With the growing popularity of Chromebooks, a lot of people are thinking about jumping ship from laptops to these cheaper devices.
While Chromebooks are cheap, they do come with some caveats.
If you’re a hardcore laptop user, then you should weigh the pros and cons of switching before you make the switch.
If you’re wondering if you should go with laptops or Chromebooks, then here is our handy guide that will help you choose the best one that suits your needs.
Which Operating System Do You Use?
If you’re tied into the Windows or the Mac ecosystem, then making the switch to a Chromebook may not be as simple as you’d have thought.
It all depends on the applications you use. If you’re using mostly office apps and apps that can be used in browsers, then you should be fine.
But if need specialized apps that have to be installed locally, then ChromeOS may not be your friend.
To reiterate, for someone who uses office apps, the switch will be seamless but for someone who uses a specialized application like Matlab, a laptop is a better solution.
Power and Performance
Chromebooks are not very powerful and for the right reasons.
The ChromeOS does not require a lot of power and the applications that run on top of ChromeOS also work the same way.
If running heavy applications is a part of your daily routine, then sticking with a laptop is a smart choice. Though Chromebooks can handle most browsers and android apps well, it may not be the smoothest experience there is.
Most Chromebooks come with Intel Pentium or Intel Celeron processors and they are not that powerful, to be honest.
If you need a bit of power, then you should go for Chromebooks with an i3 or i5 processor but that is going to cost you some dollar bills.
Battery Life
Battery life is one aspect where the Chromebooks outshine laptops.
Almost all the Chromebooks come with excellent battery life but the same can’t be said for laptops.
If you have a powerful laptop then the chances of getting all-day battery life are not very good.
But in the case of Chromebooks, even powerful ones last an entire day without any issues.
So if battery life is very important for your everyday activity, then you should probably get a Chromebook.
Do You Game?
Gaming is not one of Chromebook’s strong points.
Most Chromebooks, at least the cheaper models, come only with an integrated graphics card and they are good only for everyday graphics performance.
Gaming is not going to be a great experience in Chromebooks as you are limited to browser games and android titles at best.
If you love playing MMORPGs or AAA titles, then you need a laptop’s power and graphics performance which you’re clearly not going to get from Chromebooks.
Stay with laptops if gaming is important to you.
Security
Chromebooks win this one easily.
The attack surface with Chromebooks is a lot smaller when you compare it with Windows laptops and that alone can save you from a lot of attacks.
Windows is a more complicated operating system when compared with ChromeOS and it gives a lot more opportunities for hackers to attack.
Chromebooks were developed with security as one of its major priorities. If you’re worried about malware attacks on ChromeOS, you can be assured that Chromebook has got it covered.
When it comes to Windows machines, you need to have a solid antivirus program in place and you have to keep it updated to get the best protection for your device.
There is no need to do anything like that for Chromebooks. Google has protection built into ChromeOS and there is no need for any third-party anti-virus applications.
Which Device Gives You More Apps?
With more than 2.9 million apps in the Google Play store, you can say that the Chromebook does supports a lot of apps.
But that doesn’t mean that you can run all the Android applications on your Chromebook. If your device has physical limitations like lack of GPS or the lack of a rear camera, then apps that make use of those features will not work on your Chromebook.
When it comes to Windows and Mac OS, you have a lot more options and aren’t limited by any means.
Since you can store applications locally on your laptops, you can even run complex apps without any issues. That’s not possible on a Chromebook.
One of the main advantages of Chromebooks is that you don’t get pre-installed applications that you’re going to delete somehow. In laptops, you will have specialized applications to clear temp files and other junk. In ChromeOS, you don’t need any application of that sort.
More Support
When it comes to support, your brand new laptop will be in good hands only till your manufacturer or Windows supports it.
Any good laptop will hold its fort for about three years which is not that bad.
The Chromebook’s longetivity depends on its makers as well. In this case, Google gives you a solid support period till which the device will be updated and you don’t have to worry about getting the latest software on your Chromebook.
This section is more of a tie as there are more factors involved and we can’t give you a simple answer.
Bottomline
Whether you want a laptop or Chromebook, it is completely your choice. If you have gone through the points we talked about above in this post, you should be able to decide by now.
Either way, you can’t go wrong. Both devices have their pros and cons and will help you reach your goal without any issues.
Have we missed anything?
Do let us know in the comments below. We’d also love to hear your take on this topic.
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