Chapter 20

Ten Hardware Features to Consider When Buying a Chromebook

IN THIS CHAPTER

Bullet Finding out about screen size, resolution, and how keyboards relate

Bullet Understanding RAM, storage, and why they matter

Bullet Knowing what you need in a battery

Bullet Using HDMI ports, USB ports, and external storage

If you haven’t purchased a Chromebook yet and want to, the tips in this chapter makes you a better and smarter consumer. If you already own a Chromebook, this chapter helps you better understand the hardware in your Chromebook and how it contributes to your Chromebook experience. I point out the most important features to most users so that you can choose wisely and get the best Chromebook for your money.

If you’re a serious, detail-oriented shopper, write down the features that are most important (“have to haves”), and those that are less important (“nice to haves”). Then, as you read this book, you should have a good idea of what activities you expect to use your Chromebook for, which should make the more critical features evident to you.

If you live in a city or town with one or more stores that sell computers, I recommend that you shop for Chromebooks in person so that you can become familiar with the feel of Chromebooks, particularly with the size of the screen and keyboard. In this chapter, I tell you about important features that are sure to make a difference in the usefulness and enjoyment of your Chromebook.

Screen

When it comes to Chromebook specifications, it’s all about the screen. Through the screen, you see the world on your Chromebook, whether you’re working or running your business, viewing vacation pictures, chatting with friends over video, checking your banking transactions online, or watching cat videos.

Here are the four primary aspects of the screen that are important to understand:

  • Size: Measured diagonally from one upper corner to the opposite lower corner, the size of the screen directly translates into your viewing experience. Generally, the larger, the better — to a point. A larger screen makes for a larger Chromebook. I prefer nothing smaller than 13 inches, but your needs may be different.
  • Resolution: This specification is all about the level of detail you want to see on the screen. You want at least HD quality, which requires a resolution of 1920 x 1080, meaning 1,920 pixels (dots) in width and 1,080 pixels (dots) in height. This pixel count is the resolution of a standard movie you view on DVD, Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime. Bigger numbers mean that images will be even more detailed.
  • Touchscreen:. Many Chromebooks are equipped with a touchscreen. The touchscreen makes your Chromebook’s screen perform like a tablet or smartphone: You can touch it to launch apps, scroll in windows, draw, and even type. Some touchscreen Chromebooks have an additional feature, described in the next point in this list.
  • Convertible: Some touchscreen Chromebooks are convertible, which means that the screen pivots around to the back, thereby turning your Chromebook laptop into a tablet computer. My Lenovo C330 Chromebook does this, and it’s like having two computers in one: You have a laptop when you want it, and you have a tablet when you want it. It gives you the best of both worlds.

One crucial point about screen size: Chromebooks with screens that are smaller than 13 inches have a keyboard that may seem small and crowded. If you type a lot, you may be dissatisfied with an 11 -inch Chromebook; the keyboard may seem awfully cramped. You could, however, get an external keyboard, but for the money you would spend on that, you could also just get a Chromebook with a larger screen — 13 or even 15 inches.

Processor

Also known as the CPU, the processor is the brain of every computer. Here are the two main factors to know about the CPU:

  • Processor speed, measured in gigahertz (GHz): This rating indicates how fast your processor can perform calculations. The higher the number, the faster the calculations.
  • Number of cores: Each core can perform one operation at a time. Multiple cores means that multiple processes can happen simultaneously. Hence, having more cores equals a faster processor.

These two components are key drivers in overall processor performance, and more, in this case, is better.

The faster the processor and the more cores it has, the more expensive the processor, and the more electricity it consumes, which shortens battery life. Chromebooks don’t need much power, so the processor doesn’t need to be over-the-top fast!

Memory

Another critical factor in the performance of a Chromebook (and any other computer) is the quantity of memory present. Memory is high-speed, short-term storage, which is often referred to as RAM. When you open a program, the program is loaded into memory so that it can be run. Naturally, the more memory you have, the more browser tabs you can open and the more apps you can run simultaneously. Chromebooks, however, don’t load many programs into memory. Therefore, a large amount of memory is not necessary. The amount of memory in a computer is measured in gigabytes (GB), and your Chromebook should have anywhere from 4GB to 16GB. Four gigabytes (4G) will be adequate for the average user. Avoid Chromebooks with 2G of RAM.

Storage Capacity

Formerly called the hard drive, a computer’s ability to store data is often just called its storage capacity.

Look for at least 32GB of storage. If you plan to store a lot of photos and videos directly on your Chromebook, look for 64GB or more. This will seem tiny in comparison with Windows and Macs whose storage capacity ranges from 250GB to 1,000 GB and even more! But remember, a big part of the Chromebook experience is the fact that the Chrome OS itself is very small, and most of your content is stored online. (See Chapter 7 for the skinny on using online content on Google Drive.)

Remember Be sure to find out whether your Chromebook’s storage is an SSD (solid-state drive; it has no moving parts) or an HDD (hard disk drive; it has a spinning drive). Most newer laptops come with an SSD, which is a whopping 1,000 times faster than an HDD, and it lasts longer, too. A computer with an HDD is far slower in almost every respect and should be avoided.

Webcam

Most Chromebooks come with webcams. If you are interested in video chats with coworkers, friends, or family, a webcam built into your Chromebook is a must; otherwise, you need to buy one and plug it into a USB port.

If high video quality is important to you (in the case of a webcam, this means the image quality of you that people view on their computers), look for a webcam that is at least HD (1920p) quality. Most, though, are lower — 720p, for instance — and adequate for most purposes.

Internet Connection

To be fully useful, Chromebooks require an Internet connection. The connection can come in three forms:

  • A built-in Wi-Fi to connect to wireless networks. All Chromebooks have this.
  • A hardwired connection to an Ethernet cable which, for virtually all Chromebooks, requires an adaptor that typically plugs into a USB port.
  • Cellular options that you use to activate a wireless Internet data plan with a national provider such as Verizon or AT&T. Some Chromebook models come with these options.

If you expect to frequently visit locations that have no accessible Wi-Fi, and you don’t have a mobile hotspot or a phone that can produce a mobile hotspot, you should consider purchasing a Chromebook with the cellular option built in.

Many Chromebooks are listed as having “faster Wi-Fi,” or Wi-Fi with the latest high-speed standards such as 801.11ac. For the most part, this claim will mean nothing if most of your Chromebook work involves visiting websites. That’s because if you have a 15 Mbps Internet connection, web pages will load no faster than that no matter how your Wi-Fi is — even if it’s just as fast or 50 times faster. Ultra-fast Wi-Fi matters only if you are doing advanced work such as connecting wirelessly to a storage server and transferring large amounts of data.

Battery

Battery life, which is usually a big deal with portable devices like laptop computers, smartphones, and hoverboards, is an essential feature of the Chromebook. If you compare the specifications of different devices, you find that the battery life of more powerful devices is typically shorter. Although this situation is also the case with the Chromebook, a Chromebook tends to have a longer battery life because its operating system is streamlined and doesn’t run much software or require ultra-powerful hardware.

If battery life is important to you, the only battery-centric specification that matters is the number of hours of battery life you can expect to get. However, as with fuel economy in an automobile, your mileage may vary. On a laptop, you can greatly influence battery life by adjusting the brightness of the screen, and by turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you’re not using them.

SD Card Slot

An SD card is a tiny, inexpensive storage device that you typically find in digital cameras, security cameras, and dashcams. Some Chromebooks come with an SD card slot, which enables you to easily view content from these devices. SD cards are also handy for storing and transferring photos and videos, among other file types, between computers. Having the ability to add external storage with a collection of SD cards quickly is valuable, especially if you have an extensive library of photos, videos, movies, or other files that you want to access quickly.

HDMI Port

HDMI, which stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface in case you’re curious, is a type of interface primarily used for high-definition video and audio. If you want to connect your Chromebook to a high-definition external monitor or a flat-screen TV, you should make sure that your Chromebook comes with an HDMI port.

Tip HDMI ports enable you to use your television as an external monitor. Connecting your Chromebook to your TV via HDMI turns your Chromebook into a portable media center!

USB Ports (Including USB-C)

USB is the standard for attaching all kinds of devices to laptops and desktop computers. It has also become the standard for digitally powering and charging electronic devices. The question you need to ask yourself when selecting a Chromebook is not whether it has a USB port, but how many USB ports it has. If you use a USB mouse and need another port for a USB keyboard or external storage device, you should ensure that your Chromebook has more than one USB port. (Many people opt for a wireless mouse and keyboard to save their USB ports for other uses, such as external hard drives.)

You want to be sure that your Chromebook is USB 3.0 instead of the older USB 2.0. If you connect an external hard drive to your Chromebook to copy data into or from your Chromebook regularly, you immediately see the difference between the newer and older USB: Data transfers about ten times faster with USB 3.0 than with USB 2.0.

USB-C is becoming a standard on laptop computers, including Chromebooks. My Lenovo Chromebook has a single USB-C port used for charging the Chromebook’s battery, but it can be used to connect external devices using a USB-C cable or connector. If you have any USB-C–connected devices that you want to use with your Chromebook, you may want to look for a Chromebook that has at least two USB-C ports.