I will eventually get to the point
I love my Chromebooks. I have extensive experience of the Samsung 500 series and I still hold a candle up for them. I know they are old now but my school has a set and they are robust, light enough for any student to safely carry, last the whole school day, are on and ready to use in 9 seconds and the students love them - no! They adore them.
There are many students in my school who are more engaged simply because a teacher has taken the trouble to plonk a piece of hardware in front of them. There is something about the computer interface that engages students. That is not to say that other interactions are not vitally important just that we need not to dismiss interactions with computers as somehow less valuable because for some students they really connect with the learning when the compute is the delivery method.
I also use the 303 for training. I don't even bring the chargers out of the car now because I am so confident that the technology will carry me through the day. They are sleeker than the 500 series but the quality and reliability is still there,
I now have access to an Acer C720. The battery life on this one is fantastic as well. It has a more modern feel than the 500 series and even the 300 series Samsung. There are some new Samsung products just about to launch (so I hear ) so things may change.
The Point!
Despite all of this, I now want to talk about the main purpose of this blog post. my Chromebox. It was given to me four months ago and since then my technician has been using it at school to explore virtual desktops for the staff at my school. There are some who we think will not relinquish their dependence on locally installed products very quickly and there are also certain things I still like using on our network (the suit of serif products are my particular favourites) so if we are to move to a more cloud based infrastructure, we will need a VDI.
So when the Chromebox was returned to me, I thought it time to retire my old PC from my desktop and replace it with this Chromebox.
Set Up.
Just Don't fret!. This is on my home network so there are fewer concerns about filters and so on but it was up and ready to go in about 5 minutes. It would have been sooner had I not forgotten to bring my mouse and keyboard down from upstairs. I sensibly got a reasonably large screen - not giant TV but large enough for two windows to sit side by side.
Use
If you are used to working on the cloud, then this will be so familiar you will be up and working just as quickly as I was.
The device is small and neat and simple. "On" button and a few leads.
So, if you are wondering a replacement for your desktop PC, ask yourself "How much of my time on my computer am I on the web. I think if the answer is most of it, then a Chromebox might be the better and cheaper solution.
There are many students in my school who are more engaged simply because a teacher has taken the trouble to plonk a piece of hardware in front of them. There is something about the computer interface that engages students. That is not to say that other interactions are not vitally important just that we need not to dismiss interactions with computers as somehow less valuable because for some students they really connect with the learning when the compute is the delivery method.
I also use the 303 for training. I don't even bring the chargers out of the car now because I am so confident that the technology will carry me through the day. They are sleeker than the 500 series but the quality and reliability is still there,
I now have access to an Acer C720. The battery life on this one is fantastic as well. It has a more modern feel than the 500 series and even the 300 series Samsung. There are some new Samsung products just about to launch (so I hear ) so things may change.
The Point!
Despite all of this, I now want to talk about the main purpose of this blog post. my Chromebox. It was given to me four months ago and since then my technician has been using it at school to explore virtual desktops for the staff at my school. There are some who we think will not relinquish their dependence on locally installed products very quickly and there are also certain things I still like using on our network (the suit of serif products are my particular favourites) so if we are to move to a more cloud based infrastructure, we will need a VDI.
So when the Chromebox was returned to me, I thought it time to retire my old PC from my desktop and replace it with this Chromebox.
Set Up.
Just Don't fret!. This is on my home network so there are fewer concerns about filters and so on but it was up and ready to go in about 5 minutes. It would have been sooner had I not forgotten to bring my mouse and keyboard down from upstairs. I sensibly got a reasonably large screen - not giant TV but large enough for two windows to sit side by side.
Use
If you are used to working on the cloud, then this will be so familiar you will be up and working just as quickly as I was.
The device is small and neat and simple. "On" button and a few leads.
So, if you are wondering a replacement for your desktop PC, ask yourself "How much of my time on my computer am I on the web. I think if the answer is most of it, then a Chromebox might be the better and cheaper solution.
Agree 100% Paul - I'm waiting for the new one (I think it's an Asus?) - as an organisation we already use Citrix heavily so it would be a no-brainer for me at home to have that for when I do need full Windows (although we-office on 365 is great) - but we also have a rather battered and screenless MacBook in the office which I can now use from my Chromebook using Chrome Remote Desktop - and it's surprisingly good for a free home/personal solution.
ReplyDeleteAlso when you bring all your showbiz mates home after a big night out singing "King and I" songs - well the Chromebox is probably a better shared area device for them to login and check their blogs and whatnot :)