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Originally Posted by Sregener
Yes, I believe you have. I fix computers every day for a living. More than half of my work is cleaning viruses off personal computers. With very rare exception, they're running anti-virus software, often paid at $50/year or more. Yet those programs failed to protect them.
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With good anti-virus software that has passed independent testing and a well configured firewall, I don't think the danger is quite as bad as you imply. I've been in IT for over 20yrs and am content with the commercial solutions for Windows (and a bit of common sense always goes a long way). There's no 100% safe way to protect against a virus, I understand that. Is Chromebook not susceptible to web based or other malware?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sregener
I also see the difference in performance between a bottom-end laptop and one with decent hardware. It's not just boot time - it's task time. Switching between windows, opening up applications... it all takes longer (sometimes frustratingly so) on a low-end machine.
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Not necessarily, it depends what you're using it for surely? Web browsing, document creation, basic graphics editing, music, movies, occasional casual gaming and that sort of thing is what I had in mind. I still occasionally use an old Acer Aspire netbook with a Celeron processor and it copes fine with things like that for the most part. As a contrast, I've read one or two reviews from end users who level this exact criticism at the Chromebooks; laggy performance and delays in tasks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sregener
If you hate/distrust Google, then a Chromebook is not for you. I personally don't have a problem with them, but I know people who do.
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It's not that I hate them, I use their services daily. But, I'm trying to get my head around what I'm letting myself in for by using their online apps and expecting privacy. Let's say I'm writing a private and personal document. If I use a Google owned, web based word processor and save it to their cloud solution, is that data really private compared to writing it offline and encrypting it before uploading to the cloud? That's why I mentioned it. Let me reframe the question...does Chromebook have an offline method of creating, saving and protecting documents via any kind of encryption? With Windows, I can write it offline using some flavour of word processor, save with a password and then encrypt the whole document before backing it up to the cloud. If this isn't possible with a Chromebook, it would probably be a dealbreaker for me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sregener
Your TCO with a Chromebook is going to be much lower than a Windows laptop. Initial price is only one factor.
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What are the others? I guess the hardware will use less electricity having no cooling fans or hard drives, but I'm not aware of what other costs there will be with a laptop that a Chromebook doesn't incur. This could be a factor for me if the cost is significant enough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sregener
90% of the people who walk into my store don't do much more than use a web browser. But they're spending hundreds of dollars on maintenance and repairs to keep their systems running the way it should.
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Sorry, I should have said that I work in IT and am happy to do my own repairs and maintenance
