In US: Chromebooks are the most growing notebook category

Chromebooks accounted for 21 percent of all notebook sales, up from negligible share in the prior year, and 8 percent of all computer and tablet sales through November, up from one tenth of a percent in 2012 – the largest share increase across the various product segments.

From NPD report

Happy X-mas!

I wish you a good time (with your chromebook).

I guess there are many new chromebooks under the tree this year. For all the happy people with new chromebooks here a short recap of my blog posts especially interesting for you.

• A sleeve for the Acer C720(p)
• How to get audiophile sound from your chromebook
• USB 3G modem on chromebooks
• Apple like feeling on your chromebook (run Apple apps in the cloud on chromebook)
• Compact flash card readers on chromebook (e.g. to transfer your christmas photographs)
• For the Acer C720 or C720p users a perfect sleeve cover bag
• Some rarely known things a chromebook can do
• Collection of things which a chromebook can not do today

Chromedesktop: LG reveals chrome based desktop PC (chromebase)

ChromeOS is getting momentum.

LG Electronics (LG) will unveil the first-ever Chromebase, an all-in-one computer powered by the Google Chrome operating system at next month’s  2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

From the official LG press release:

Specifications and Features

- Processor: Intel^® Celeron^® CPU

- Operating System: Chrome OS

- Display: 21.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS

- Memory: 2 GB   

- Storage: 16GB iSSD

- Ports: HDMI-in, USB 2.0 x3, USB 3.0 x1, LAN

- Accessories: Keyboard, Mouse, Cable Organizer

- Webcam: 1.3 M 720 HD

Ipod mini upgrade to store more and play longer

I have upgraded successfully my old, not used ipod mini (2nd gen) to 32GB (was 4 GB prior to the upgrade).  Additionally I changed the battery to a new one.

I purchased this Transcend 32 GB 133x CompactFlash Memory Card and replaced by it the original 4GB hard drive from Hitachi. The battery replacement is available here.

The biggest challenge was to open the ipod without destruction. There are nice tutorials on the steps to do to open and upgrade the ipod mini.

I will use the additional space to store loss-less files to my old friend ipod mini. Together with the Fiio E17 USB DAC Headphone Amplifier connected via FiiO L3 Line Out Dock (LOD) Cable For iPod and iPhone the quality on the headphone output is amazing. Now my old friend is back to operation and I have an mobile audiophile player.

3G USB modem (Huawei E173) on chromebook

Heureka, it works! Surprisingly my Huawei E173 WCDMA 3G USB Wireless Modem Dongle Adapter SIM TF Card HSDPA EDGE GPRS works as it should on the chromebook. Just plug and play, no fiddling with drivers.

Welcome Dell to the chromebook supplier club

Dell is offering according to the official press release a chromebook 11 targeting the educational market.

How to save 573.65 EUR with a chromebook (e.g. Acer C720) in comparison to an ipad air 16 GB

I know the following comparison is not 100% valid, but I would like to show that if you bought a chromebook you did a very cost-effective purchase. As comparison / baseline I will take an ipad air 16 GB and the Acer C720/2GB. I will use Amazon prices in EUR, but I guess the result will be valid in almost all countries and currencies.

Chromebook Acer C720 for 269.10 CHF today at Interdiscount

Link to Interdiscount Acer C720 page

Breaking news: Acer C720p with touch screen and 32 GB flash announced

For $299 USD Acer will sell from December on an upgraded Acer C720 with touch screen and 32 GB (instead of 16 GB) version which is called Acer C720P (p like touch?).

Official announcement with all details at Acer website.

Run Apple Apps on your chromebook (Pages, Numbers, Keynote)

If you are used to Apple applications and owning an itunes ID you can login to www.icloud.com to access the beta versions of Pages, Numbers, Keynote in the cloud.

Compatible compact flash (CF) card reader for chromebooks

If you own an old or high-end digital camera you are used to compact flash cards. The chromebook has a card reader for SD-cards only. As the chromeOS is a relativly new OS I was not sure if all the drivers are in to run external card readers. So, I bought a very recent model (with USB3.0) and tried it out myself.

Chromebook apps launcher moved and position of the launch bar is adaptable now

In the recent stable chromeOS release 31.0.1650.61 (Platform version: 4731.73.0) the apps lanucher button moved to the left and the whole bar is now movable (left, bottom, right). Now the windows users will not search for the start button anymore :-)

A sleeve case to fit the Acer C720 chromebook into

It was not easy to find a sleeve where the Acer C720 fits almost perfectly into. I purchased this Dicota PerfectSkin.

Now my chromebook is prepared for the winter :-) and I can be sure that it get not damaged in the luggage.

The sleeve is affordable and protects perfectly.

Order yours at amazon.com .

2GB Acer C720 will be available soon in the US for 199 USD

Read the official Acer press release. I guess I already own this version (but paid unfortunately a bit more). My device has already 2GB, see my review including speed measurements.

Collection of things which can not be done (yet) by chromebooks (frequently updated)

I will add all the things I experience which do not work yet (I hope the ChromeOS team will read my blog and will implement it.

HP and Google are pausing chromebook 11 sales due to issues with overheating chargers

See the details at the official google chrome blog.
Hier ein (schweizer) deutscher Artikel dazu.

Chromebook announced in NZZ

Even the NZZ was announcing the new chromebooks today!

Be online on the road and safe money

Do you hate to pay extra for the 3G / LTE version of your tablet / ipad / chromebook? But you still want to be online? Or do you travel with many WIFI devices and need 3G/4G internet connection?

The things a chromebook can do (updated)

I will list in this post features / functions which are possible to perform with a chromebook (yes, it is possible without Windows or Mac OS) which I tested myself. I will add more in future. Stay tuned and come back. If something is not listed it does not mean that it does not work. For sure, the list will never be complete.

Acer C720 bei Interdiscount in der Schweiz

Hier klicken.

Chromebook remote connection via VPN

After having my lovely chromebook (see my review of the Acer C720 below) for some days already, I would like to share with you a small trick.
The Chrome remote desktop app is even able to tunnel through VPN networks.
I was struggling to install the VPN to connect to my office PC on the chromebook. Here Google needs to invest more to get it running with more VPN gateways. I was unhappy until I found that there is an easy workaround.
If you have access to install chrome and the Chrome remote desktop app on your office PC you should be able to access it remotely by your chromebook (using the same app). It is not a guarantee to work, but if your IT department is not as strict as in a Swiss bank, it can work. Try it!
I now can easily work from home on my Acer C720 (and my employer is more happy as well).

Acer C720 chromebook sunspider, peacekeeper benchmark speed test 447ms review

I purchased my chromebook some days ago at digitec.ch (299 CHF, about 250 EUR). Currently the 2GB version is available in Switzerland, the 4GB version might follow later. As I needed a replacement immediatly for my lovely Nokia Booklet 3G (see a review below) which has some hardware issues recently I was happy that the new chromebooks are available now (the HP chromebook 11 was not avialable yet in Switzerland). BTW, my keyboard has a swiss layout.

I wanted to get a fast, affordable, light notebook which can be used for photography edits on the road. Of course a macbook air or mac book pro would be nicer, but I was not willing to spent the money as the Nokia was already my secondary device for traveling and my primary device is a macbook pro (17 inch).

As I am very familiar to the chrome browser (I use it all day at work and privately) the barrier to go for a chromebook was low.  I already used apps from the chrome web store.

The question for me was: Should I wait for a HP chromebook 11 and would be perhaps disappointed on its performance (I do not like to wait for computers) or should I get the ugly duckling as we say in Germany which runs fastest but is not impressive to show. I decided for the fast, ugly duckling. I found some speed judgements  on the internet in some reviews, but no real gripping data as the Acer was rarely available. Therefore I have attached a detailed report created by sunspider.com in the end of this post.