Is buying a Chromebook a good option specially when one is budget restricted?

[John Seth]

Lately I have been inclined towards trying my hands on a Chromebook. I know the general opinion that a Chromebook is ideal of someone dealing with majority of his work online and doesn't give much heed to hdd space. But I wanna know that how much of an offline productivity does Chromebooks provide.
Also, suggest me a Chromebook under $300. My major requirement is performance & portability (lightweight). I am not a gaming person nor a music fanatic possessive about his collections. I like to surf 60% of the time(includes reading articles, online shopping, watch videos, manage my websites). Also, a huge 'Bookmarks and Extensions fan'. Hence my first priority is that it should boot up fast and shouldn't lag.

Please mention your experience and thoughts about using a Chromebook below. Or if you have any sort of advice for me that would also be truly appreciated!

 

[Ian Morgan2]

You might get a better perspective/feel for it....if you were to visit the Chromebook community on G+.....all manner of subjects are discussed, with various updates on new Chromebook releases.
I got my Samsung 3 Series about 8 months ago and whilst I am very happy with it....in no time at all I was reading about new features in new releases.....USB Type C and what not.
That "said"....with the Chrome O/S and the continual updates, it's virtually impossible to fall behind. You can easily switch from Stable to Beta or Dev O/S and Powerwash of the surfing trail behind you.
I was always a little worried 'bout surfing without an A/V, but those fears have all been allayed....tho' I don't tend to push it, and practice safe browsing.
Keeping a backup of the O/S is easy peasy....download an app and retain the O/S to a flash drive....very necessary if you decide to try the Dev version.
One of the main deciding factors for me was compatibility with Chrome and Android....in that I've never been disappointed....managing bookmarks....all kinds of things become much simpler.
Mine still boots up like the first day I got it....no strumming of the fingers.....in seconds !

 

[Rukbat]

Keeping a backup of the O/S is easy peasy....download an app and retain the O/S to a flash drive....very necessary if you decide to try the Dev version.

Or if you get a virus. If everything is backed up, all you lose is a little time (assuming the virus didn't email your bank login and password to someone - which is why you shouldn't do things like banking on a Chromebook).

 

[ackmondual]

Lately I have been inclined towards trying my hands on a Chromebook. I know the general opinion that a Chromebook is ideal of someone dealing with majority of his work online and doesn't give much heed to hdd space. But I wanna know that how much of an offline productivity does Chromebooks provide.

Can you be specific about what you'd like to do offline? Off the top of my head, I'm able to do the following with my Chromebook...
-Google Office - create and edit. You'll need internet to sync your files back to the cloud/Google Drive
-Calculator
-Ebooks - Can't remember via which app though.... Google Play Books, Google Play, Google Books? Probably the middle one. Just remember to mark an ebook for offline use. That saves an offline version of it
-downloaded a couple of unit converter apps. One of them works offline
-I can save or transfer onto the CB image files and PDF for offline viewing
-IIRC, you can read emails via Gmail offline. You just won't be able to send nor receive any messages/attachments

Also, suggest me a Chromebook under $300. My major requirement is performance & portability (lightweight). I am not a gaming person nor a music fanatic possessive about his collections. I like to surf 60% of the time(includes reading articles, online shopping, watch videos, manage my websites). Also, a huge 'Bookmarks and Extensions fan'. Hence my first priority is that it should boot up fast and shouldn't lag.

I've got an HP Chromebook 14. Again, unless you provide specifics, all I can do is give you info and hope that works out.
-14" screen, so it's large enough that makes viewing webpages a nicer experience than 11" or 9.7" (which are what my win10 laptop and iPad Air are respectively). OTOH, it fits in my backpack, doesn't stretch it out, but makes getting it in and out a bit more of a chore.
-just under 3.5 pounds. I had access to a postal scale, and used that. On its own, not bad. However, a couple of these, with other stuff like accessories, water bottles, etc. and they add up. My win10 laptop is another just-under 3.5 lbs, and my iPad Air is 1 lb. With those 3 laptops/tablets, 8 lbs is now noticeable.
-it does boot up fast. no more than 4 seconds from sleep. from off, to desktop, no more than 20 seconds, although I have yet to time this.
-There's generally no to minimal lag, although I've had cases where tabs do take a while to load, or no memory error messages. Those were mostly from having too many tabs open, or when I downloaded and played some freeware tank game. It was a fun romp, but I've since disabled those services.

Please mention your experience and thoughts about using a Chromebook below. Or if you have any sort of advice for me that would also be truly appreciated!

I posted some of my experiences with my CB here....

{10 posts to be able to post links? Eh.. I can still post the quote without it...}

I bought a refurbished HP Chromebook 14 since it was only $190 shipped. That was cheap enough for me to try it out, even if it didn't work out. As suspected, I found an app to program in Python, but it required me being online. There may be offline alternatives, but it's not a priority. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to run a Unity nor Android Studio equivalent on it (and actual, I doubt my win10 laptop could either, but that was also a low price point). The CB's mostly a consumption device that can do low to mid-low productivity. Doing just that, it excels, and to me, it's a joy to use.

Typing in internet forums, and documents is much nicer with an actual keyboard. It has smart gestures on the trackpad to scroll, switch tabs, and go back/forward quickly. Google products of course do work well with it. I'm reading an ebook for a certification, and it saves where I'm at when I exit. I check an option to make it for reading offline. I use Google Documents to take notes.

My woes are few, but they are there.... no smart gesture for zooming.... you gotta press Ctrl+= or Ctrl+- for that. I've had the thing restart on me without warning. I had to reopen webpages, but Google Office stuff should be retained (I didn't have to find out the hard way). I've brought up low memory errors.