Schools and children love Chromebooks. They're affordable, easy to manage, and easy to use. Can your kids use a web browser? Then they can use a Chromebook. Google also providesG Suite for EducationandGoogle Classroomto help schools make remote learning as simple as possible.
While I looked primarily at higher-end machines, which are suitable for high-school and college students, you can get even more affordable Chromebooks from brand-name vendors. For example, you can get a decent Chromebook -- such as theASUS 11.6 Chromebook,HP Chromebook 11A G6 - Education Edition, orLenovo 11.6 32GB Chromebook 100e-- for under $200. If you're short on cash, you can often find used or older Chromebooks going for a song. Since it'ssimple to erase a Chromebook and then reset it to your account, this is far safer than buying a used Windows laptop.
You might think a Chromebook is limited because it can only run programs when it's online. That's not true. For example, you can stillwork with Google Docs when you're offline.
Also, you can now run manyAndroid apps on Chromebooks. And these days you can run a fullLinux desktop on your new Intel-based Chromebook. As my tech buddy Mike Elgan points out, today's high-end Chromebook laptops "run more apps without dual- or multi-booting than any other computing platform."Chromebook laptops can run apps from Android, Linux, and Windows concurrentlyin the same session.
Besides, asFutureSourcenotes, for schoolwork, Chromebook laptops combine "affordable devices, productivity tools viaG-Suite, easy integration with third-party platforms/tools, task management/distribution viaGoogle Classroom, and easy device management remains extremely popular with US teachers and IT buyers alike."
One unsung advantage of Chromebook laptops is that, if your dog ate the Chromebook, you wouldn't have lost your homework. All you need do is get another one, even if you just borrow one, log on, and you're back in business with all your e-mail, documents, and calendars intact and ready to go.
Chromebooks are also much safer than Windows PCs. First, you can't easily install third-party software on them even if you want to -- nevermind having a malware program try to sneak in your machine. Moreover, Chrome OS encrypts all your files. Finally, every time you start your Chromebook, it does a self-check. Verified Boot detects if the system has been tampered with or corrupted in any way, and it will automatically repair itself by restoring it to a clean version of Chrome OS.
They also feature long battery lives. Most Chromebooks I've reviewed lately average over 10 hours of battery life. You're unlikely to ever need more.
While even the lowest-powered Chromebook is still useful -- I got eight years of useful life from the first commercial Chromebook,Samsung's 2011 Series 5-- like any system, the more resources you have, the better.
But, unlike Windows machines, where there are clear benefits to paying for the fastest possible processor and the maximum amount of memory, that's not so true with Chromebooks. Any Chromebook with at least 4GBs of RAM and an i3 or better processor will work well for most users. If you are doing serious work with Linux or constantly running multiple Software-as-a-Service apps, then you should invest in a high-end Chromebook. I can recommend these for advanced high school or college students, but not for grade-schoolers.
Chromebooks usually have 16GB and up of Solid-State Drive (SSD) for onboard storage. That's better than it looks. First, Chrome OS is very light and most of your applications are Software-as-a-Service programs such as Google Docs, so most of that space is available for your files. And, remember, allnew Chromebooks come with 100GB of free Google One cloud storagefor a year.
All Chromebooks have a predetermined support life. You can find your Chromebook'sAuto Update Expiration ("AUE") dateon this site. If you have a Chrome Education Upgrade or Chrome Enterprise Upgrade Chromebook, you can find the AUE date in the Google Admin console. Generally speaking, Chromebooks get six years of support. In my experience, unlike Windows, where running a non-supported operating system is asking for major trouble, out-of-date Chromebooks are still safe to use. If there's ever been a significant security breach of an older Chromebook, I've never seen it.
Like all laptops, these days there's a huge demand for Chromebooks. If you want a Chromebook for school, order one as soon as possible.
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