Is a Chromebook Good for Students?

Students are certainly an interesting target audience for Chromebook vendors, but are Chromebooks interesting for students from their own perspective? Of course, there is no single answer to that question and you have to form your own opinion. Nonetheless, it is good to get some advice, in this case from college student John Horn, who shares his experience with the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook in this video.

One of the first things John mentions is the low weight of the Chromebook. It weighs about half of his Macbook, which makes a huge difference when you carry around the laptop for the whole day, something he underestimated first. Also it costs a fraction of a Macbook and is cheaper than most other laptops, so losing or breaking it doesn't hurt as much. Another aspect that mitigates loss, is that the software is continuously synced, so you don't lose your work, provided you are connected to the Internet.

Of course, there are limitations when it comes to the software a Chromebook can run. Engineers will need to run software, that is not available for Chrome OS. So they need access to other computers, e .g. via a remote desktop connection or using a computer provided by their college.

It very much depends on your field of study and your readiness to rely on Internet services, whether a Chromebook makes sense for you as a student. As with everything Chromebooks have upsides and downsides.