Tag: Chromebook

New generation Chromebook

New generation Chromebook

Posted on by Jack

I have previously talked about using my Chromebook for genealogy (Pros and Cons of Chromebook and Cons and Chromebook for genealogy).

I was pleased to see a TV ad the other day for the new generation of Chromebook. (I usually would not use “pleased” and “ad” together but it was a nice break from the political ads which are dominating the airwaves these days.) I do not plan on getting a new Chromebook but hope this new generation will spur interest and app development.

Dick Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter has a nice article about the new $249 Samsung chromebook.

Pros and Cons of Chromebook

Pros and Cons of Chromebook

Posted on by Jack

Yesterday,I wrote about using my Chromebook for genealogy. Since I have a bit of extra time this morning I thought it would be good to mention a few pros and cons. Yesterdays post was mainly on the positives but there are a few negatives.

The thing that I see as the biggest downside is that if you don’t have an internet connection, the computer seems like a big paperweight and there is little you can do. But I knew that before I bought and intended to use it with WiFi so this is not a problem for me.

Documents on your Google drive are either unavailable or uneditable depending on where you were when you lost the connection. I believe Google has improved that but I haven’t had much luck with it. (I should mention that this is not the new version of the Chromebook).

A minor irritation but one that comes up often if you are typing is that there is a key next to the ‘a’ key and just above the shift key that opens a new tab in the browser (which is Chrome of course). You very quickly realize what has happened and close the new tab and go back to what you were working on.

You do almost everything in Chrome which seems a bit strange at first but you quickly get used to having everything in different Chrome tabs. For example if you edit a document, it is in Google docs and on your Google drive and done in a Chrome tab.

The touchpad is a bit of genius. You can scroll and move around with it like a laptop but it also serves as your mouse. It takes a bit of getting used to it but you can click, highlight, and so forth. Of course, you can add a real mouse via the USB port but that would partly defeat your desire for a small, compact, and secure computer.

So if you are willing to accept its limitations, the Chromebook is a fine second computer. I don’t think many people would be happy with the Chromebook as a main computer.

My main computer is a desktop and I use the Chromebook as a second computer at home and as a small and secure computer when travelling. Depending on your situation the dataplan may be a plus but it is certainly not needed if you are willing to live with WiFi only.

Once again this blog post was made with my Chromebook.

Chromebook for genealogy

Chromebook for genealogy

Posted on by Jack

A couple months or so ago I bought a Chromebook . For those who not familiar, it is a small computer, very light, highly secure, and it starts up very quickly. Here are the specifications of my model .

My ChromeBook model has both WiFi and a small data plan from Verizon. I use it mainly as a WiFi but the Verizon connection is nice because there are a few occasions when you need to connect but just can’t find WiFi. Since the many of the functions do not work if you lose your WiFi connection, the data plan is very helpful. My understanding is that it is a prepaid plan (and you paid for it with your chromebook) and it is renewed every 30 days by either Google or Samsung. So if you use all your data for the month you have the option of buying more data from Verizon or just waiting until the next 30 cycle.

So after that lengthy introduction, I can get down to why I was writing to begin with. I am spending a few days in New York City and decided I would use the time to look up some genealogy stuff. I have my family tree on Ancestry and thought the Chromebook would be a great way to have my genealogy with me in case I needed to look something up.

Of course you could just do things the old fashioned way and write down what you need, But if you are in a place with lots of information, you could decide to look up someone or something which was not anticipated. In my experience that happens alot when you are in places with lots of information.

For example now I am sitting in the library of the New York Historical Society. I had requested a few items (books and manuscripts) this morning before I came. (This part of the post was writen while I was waiting for my requests.) And depending on the results, I can access the online catalog and request more with my Chromebook (since they have WiFi here). This is particularly nice if you find something unexpected and wish to follow-up. I can also take notes with my Chromebook.

I visited the New York City main library (5th Ave and 42nd St) and made good use of their WiFi. The National Archives in New York (Houston and Varick Streets) does not have WiFi but they do have public access computers. I did use the verizon connection with the Chromebook to briefly check some information I had on the Google Drive but should have thought to write down.

It was a very nice genealogical visit to New York City and I made good use of the Chromebook. I’ll havee to write a bit more about this visit and the Chromebook. I have uploaded this to my blog from Google drive with my Chromebook.