What's The Difference Between A Chromebook And A Laptop? Tia

[Tubbycoates]

What's the difference between a chromebook and a laptop? TIA

There's one in Argos for £129. Looks ideal for what I want to do with it.
Is there any reason not to buy it?

TIA

[fender62]

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/chromebook-vs-laptop/

[Buenchico]

Laptops use the Windows operating system. (Pedants might point out that they're capable of using any operating system, such as Linux, but all the laptops that you can buy in High Street stores come with Windows).

Chromebooks use the Chrome operating system which, like Android, is a Google product. They come with some apps pre-installed, which are listed here:
https://geekthis.net/post/chrome-os-default-apps/

If you want other apps then, just like with an Android device, you have to download them from the Google Play Store:
https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/chromebook/apps/
Many Android apps will run under the Chrome operating system, but not all of them.

Chromebooks are designed around the principle that users will, for most of the time, be working (and storing files) "in the cloud". So they need a decent internet connection to get the best from them. The need to work"in the cloud" comes about partly because of the very small amount of storage space available on a Chromebook. The idea is that you store all of your documents, photos, videos, etc on Google Drive, or similar.

Some people love their Chromebooks but they're not for me. I want my files to be stored locally on a laptop (even if they're backed up 'in the cloud' as well).

[TonyV]

Only my advice from experience latest windows versions are shXte try to get a version 7 installed instead much more freindly IMO

[Tubbycoates]

Thanks all for the info

[margarettom]

I don't think you can print directly from chromebooks using an ordinary printer but I'm sure some knowledgeable tech person will correct me if I'm wrong.

[Buenchico]

Thanks for that post, Margaret (or is it Tom?). That's an important point. You can't install Windows drivers on Chromebooks (and there aren't any dedicated drivers available for the Chrome operating system), so even printing has to be done 'via the cloud':
https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/how-to-set-up-google-print-on-your-chromebook

[Guilbert53]

>>>Laptops use the Windows operating system.

There are Apple laptops as well that run the Apple operating system !

[fiction-factory]

If you do get a Chromebook make sure you get one with a large starorage space. I made the mistake of buying a fairly basic one at a similar price from Tesco thinking 28GB would be sufficient for internet use and some small word docs/excel spreadsheets with a pendrive for back up.
But I soon realised that nearly 27GB was taken up with the operating system and some things I need like Adobe and Microsoft Office and everytime Windows or my printer tries to do an update the system crashes as there is insufficient space. I have had to disable important Windows updates. At least once a day I have to clear up my files and get rid of some partial updates, and every day I have to delete something I would prefer to have on there (eg Malwarebytes) in order to give a bit more room for manouvre and keep the crashes to once a day.
It was a false economy. In January I'll get something much bigger.