chromebooks

Mike is looking for a good, mid-range Chromebook. Leo recommends ACER. He can get a decent Chromebook for around $300-500. Leo's favorite is the Chromebook Spin. $269 on Amazon. 

Mike's old Macbook Pro is having wireless mouse issues. It's getting a bit jiggy.  Leo says that new batteries in the mouse may help. But the mouse may just be worn out. They do wear with use. Replacing a wired mouse can also eliminate interference as an issue. Leo prefers a wired mouse. If the issue disappears, then he will know.

Jeff has a Chromebook that has reached "end of life." What? Leo says you can still use it, but they won't be supporting them with updates anymore. But it's still secure for use. If it's that old, however, it may be time to upgrade it. The latest round of ChromeOS devices support Android apps and are much more powerful. And the price ranges are very affordable. 

Mary's laptop technician put in an ad blocker with her browser, and now she's being bothered to turn it off every time she visits Yahoo. Leo says a lot of websites now are seeking to get her to stop using the blocker in order to get paid by ads. So they want her to unblock them in order to see their ads. Chances are, that the browser has an extension. There should be a way to "white list" the yahoo page so that popup will stop occurring.

Phillip wants to know if ExpressVPN will work on a Chromebook. Leo says he can set it up for a Chromebook, there's a ChromeOS app here. Customers will almost always want to pay for a VPN service to ensure that they aren't selling activity to pay the bills. Also, read their privacy policy. Leo's checked out ExpressVPN and they are legit.

One can also "roll their own" VPN through a router, but that doesn't give the benefit of being geographically anonymous. 

Elizabeth has an old Dell Inspiron and her hard drive is all full now so she can't run it. Leo says it's not really worth upgrading the machine. It would be cheaper to pick up a Chromebook for about $400. Leo recommends the Acer Spin. The Spin 11 is $330 if money is tight.

She can then use either Google Docs or Microsoft Office Online. It'll be far more secure that way and save money in the long run. Trying to upgrade an old computer really won't help Elizabeth.

Stan wants to know what he should get for his first real computer. Leo advises a Chromebook. Namely the Acer Spin. Easily the best choice, especially for someone who already has an Android phone. 

Lee wants to know if she can buy a computer to use as a word processor. Leo says that since Lee has a Chromebook, she already has all she needs. Just use Google Docs. Or, she can also use Microsoft Office Online. So there's no need to buy a separate device. And the best thing is, Chromebook will back up everything you do in the cloud, protecting data automatically. Learn to love the cloud.

Jim uses Chromebooks, has three of them. But on his newest one, he keeps getting a notice to add Gmail to his Google Account, even though he already has one. Leo suggests that it may be time to "powerwash" it. Make sure all your local data is stored in the cloud and then select powerwash in the settings and relog in. You should never get that message again. 

Ross is ready to upgrade his laptop. Budget about $400. Leo says that if your computer is slowing down, that's a sign that your hard drive is less reliable, not the computer itself. So you may be satisfied with replacing that old spinning drive with an SSD. Then reinstall Windows to clean things up. That will cost you about $100, which could put your computer in a better position to keep working moving forward. This is ideal for those who have a low budget and would have to sacrifice quality for affordability. If money is tight, extending the use of your current laptop is a smart idea.

Andy is thinking of getting his mother a Chromebook. But how can he access it remotely? Leo says that ChromeOS has remote access built-in. But he'll need to run the extension Chrome OS Remote Desktop. Set it up and then use the Chrome Browser on any PC and then navigate to hers. But he won't really have to do much with it. It's not like a Windows computer. If something goes wrong, he can always "Powerwash" it. Most of what he does on a Chromebook is online.