use web applications that run in the browser window. You can not install existing Windows applications such as Office on your Chromebook. The Webapps focus on Google services like Google Mail, Google Play Music and Google Docs. For Google Drive, every Chromebook buyer gets even 100 GB of free cloud memory - but this is limited to two years.
Choosing the Chrome Web Store covers your everyday needs. You can find apps for image processing, learning, office or chat. Including numerous well-known names like Evernote, Dropbox or Spotify. Also simpler games like Angry Birds, Cut the Rope or Bastion are available as webapp and run appealing. You can also start other web applications and browsergames.
Those who do not want to do without Microsoft Office can access the browser-based versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote thanks to the "Office Web Apps". Complex online games like World of Warcraft do not work. Movies from DVD or Blu-ray do not run, YouTube and similar video platforms on the web plays the Chromebook against it. Printing a Chromebook can only be done using the service Google Cloud Print.
According to Google, Android and Chrome OS, despite overlapping, remain separate products: Android for touch devices and Chrome OS for notebooks with keyboard. As a second device for webaffine users, Chromebooks definitely make a lot of sense. When it comes to performance-intensive applications and games, a PC or notebook with Windows, however, remains the first choice.
Question: How to use a Chromebook?
Download: Table
Q: What software and apps can you use?
Question: Chrome OS, Android or Windows?
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