I am looking to buy a computer - probably a laptop unless you convince me otherwise - in order to do independent work and projects outside of primary job. It is mainly for writing, excel, powerpoint, internet searches etc. - the very basics - and should not be fancy. It should be as 'simple as possible, but no simpler.' I have started learning some basic coding although not sure where it's taking me. I am not a computer person. What should I buy?
As an extension - what software do I need? It looks like many software-as-a-service leads to entrapment...?
Thanks.
Buying a computer - ERE style
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benrickert
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jacob
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Re: Buying a computer - ERE style
In my opinion "not a computer persons" who are otherwise comfortable with a smartphone (especially android) and spend most of their computer time in a browser anyway should get a chromebook. The reason is that there's not much to learn and not much (anything) that can break. Once the hardware dies, you simply buy a new one and everything (the entire setup) is transferred back from the cloud. All the chromebook does is to function as a terminal. This also means that you could have two, like one at work and one at home and instantly switch between them as if nothing changed. It does require an almost constant internet connection though (you can work offline, e.g. edit documents, but it's not very efficient). A chromebook is also cheaper than similar hardware for the other OSs. Ours (Lenovo Ideapad) cost $105.
You will likely be using google docs, google sheets, google slides, google finance, gmail, and the chrome browser, which will cost you nothing. Likewise, you'll be restricted to what software (apps) you can find in the google play store. There are code editors there too.
If you have an existing computer, you can try it for free: https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/how ... -for-free/ This may require some light "computer person"-skills though. It can be run off the USB stick w/o installing it.
IOW, you could get an old laptop and just install chromeos on that. Or you could buy a new dedicated chromebook for a few hundred USD---doesn't really matter much which one. The difference between chromebooks and regular e.g. windows or apple laptops is that the chromebooks don't have superfluous hardware like e.g. large harddrives, which they don't need anyway. Hence they are cheaper.
Just to clear up any potential confusion, we're talking about ChromeOS (the operating system), not chrome the browser. The chrome browser is the default in chromeOS, but you can of course also run firefox.
Caveat: If you need to exchange files with someone else (school, work, ...) e.g. you need "Excel" rather than just wanting the ability to make spreadsheets, I'd recommend sticking with whatever OS "they" are using, in this case windows.
Add: I should note that this approach will fully trap you in the google eco-system. It seems that the biggest risk here is running out of storage space and having to pay for it. Everybody gets 15Gb for free, which is practically infinite, when it comes to docs, spreadsheets, etc.. but not very much if you use it for video. You could avoid this by downloading your stuff to a USB stick---in this case make sure that your chromebook has an USB port.
You will likely be using google docs, google sheets, google slides, google finance, gmail, and the chrome browser, which will cost you nothing. Likewise, you'll be restricted to what software (apps) you can find in the google play store. There are code editors there too.
If you have an existing computer, you can try it for free: https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/how ... -for-free/ This may require some light "computer person"-skills though. It can be run off the USB stick w/o installing it.
IOW, you could get an old laptop and just install chromeos on that. Or you could buy a new dedicated chromebook for a few hundred USD---doesn't really matter much which one. The difference between chromebooks and regular e.g. windows or apple laptops is that the chromebooks don't have superfluous hardware like e.g. large harddrives, which they don't need anyway. Hence they are cheaper.
Just to clear up any potential confusion, we're talking about ChromeOS (the operating system), not chrome the browser. The chrome browser is the default in chromeOS, but you can of course also run firefox.
Caveat: If you need to exchange files with someone else (school, work, ...) e.g. you need "Excel" rather than just wanting the ability to make spreadsheets, I'd recommend sticking with whatever OS "they" are using, in this case windows.
Add: I should note that this approach will fully trap you in the google eco-system. It seems that the biggest risk here is running out of storage space and having to pay for it. Everybody gets 15Gb for free, which is practically infinite, when it comes to docs, spreadsheets, etc.. but not very much if you use it for video. You could avoid this by downloading your stuff to a USB stick---in this case make sure that your chromebook has an USB port.
Re: Buying a computer - ERE style
What type of phone are you using?
What is it you are hoping to do, that your phone cannot?
What if the phone was docked to a monitor, keyboard and mouse?
How often do you have the need?
Could you use computer time at the library, or check one out, to solve that?
I agree with Jacob that maintaining your own computer is an annoyance. Chromebook is a pretty good solution. It's a small learning curve coming from another OS.
As a computer guy, I'm running Ubuntu Linux on a refurbished PC from microcenter. Libre Office instead of word , Excel, etc. It started life with a Windows 11 license and could be reverted if needed. There's a learning curve.
IMO it's eventually to be replaced by doing everything from our phone, using cloud apps from the big tech companies. Chrome OS will converge with android as that happens.
What is it you are hoping to do, that your phone cannot?
What if the phone was docked to a monitor, keyboard and mouse?
How often do you have the need?
Could you use computer time at the library, or check one out, to solve that?
I agree with Jacob that maintaining your own computer is an annoyance. Chromebook is a pretty good solution. It's a small learning curve coming from another OS.
As a computer guy, I'm running Ubuntu Linux on a refurbished PC from microcenter. Libre Office instead of word , Excel, etc. It started life with a Windows 11 license and could be reverted if needed. There's a learning curve.
IMO it's eventually to be replaced by doing everything from our phone, using cloud apps from the big tech companies. Chrome OS will converge with android as that happens.
Re: Buying a computer - ERE style
+1 Plug for LibreOffice's capabilities. I regularly interface/collaborate on complex spreadsheets with Excel users without too many problems. I also wrote and formatted for publishing (print and ebook) a book using LibeOffice Writer.
Re: Buying a computer - ERE style
When my 15 year old laptop finally kicked the bucket, I got a Pre-Owned Dell Optiplex 9010 off Amazon for ~$60. Came with Microsoft Windows 10 Pro. I already had a monitor. Its about as cheap as you can get if the goal is to simply browse the internet and use Microsoft Office Suite of Tools. This PC could not handle a n64 emulator but had no problem with SNES. Only issue is some of the USB ports don't work.