The Google Chromebook is the Best Non-Laptop I Have Ownned

I work with, support, and teach with computers all day long, and when I get home to my family, the last thing I want to do is work on and tweak computers at home. My wife has a Macbook Pro, and ever since OS X Lion hit, I have been constantly helping her adjust things. My mother-in-law has a Windows 7 Laptop, and I have had to rebuild it more times than I can remember. When It comes to my personal computing, I just want things to be simple and easy. That is why I have fell in love with my Samsung Series 5 Chromebook.

The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is not for everyone; it is a completely (nearly) cloud based experience which offers the owner a problem-free, zen-like approach to computing. There are no patches, virus warnings, glitches, kernel panics or blue screens of death. On my Chromebook, I just have an internet experience that works they way I want it to with no headache or concern. That is why my Samsung Chromebook is my favorite laptop computer.

The Chromebook Experience Explained

If you have ever used Google Chrome as your desktop or laptop web browser, then you have essentially used a Google Chromebook. The Chrome Browser is the only software installed on the device, and you can only access the Internet. Granted, there is a Google Chrome Store that offers you access to extensions and plug-ins that help to streamline your browsing, but essentially these are all web apps.

You have access to any web-based program, any website, any flash page, or web-based desktop. This may not seem very useful until you remember you have access to Google Documents for word processing, Picnik for image editing, Logmein for remote desktop access, Pandora and Mog for music access, and the entire Google Application empire at your fingertips. If you are a die-hard Microsoft fan, you can utilize the online version of Office through msn.live . It is all available easily and instantly at your fingertips with a Chromebook. The only caveat is that you need fast and reliable Internet access, but WiFi is so ubiquitous these days that it is hard not to find access sometimes.

My Typical Work Flow with the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook

I am currently typing this in Google Docs, and I have Pandora streaming my favorite station as a stand alone window thanks to a plugin called Panelize. I also have Google Talk open so that my wife and I can chat when she gets a spare minute. I keep my story ideas in my Springpad Notebook, and so I have that site open as well. I typed out my ideas for this story this morning, without Internet access, in Springpad because the site allows me to cache my data and work offline.

I noticed that I had an OS update, so I chose to install it. I was given the choice to reboot; I did, and I was back up and running in exactly 18 seconds. The Chromebook boots up in under 10 seconds flat, and as long as have Internet access, I am working in less than 15 seconds. I don't have the option to do anything to the hardware or software so I can't mess it up. I can't install third party software that may or may not work correctly, and I have never had the device crash.

Drawbacks of the Google Chromebook

I could list the system specs of the Chromebook, but they don't really matter. The Samsung Series 5 is a supped up Netbook with limited purpose and a full-fledged PC price. I doubt I have ever pushed the device to its limits even with complex flash pages or full-screen video, but for the money I spent, I wouldn't expect any less. I cannot do anything about the system specifications, and so I don't worry about them. I also do not have access to any software that isn't already online, and if I lose online access, I have nothing except my Gmail and Springpad. Also, all of my data is online, in the cloud. Without access I have nothing.

Final Word About My Favorite Laptop

The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is a good-looking, well-built internet device that delivers the entire Internet. I can do 90% of what I would normally use a laptop for, but I have had 0% of the headaches that come with modern equipment and modern Operating Systems. The Chromebook might have cost a bit more than I wanted to spend, but what I have saved in time, energy and money have been more than worth it. The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is hands down my favorite laptop.