anyone else using one now and have an opinion ?
I have my second one now and like it just as well. Now and then I have to use windows somewhere and can’t believe how slow it is.
I used one for a year, just ended 6 weeks ago, while I was working on a project where the email and all the documents were Google based. It worked fine, but the small form factor made it a bit slow to touch type with my big fat fingers. Also I found it annoying that the one I had didn’t have a “Delete” button, you had to move the cursor behind the character(s) you wanted to delete, and then Backspace. Or highlight and backspace them all at one go. I don’t know if all Chromebooks have that configuration. The small screen was another relatively minor annoyance. But it was a lot lighter and easier to carry around than any laptop I would have been happy with. So it was a tradeoff, but worth the $200 I paid for it. I didn’t need it or want it after the project was finished, so I gave it away to a worthy cause.
Our family has three Chromebooks and one Chrome box. The Chrome box is hooked to a 55" tv, with a full size wireless keyboard and mouse. I have Windows machines at the office for any programs that need running, but for general internet surfing stuff at home, the chromebooks and box are great.
I have an older Chromebook (purchased in 2012). I recently learned that Google considers Chromebooks older than five years to be obsolete, and will not guarantee updates beyond the model’s “end of life” date (the official list of models and expiration dates is here).
I liked my Chromebook, and it worked amazingly well up until a couple of months ago. Recently, however, it’s become a huge PITA to use; I can hardly go five minutes without a freeze or a spontaneous shutdown/restart. My ten-year-old Dell laptop, by contrast, still works fine (although I had to replace the hard drive a couple of years ago). I had been planning to get one of the larger Chromebooks when my Dell died, but I’m rethinking that now. Arguably, five years of use for the money I paid wasn’t a bad deal, but I didn’t expect it to go downhill quite this abruptly.
Overheating often causes those problems. And overheating is often caused by dust buildup. Try canned air to blow it out of any vent holes.