Chromed

I was going to write about "13 Reasons Why" but I changed my mind. Maybe next time. I have thoughts and questions. I need a nap and coffee before I tackle that topic.
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I am writing this on my new Chromebook. If that is not exciting, I don't know what is.

If you stumbled upon this blog because you were looking for a review on Chromebooks, I have good and bad news for you: this isn't an official review but it is an accidental review of sorts. I welcome you to the Addiverse and hope you'll stay to hear about the ridiculousness of which surrounds my life.

If you are a regular in the Addiverse but know nothing of what a Chromebook is, that's okay. You're used to my babbling. What's one more day of babble?

Baltimore Oriole update: I have yet to attract one single feathered friend of the Oriole time. I haven't given up but the wife is getting a little sick of my obsession with oranges and grape jelly.

...I was very busy over the past month researching Chromebooks. Not exactly earth-shattering, but it has sucked up a lot of my time and brain power. It's the IT guy's fault as we are changing the way we do business and he thought the Chromebook would be the way to go. As the project manager, it was mine to determine what would best suit my purpose. I thought having some form of technology which would be useful when I teach at the University would be a bonus. I wanted to wait until the agency purchased me a Chromebook, but you know me--I can't wait for anything.

In this case, that's not exactly true. I actually did take my time and research the bejesus out of this endeavor. I read countless reviews, both from technical sites and users. I studied up on the pros and cons of the various models. I went to Bestie Buy three times to look at the products. I was on Amazon every night, studying prices. I watched YouTube videos until my eyes were blurry. I took the IT guy's personal Chromebook home and tried it out. So, I can't say I was as spontaneous as usual.

It's almost depressing how much research I conducted. I'm going to ruin my reputation if I keep this up.

I ended up getting the Asus Chromebook 10.1" Flip. That way, I have a tablet and a notebook in one. The IT guy said Asus was the way to go. At first, I was mighty skeptical. But, after review and research, I learned that he knew what he was doing and I should have listened to him in the first place.

It's super small, which means it weighs very little--we're talking two measly pounds little. Since I lug this thing around everywhere I go, light weight is a huge plus. The battery life is ridiculous. We're talking 10 hours of use between charges. Who needs an outlet when you've got that much time on your hands? The little touch pad works handsomely. I have the option of using an external mouse. I already do everything on Google, so using a Chromebook is not a stretch. And, yes I can use it when teaching class or slogging my way through the work project.

That's the rub. If you need a "real" computer, this is not the way to go. There's very little storage room on the actual machine. It runs on Chrome OS, so start thinking about the cloud. If you are on the internet a lot and use Google Drive stuff, this is awesome. I think I'm breaking up with Microsoft and going with slides, docs and forms on Drive. We'll see.

Cords and short cuts have given me a run for the money, though. Not that you really want any details. Too bad, I'm going to give you an example about cord traumas, anyway. I have to use a micro HDMI doohickey but ordered a Mini. I have come to learn Micro and Mini are NOT the same. Finding a mini HDMI cord to hook up to a VGA has been challenging, more so because I don't exactly know what I'm doing. Ah, live and learn.

I could ask the IT guy but what fun would that be?

By the way, if anyone needs a Type A Mini HDMI to hook up to a VGA adapter, let me know. It's all yours for the taking.

For the record, I DID ask for help at Bestie Buy but they were no help. Seriously, Google lady: isn't it your job to know what cords go with Chrome products? I knew more than that saleslady. She should hang out with me and learn a thing or two. Or, maybe I should get myself a Google shirt and work the floor at Bestie Buy.

Short cuts leave me scratching my head. I have yet to learn any of them but need to get on it. This model doesn't have a delete button, so you can backspace but not delete, per se, without a shortcut. There is no home or end key and F buttons are surely a thing of the past.

My first attempt at using this diddy while teaching class last night went about as planned. I had the wrong cord, so I couldn't do everything I wanted... but, I was able to walk around the classroom with this little beauty in hand. I had my class notes in electronic version instead of on paper. I looked like I was in the 21st century, which was good, seeing as I was talking about aging. Who wants to look old when talking about aging?

Side note: I am pleased to report that the students don't think people are ever too old to wear jeans or get a tattoo. They said if you can rock a two-piece swim suit, you should go with it. No one should ever wear a Speedo, or so they tell me. They are all good with the 70-something year old Rolling Stones hopping and rocking around the stage, but Madonna should knock it off. I loved that they said no one ever has to dye their hair and that they embrace the gray hair thing. They did admit that guys can get away with gray hair a whole lot easier than women.

Back to technology. There is a chance that our agency won't go with Chromebooks. I considered that more than once before handing over the charge card. No matter. I decided this suited my purposes, work need or not. I need something portable at work, at school, in life--this will work just fine.

Besides, maybe I'll look younger using this piece of technology, gray hair be damned. Chromebook in one hand, iPhone in the other, tattoos proudly peeking out of my clothing.

As long as I'm not wearing a bikini while using this piece of technology, I'll be good to go. There is no way I can rock a bikini. I can barely rock shorts shorter than knee-length. I CAN rock a Chromebook with the best of them, but the bikini is a definite no.

(Respect your elders, young students or I'll wear a bikini to class next week. You won't even notice I have a new Chromebook. Your retinas will be scarred with the vision of me in a bikini. There is not enough therapy or money to fix that.)

So, do I recommend the purchase of a Chromebook? I'll have to get back to you. It's too early in the game to make a definitive answer. As of this moment, I give it two thumbs up. Ask me in a few months. That'll give me time to put this machine to the test and to go get another tattoo.

After all, I'm not too old for that.