A friend of mine was showing off his new Macbooks laptops. All I could think is “Why?” Why pay all that money for something that is basically used a web browser?
I’ve been using a Chromebook for at least ten years. I use it to surf the web, update and maintain my blog, run my photography art sales, stream movies, get the news and weather, basically 90% of my technology time is spent on my Chromebook. When I need to edit photographs or video, I turn on my gaming desktop computer.
A couple of years ago I picked up a bargain Asus Chromebook for my son (who broke a few in the past) and I. It was a ruggedized model built with school kids in mind. I got a deal on them since they were a few years old at the time.
But I recently got a notice from Google that this model will no longer be eligible for upgrades and the touchpad was getting a bit wonky.
Looking at the current Chromebook offerings on the market I snatched up a deal on a Lenovo Flex 5 13 Chromebook 13.3″ Laptop for less than $300. The “renewed” price was $100 off list price and had a few slight scuffs on it. Nothing that noticeable.
This new Chromebook from Lenovo is rather slick. Bigger screen, Better resolution and contrast. Touchscreen and hinge that allows it to become a tablet. Larger, backlit keyboard. Better sound. The drawbacks compared to my previous Chromebook is the weight and it is more delicate. After tossing around the last Chromebook, this one I’ll have to treat more carefully.
Mouse for my Chromebook
Lots of scrolling and copy/pasting on my Chromebook using the touchpad was giving my right-hand terrible pain so I decided to get a wireless mouse. This cheap wireless mouse on an Amazon lightning deal works out great. Pop in the attached USB receiver put in a AA battery and you are in business. Worked great right out of the box.