The Adventure Continues =]

So.. I have decided to continue my "Impressions from the Chromebook" Blog.. I have been using the Chromebook for 2 weeks now, and I start building an opinion about this device.

Well, during the latest week, I have mainly used the Chromebook to study for my exams.. Mostly, the Chromebook worked perfectly, though some word docs that I my lecture wrote were really messed up when I tried to open them directly through the Google Docs app, so I had to find an online "Docx to PDF converter"... This wasn't that difficult. And after the conversion, everything worked pretty well.. More difficult to open  were  PowerPoint presentations... Which I had really hard to read via the Google Drive application... But after awhile I found a way to open them in a better way...But I guess that's something the Drive will have to improve on.

When at home, I tried plugging my Chromebook to a monitor, external keyboard and mouse... The Keyboard and mouse worked pretty well, but sadly, each monitor I plugged the Chromebook to, proved to had different problem... On my old PC monitor (Connected via DVI plug on the monitor and HDMI port on the Chromebook) the resolution didn't work well for the Chromebook so the monitor was all squished..Nothing you can't work with, but still not as comfortable as you'd expect.. When I tried to plug it to my Sony HD TV via a standard HDMI port, the TV showed nothing... When I tried to plug it on a different TV (Also via an HDMI port) it worked quite well, but still had few resolution problems... One would expect from a Chromebook (which sells itself as a simple netbook) to Identify the resolution of the monitor it connects to and change the resolution accordingly.. But I do believe this will change in the future... After all, they only added the ability to edit resolution on the latest updated..So you can only expect a great future there :)

The battery is great! Funny thing that happen, is that while I was studying with couple of friends, I noticed that one of my friends had an Ipad with her, and she kept complaining that she is unable to open anything on her Ipad (any kind of docs, no access to files at all, and the need for constant internet connection in order to read the files I sent her via the mail), and that she can't really convert anything (Doc to PDF) Like I did.. So eventually she turned to use my Chromebook few times herself... I don't know why, but it gave me some sort of satisfaction

(sorry for the lack of consistency..I am going through the last couple of weeks in my had as I am writing this... I am not fond of editing after writing...This way it feels more authentic, hope you'll guys forgive me)

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Posting Continuation (August 11th, 2013):

So that's what happens when you stop a post in the middle and say to yourself "Meh, I'll continue later"

So it's been awhile since I got my Chromebook, and slowly (yet very steadily) the Chromebook took it's place in my life as my main working computer. I have to admit, that I do need to use my windows PC from time to time (Main usage are Torrent Downloading and actual printing..But even then I print from Google chrome.. For some reason - Guess due to my printer's age - The Chromebook doesn't like my printer very much in a way that it just doesn't recognize it). I did come upon several issues during my usage but I do believe that with time most of them will be fixed, I was so glad to see that after the latest update I could open MKV files without any problems.. We don't have Netflix in Israel so I don't have many options for watching videos Online so I have to watch stuff from my HDD (for some reason Amazon UK still don't have US Amazon ability for watching movies online)

I find that my Chrombook works well with my Nexus 7 (Though not via bluetooth/USB port connection), I am a student, and most of my courses are of math origin.. It's pretty hard to right formulas and similar things correctly and fast on the Chromebook (Google Math..Anybody? :P) So I had to find a good solution..So I am using my Nexus 7 as a Notebook (with a pen) and sync it automatically as a PDF to my Drive which works amazing!

I also found that watching movies and short videos on the Chromebook is much funner than on the Nexus 7, bigger screen, better speakers just works well.

I can't say that the Chromebook is not flawed, the bugs I do encounter, still needs fixing and I can't find any good information about them mainly due to the fact that the problem's origin is in the virgin OS and not in something that I am doing wrong (Problems like language input options, Resolution options when connected to external monitor and better offline support to more applications)

I was able to find some nice MMORPG (YES! and not RuneScape! Nor Unity/Java based ones)

and also started learning different coding languages besides C++ via the Chromebook (via code academy)

Is the Chromebook taking the place of my main PC? Absolutely yes! can I throw away my PC and kiss windows goodbye? Unfortunately, no. But I said it once, and I'll say it again, in my opinion, the future of the Chromebook is bright! And like with my life, I expect the Chromebooks to sneak into all our lives at some point.. As long as Google will keep it's attention on the users and won't neglect our ideas.

My New Toy

So, I didn't have the chance to write..At all, so much has change since the last time I wrote here that even though all I've seen is just one post, it's still really long ago.

Few things (unrelated)
1. I got married
2. I had to give my 1001PX to my brother because he needed a laptop for work on the road and didn't have the money to buy one for his own (ME TO THE RESCUE!!!)
3. I got myself a chromebook.. Yes! a Samsung Chromebook!!!

So that's what I am changing the main blog cause.. My Adventures with the Chromebook... I know many people haven't had the chance to work with a Chromebook, and even more are afraid of it.. Because it's new, it's different and - to tell the truth - it's NOT for everyone (unlike what is written on the Chromebook's pretty box :P), the OS is still at it's baby steps, but like a very smart baby, it shows promise..

So, before I got myself this Chromebook, I firstly asked myself "What do I need a netbook for, what am I going to do with a laptop or with any machine I'll buy? And how much am I going to spend on my needs?"Amazingly, the answer didn't come easily! I love playing games, but since I am a student, probably a gaming machine isn't the best option for me..Nor for my future (Financially and  professionally).. So buying an awesome gaming rig was not an option.. Next, I needed a netbook which I will be able to surf easily, will work fast, will be able to write and open docs,mails, excel...Office in short...So Mac (also due to financial reasons) wasn't an option for me...

To tell the truth.. I didn't know much about the chromebook nor the ChromeOS, but I came across it (Amazingly) At the Google+ official Chromebook community page..Then I began googlig it online...And the more I learned about it, the more interested I became..

Samsung Chromebook after first Sign in

I reconsidered my options...Buying a fully functional netbook would cost me quite a lot (relatively) and for my needs it would be a waste of money... I need online access, and I need long lasting battery and quick boot (The quick boot wasn't a "must" but now that I have it, it's soooo nice :P), and stability.. And of course the first thing that caught my attention was the Chromebook price...Hey, it's a full netbook for just 250$ (I think it's 80$ more for the Verizon 3G version).. So, after long consideration...And a lot of learning about it from people who own a Chromebook and the people who hate Chromebooks, I actually decided to buy myself one... And I have to say, I am very pleased, though it's not all 100% perfect.

I will keep you guys posted (for those of you who read) about my first week with the Chromebook.. It's definitely something I need getting used to, and it's a big change, specially since all my life I only been using Microsoft products (Windows, Office, etc) And only been using android devices for the last 4 years (But I am a full Google user...Gmail, contacts, Google Calendar..I use it all, another thing that attracted my to the Chromebook, but I'll get to that later)

So, that's all for now guys,
wish me luck on my new road :)