[GTALUG] 2 weeks on cell phone and chromebook... never again!

[William Park]

Where do I begin...  First, what's good:

    1. Calendar.  Since it's so tightly integrated with Google Calendar,
    adding/editing entry is so easy.  Of course, assuming that author of
    the webpage uses Google link.  Then, you click, select "Copy to
    William Park", then I'm on my Google Calendar, finally "Save".

    2. Just checking email.  I can check my Yahoo and Gmail account from
    cell phone and Chromebook.  It's simply as clicking icon, and you're
    automatically logged in, and then swipe up and down to see new
    emails.

Now, what's bad:

    1. Typing.
    
	Cell phone's 2.5" wide keyboard is just non-starter for me.
	That's even with 
	    - auto-completion, 
	    - letter swiping -- instead of typing each key, you move
	      your finger on the screen, from key to key without lifting
	      from the screen, and 
	    - voice recognition -- this was better than I expected.

	Chomebook's keyboard has 2.2mm key travel, so is better than
	most laptop actually.  But, you don't have full keyboard.  It
	took me long time to find out <Alt-Backspace> is <Delete>.
	Who's going memorize all these combinations,
	    <https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/183101?hl=en>

    2. Multitasking.

	On desktop, I can move here and there, forward and backward,
	terminal here and there, etc.  On Chromebook, it was difficult
	to move about.  Non-starter on cell phone, of course.
	
    3. Storage.

	No local storage.  Cell phone and Chromebook are not meant to be
	substitute for real computer.  They are designed for people who
	don't do real work on computer.

    4. Screen.

	LG Nexus 5X has 5.7" 1920x1080 screen, same as full desktop
	monitor.  But, because of small size and lack of "mouse", it's
	not really useable.  You spend too much time, zooming in/out.
	Because it's cell phone, I get automatically redirected to
	"mobile" site with shitty interface.

	Chromebook is a little better, 11.5" 1366x768.  It's ok for
	searching Google or Wiki, online shopping, and banking.

These are just expensive toys.
-- 
William


On Mon, Jul 18, 2016 at 11:24:22AM +0200, Evan Leibovitch wrote:
> Hi there,
> 
> I wouldn't mind hearing specifics, as to what was harder to do on the
> Chromebook than a PC...there are actually productivity tools I find easier
> on a phone these days than a PC (translation, news, and especially email).
> Was the productivity loss inherent in the OS and system design, or because
> of crappier hardware (Chromebooks tend to be sub-$300, I wouldn't expect
> their keyboards or displays to be as good as in a $1000 laptop).
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> On 18 July 2016 at 04:39, William Park via talk <talk at gtalug.org> wrote:
> 
> > I just spent 2 weeks living purely on cell phone (LG Nexus 5X) and
> > chromebook (HP Chromebook 11 G3).  Now, I'm back on real computer with
> > real keyboard/mouse.  What a difference in productivity!
> > --
> > William
> > ---
> > Talk Mailing List
> > talk at gtalug.org
> > https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
> >
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Evan Leibovitch
> Geneva, CH
> 
> Em: evan at telly dot org
> Sk: evanleibovitch
> Tw: el56