Anyone have a Chromebook? How's it working for you? Ebook Reader apps?

[Labarum]

I have the Samsung Arm Chromebook which furnishes most of my needs - so mostly browsing news and info sites and managing webmail.

I can make the Chromebook print easily enough via Cloudprint to a Windows 7 PC, but it is not good at displaying complex documents in MS Word - though you can hop across to Skydrive for the free MS Office Web Apps.

Readium is OK. It will work offline, but its features are rather limited.

Recently it has become possible to upload ePubs and PDFs to Google Play Books and read them online. Play Books has no offline feature - maybe it's on the way.

You can gain more screen by using full screen mode, and if you want portrait mode viewing you can rotate the screen - that's Control- Refresh. The Refresh button is the circle with arrow top row, fourth from the left. Yo can rotate so as to have the trackpad and keyboard on the right or the left. It's equivalent to a 11.5" tablet.

[Labarum]

I am just reading with the "Livemargin Reader"

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/s...e-ntp-launcher

which seems to be based on Readium but seems better designed.

I think it's early days for these things.

I have a folder "CalibreLibrary" on my GoogleDrive to which Calibre directly exported its library. Both Readium and Livemargin can grab books from there.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

On second thought, low-priced Google laptop is a great idea

In June 2011, I trashed Samsung Corp.’s Chromebook, an early effort to build a machine running Google Inc.’s Chrome operating system. For $429, you got an attractive, well-built machine, but one that could not run programs written for Microsoft Corp.’s Windows software and that only worked when it was connected to the Internet.

The costly gadget was often little more than an illuminated placemat.

But a lot has changed over 18 months. The newest Chromebook is more attractive than its ancestor, but also a lot more useful, with features that keep working even when it is *offline. After several days of testing, the latest Chromebook became my go-to device for Internet surfing, e-mailing, and banging out documents on the fly. And while I’m impressed by the performance, I’m awed by its $249 price

Others will resist the idea of a laptop that can’t run Windows software. But thanks to smartphones and tablets, millions of people have learned to shrug off this trivial concern. Google’s software tools are more than adequate for basic productivity tasks. These tools work even when you’re not connected to the cloud. And you can access them through a stylish, well-built device that sells for half the price of a basic Windows laptop.

The Chromebook isn’t for everybody.

But for those who’ve learned to love cloud computing, it’s one of the best bargains in the digital world.

Come April, 2014, my XP is not supported and I plan to migrate to Chromebook. I have tried it out at Best Buy, and a friends Acer, and other than the need of having to get a "cloud printer" on my boat, I like it.
I am waiting for a more robust hardware machine which should come last quarter this year. New models from Samsung, Acer, Lenovo, HP and now Asus has announced

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Well that's the whole deal with a chromebook, it does not have (much) local storage. It's intended to work on the network, cloud apps and storage etc. The network IS the computer as Bill Joy once said.

Not so.

Some Acer models have a 320GB harddrive.

Amazon has an Acer with 4GB Ram and a 320GB HD for (it varies) about $240.

You can get "off line" versions of the apps to use on the Chromebook when out of internet range.

On printing, it seems you need the internet or at least a "local net" I hope that will work on my boat. I don't know. But my next printer will be a cloud ready one.

Some brands of printers say "cloud ready" but HP which is what I use, only says something like eReady and you get an internet address. That is wireless but I need to check to see if it will work with a Chromebook.

[huari]

fwiw I use readium to read offline epub on my Google Samsung ARM chromebook. Simple and it works. I either load up a usb flash full of books or if I have wifi use Google Drive.

[frahse]

You want storage?
One or more of the Acers (by model number) have 320GB HDs.
It seems all the Chromebooks have 3 USB ports, USB2 and USB3. You can hook up a lot of flash drives if you are so inclined, or just a 1T or 2T external drive.
The Acer also has a SD card port.

Some of the SSD models have 32GB.

SeaKing's thoughts on the printing are useful. I need to check out my wife's Acer (4GB RAM, 320GB HD) on our home network with internet disconnected.

My wife wished a small (non-business) notebook to carry with her to church work or meetings or fund raisers for she found her Samsung Tablet to not be adequate for keyboard entry.

I got her Acer at Amazon for $219, added an $7-$8 travel mouse to it, and she put it in a pretty little flat straw and cloth pocketbook and she was good to go. Loves it.
Our printers at home are set up for the chromebook with W7 and WXP. (I just need to disconnect the internet and see what happens.)
I can also see getting a wireless printer in the future.

There is also the ability to convert the Acer to a dual boot ChromeOS/Ubuntu machine. [[But I won't do that to hers for fear of messing something up.]]

New models this Christmas seem to be coming and we shall see. I like the Pixel, but way too steep a price.

I forgot to mention, that when she now is watching TV, she props up in her recliner with her "Ace" in her lap and deals with mail and such. Much easier to do with the Chromebook than with the tablet. The optical mouse will work anywhere.

[petrucci]

I had to travel unexpectedly and needed to be online for work. The Samsung chromebook fit my needs perfectly. It was inexpensive and secure. This being said, I would not want to read on it, as I much prefer e-ink screens. Maybe Google's pixel would be an exception due to its ultra high resolution screen, but if you can afford that, you may as well also buy a good e-reader.

Chromebooks do not need the net, but are much more useful with it. On the plane flight home, the wifi was inoperable. I was still able to get some work done, just not what I was planning on doing.

[LadyKate]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

To me, computers are worthless without the internet

Lol I agree I use the internet a lot while using my computer BUT in the event of a power outage I can still use my laptop (until the battery dies) without the internet.

Also there are those times when the internet is disrupted for an hour or so (happens once or twice a year lol) and I still can use my computers.

ARGH I was just going to say I can manage my calibre library but I can't add metadata, covers etc without internet lol ALTHOUGH I can search for duplicates

Hard to believe that the first six months or so I had a computer (apple II plus clone and XT clone using dos 1.1) I didn't have a modem and then for the next seven or eight years there still wasn't a world wide web lol.

[LadyKate]

Originally Posted by huari

fwiw I use readium to read offline epub on my Google Samsung ARM chromebook. Simple and it works. I either load up a usb flash full of books or if I have wifi use Google Drive.

Huari, could you point me to a quick faq or whatever on how to add books to readium?

I don't have a chromebook but a senior in the house with parkinsons (causing major shaking) has one and wants to read ebooks on it. I don't get the chromebooks myself preferring my laptop, desktop and android devices.

I emailed her an epub and she saved it but now can't locate it with readium. I'm at a loss for how to help her.

[cromag]

I've got an old Acer netbook as well, but I couldn't move to a Chromebook. Just the opposite -- I replaced the 160 GB hard drive in the netbook with a 320 GB drive. I also dumped Windows XP for Ubuntu. I do a lot of work on the netbook with the wifi turned off to get better battery life.

I have looked at Chromebooks for when my 4 year old netbook finally gives up, since netbooks seem to be a dying breed. The one saving grace, IMHO, is that it looks like you can install Linux on some (many?) Chromebooks, turning them back into computers.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by LadyKate

Huari, could you point me to a quick faq or whatever on how to add books to readium?

I don't have a chromebook but a senior in the house with parkinsons (causing major shaking) has one and wants to read ebooks on it. I don't get the chromebooks myself preferring my laptop, desktop and android devices.

I emailed her an epub and she saved it but now can't locate it with readium. I'm at a loss for how to help her.

Check that your friend can find the file that she saved using the Chromebook's file manager and that it still has an ePub extension. Some email programs or browsers change the extension. Then:

Press the Search key, then start Readium by clicking on its icon in the app tray.

Click on the top right icon, which looks like a + next to a book (if you hover over this a pop-up says "Add a new ePub").

Click the first of the two buttons labelled "Choose Files", the one next to "From Local File". This will open the standard Chromebook file manager and you can navigate to pick an ePub file that you previously downloaded either to the local drive on the Chromebook or to your online Google Drive folders.

The ePub will load into Readium, appearing on the bookshelf, and then open at the first page.

Graham

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by cromag

I have looked at Chromebooks for when my 4 year old netbook finally gives up, since netbooks seem to be a dying breed. The one saving grace, IMHO, is that it looks like you can install Linux on some (many?) Chromebooks, turning them back into computers.

Hear, hear. Planning on getting a Chromebook just to see if I like it and whether I can find a niche for it. Regardless, I plan on using it for dual-boot with Linux.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by cromag

I've got an old Acer netbook as well, but I couldn't move to a Chromebook. Just the opposite -- I replaced the 160 GB hard drive in the netbook with a 320 GB drive. I also dumped Windows XP for Ubuntu. I do a lot of work on the netbook with the wifi turned off to get better battery life.

I tried to do that on my Dell netbook, only to discover it was an SSD drive. It runs XP, but I plan to keep using it, now that I hooked a big monitor to it. I think I'll plug a hard drive back into it and maybe do my Calibre library there.

The Chromebook I have has 250gb hard drive, but I can't run Calibre on it, so I only use it to go on the web if someone else is using my desktop. And it won't run some sites (games) my kids like, which require MS Silverlight. So it sits there unused, a lot.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I tried to do that on my Dell netbook, only to discover it was an SSD drive. It runs XP, but I plan to keep using it, now that I hooked a big monitor to it. I think I'll plug a hard drive back into it and maybe do my Calibre library there.

The Chromebook I have has 250gb hard drive, but I can't run Calibre on it, so I only use it to go on the web if someone else is using my desktop. And it won't run some sites (games) my kids like, which require MS Silverlight. So it sits there unused, a lot.

Chrome OS isn't very book friendly. Lots of ebook/audiobook programs it doesn't support.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by cromag

I have looked at Chromebooks for when my 4 year old netbook finally gives up, since netbooks seem to be a dying breed. The one saving grace, IMHO, is that it looks like you can install Linux on some (many?) Chromebooks, turning them back into computers.

Indeed.
Note that since many Chromebooks now seem to have non-expandable memory, if you want a really useful Linux box, you probably want to make sure you get one with more than 2GB of RAM.