HomeTechHacker: 5 Reasons You Should Consider a Chromebook for Your Next Laptop

By Marlon Buchanan

What’s a Chromebook?

Chromebooks run ChromeOS, a Linux-based operating system featuring Chrome web browser as its primary interface. 

Most other laptops run either Windows or macOS. Chromebooks are designed to primarily be used while connected to the Internet because most ChromeOS applications are in the cloud.

Chromebooks have done well in the education market. Many schools have adopted them as a budget and security-conscious alternative to Windows laptops and iPads. My son’s school recently switched from iPads to Chromebooks because they found them less expensive and easier to support.

Reason #1: Chromebooks cost less

Most Chromebooks cost less than $400. A good, fully functional Chromebook can be found for $300 or less. That is less than the average cost of a Windows laptop and significantly less than Apple laptops.

Reason #2: Chromebooks have excellent battery life

Chromebooks are renowned for their battery life. You can find many that get 10-12 hours off of a full charge. 

Most Windows laptops can’t make it through a whole business day of regular usage without a charge. The MacBook Air and Pro get closer to Chromebook battery life but at a premium price.

Reason #3: You use a laptop and a large tablet

Chromebooks can double as Android tablets. Popular touchscreen models come with the Google Play market installed and run most Android apps, including games. You can easily turn your laptop into a large and fully functional Android tablet.

Reason #4: You value security

ChromeOS is more secure than Windows by design. They are much stricter on the type of software that can be installed, and their default security settings are designed to keep you safe. Also, as a less popular OS, they aren’t as enticing for hackers to exploit. The reduced popularity combined with the increased security means fewer exploitable bugs than Windows and MacOS. No OS is completely secure, but ChromeOS leads the laptop pack.

Reason #5: You don’t really need MS Office apps

Many people buy Windows laptops because they want to run Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. 

Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides can create documents that do most of what you want them to do and they can run on any computer with a modern web browser. You can even save your files from Google in MS Office formats.

I’m sure some of you have occasions where you have to use MS Office. 

You can buy an Office 365 subscription with the money you saved from not buying a Windows or Mac laptop and access Office Online. If you purchased a Chromebook that also runs Android apps you can you simply download the Office Android apps for free.

A couple of reasons not to buy a Chromebook

#1: You use a lot of Microsoft or Apple software

If you are deep in the Apple ecosystem, or you are a power user and rely heavily on various Microsoft software, you are going to be better off with a MacBook or Windows laptop. You can’t add a lot of desktop-based software to Chromebooks, and they don’t integrate seamlessly into other ecosystems.

#2 Your Wi-Fi isn’t very good.

If you aren’t going to be in places with a stable wifi connection to the Internet then your Chromebook will be a waste of money. This is somewhat true for most portable devices without a cellular connection, but for a machine built to access services from and store files in the cloud, this is extremely true.

Marlon Buchanan, HomeTechHacker

Marlon Buchanan is a best-selling author, IT Director, and founder of HomeTechHacker.com, a website with free resources to help you make the most of your home technology. 

If you have questions or comments about this article you can contact Marlon through his website or on Twitter.

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