Chelle wrote earlier: "90% of my computing is on a Chromebook. It just works. I use Google Docs, which has compatibility with Microsoft. It's basically virus-proof. (It verifies the operating system on every boot and if there are any discrepancies it replaces it with a fresh, virus-free copy without messing up any of your stuff.) It's fast. It boots up almost instantly"
I tend to agree. We have three very well equipped Windows computers in our household, but I find myself using an old Acer Chomebook more often than any of the Windows machines, both for business and personal. We bought it used on Ebay for $70.
And now the newer Chromebooks have the ability to download and use Android apps, which substantially increase their dexterity.
If I were starting from scratch today with no computer and on a very tight budget, this is what I'd buy:
Not familiar with Chromebooks, so a couple questions for those of you who are:
How much of the 32GB or 64GB memory is free and available for use? Is it like the phones, where a 16GB phone may only have 8 or 9GB available? (I don't intend to use cloud storage, so this is quite important to me).
1b. I also intend to download and use the free OpenOffice / LibreOffice word processor/spreadsheet/powerpoint programs. Will I be able to do that?
Do Chromebooks constantly try to connect to the internet?
Can a chromebook be used without a google account?
How Big Brother-ish is a chromebook?
Any downsides to Chromebooks?
I download youtube videos using Firefox and its youtube-downloader extension. Will I be able to do that, or does Google cripple this capability on a Chromebook?
Thank you, in advance, for all replies! I'll probably be back with more questions, as you can see, I am quite the noob.