Would a Chromebook be the best choice to introduce computers to my mom?

[tracerit]

My mom doesn't use computers often but has been wanting to connect to her friends through facebook. I ended up giving her my old Nexus 7 tablet to use but the screen size maybe too small and the controls too difficult for her to grasp. I'm thinking about a Chromebook now instead of a regular PC. The presentation of the Chromebooks looks easy. I just want her to use the internet, youtube, facebook, browse pictures (through cloud storage), and check her email. Just feel a regular PC would have too many other abilities that may confuse her at this time.

Are there any drawbacks to Chromebooks that I may be missing being a new user to them? I know the storage is small (most are just 16GB) but she won't be donwloading and I'll set up cloud storage for pictures. The screen size for a few are 11", not sure about that yet, I'll check them out in stores if possible.

 

[Cerb]

They are ideal for that. My mom went from Windows 7 to ChromeOS and couldn't be happier. Go for a Haswell-powered model, if you can (Celeron 2955U). HP has a 14" one, if the screen size is an issue.

The main drawbacks:
1. Needing a Google account.
2. Not being able to run Windows software (OTOH, that's kind of the point).

 

[Essence_of_War]

The main drawbacks:
1. Needing a Google account.
2. Not being able to run Windows software (OTOH, that's kind of the point).

2nd'ing these, but I'd also add the somewhat obvious:
3) Really needs internet connectivity.

She might be surprised by how little they can do without internet connectivity, esp if you're setting her up to do things like picture browsing over cloud-based storage.

Wirecutter highly recommends the Dell 11'' chromebook mostly on the back of relatively high build quality (for the price point) and a haswell celeron, but as Cerb pointed out, the HP 14'' also has the haswell celeron, and neither the Dell nor the HP 14'' have IPS panels. The HP 11'' DOES have an IPS panel, but it uses exynos chips.

Sadly, the only way to get an IPS panel WITH intel chips, is on the preposterously expensive chromebook pixel

 

[frozentundra123456]

Personally, I know I am swimming against the tide, but I am not really on board with the chromebook enthusiasm. I guess I am old school and just dont trust cloud storage and being dependent on internet connectivity all the time. I also have personal information on my PC which I would prefer not to put on the cloud. I also use Office on my PC, and hate google docs.

In any case, I guess if you are *absolutely* sure you will not want to run windows apps and trust your internet and cloud storage, they are OK. Personally, I would rather pay a bit more and never have to worry about any of those limitations. OTOH, with Chrome OS you dont have to try to teach Windows 8 to someone with no computer experience.

 

[Cerb]

Personally, I know I am swimming against the tide, but I am not really on board with the chromebook enthusiasm. I guess I am old school and just dont trust cloud storage and being dependent on internet connectivity all the time. I also have personal information on my PC which I would prefer not to put on the cloud. I also use Office on my PC, and hate google docs.

But you're talking about your PC/Windows, which a Chromebook/ChromeOS is not a replacement for. For people that use their portable devices, PCs included, as Facebook/e-email terminals, they're great. Local data is pretty much a non-issue, as are additional applications.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Exactly. That is why I see a chromebook as more of a secondary device, and would be reluctant to have one as my only "computer". Like I said though, I guess if one is reasonably certain they will never want to use x86 apps or local storage, a chromebook is ok.

 

[Bateluer]

2nd'ing these, but I'd also add the somewhat obvious:
3) Really needs internet connectivity.

She might be surprised by how little they can do without internet connectivity, esp if you're setting her up to do things like picture browsing over cloud-based storage.

Wirecutter highly recommends the Dell 11'' chromebook mostly on the back of relatively high build quality (for the price point) and a haswell celeron, but as Cerb pointed out, the HP 14'' also has the haswell celeron, and neither the Dell nor the HP 14'' have IPS panels. The HP 11'' DOES have an IPS panel, but it uses exynos chips.

Sadly, the only way to get an IPS panel WITH intel chips, is on the preposterously expensive chromebook pixel

Do Samsung's recent Chromebook 2s, with their Exynos Octa 5800 CPUs, have IPS screens? I know the 13.3in model is FHD.

 

[bonehead123]

I gave my son (11yo) one of the early chromebooks and he loves it. He has no need for windows, it's apps nor it's complexities atm, so it is a perfect machine for him. Everything, and I mean everything, he does is online anyways, and we have a fast, stable connections, so everyone is happy. And local storage is NOT an issue, since the machine does have USB ports and he uses a 1TB ext drive to store whatever he needs on there.........

Would I have it as my primary machine ? No cause I DO need apps & local storage too, but thats me & my real life, not him and his online fantasy world of tumbler, facebook, netflix etc etc......

 

[VirtualLarry]

 

[bgt]

Personally, I know I am swimming against the tide, but I am not really on board with the chromebook enthusiasm. I guess I am old school and just dont trust cloud storage and being dependent on internet connectivity all the time. I also have personal information on my PC which I would prefer not to put on the cloud. I also use Office on my PC,
Personally, I would rather pay a bit more and never have to worry about any of those limitations.

This:thumbsup:

A chromebook is a bit of a poor man's laptop, too limited.
For me Windows 8.1.1 is a very comfortable and easy to use OS.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Do Samsung's recent Chromebook 2s, with their Exynos Octa 5800 CPUs, have IPS screens? I know the 13.3in model is FHD.

My guess is "almost certainly not". IPS panels are a nice feature to highlight, and I've seen no material indicating an that, only that the 13'' will be 1920x1080.

A chromebook is a bit of a poor man's laptop, too limited.

It is limited, but the question is, is it TOO limited for the tasks that you're interested in doing with it? Or, better, is it too limited for the tasks you're interested in doing with it, at the price point you're willing to invest in. In other words, having the right tools available at the right price points.

Chromebooks are aggressively priced, build quality is at least as good as budget win8 laptops, they're typically quite a bit lighter than budget windows laptops, and they do one set of things: web browsing, email, and document editing, quite well.

I wouldn't want one for my primary machine, but that's not really what they're trying to do. They're an alternative (to a tablet) secondary machine for power users, or a primary machine for light-users who weren't doing anything heavy with their "real" machines previously anyway.

 

[mirageracerx]

really depends on how savvy she is. if she uses her phone for everything a chromebook is decent.