Got Mom a Chromebook

My Mom and Dad have always been wary of technology. I finally taught Mom to text a few weeks ago and she’s doing great…except that she calls me to make sure I received her text…but I’m not complaining. She can text now!

Mom is starting to realize, though, that she needs to have an email and be able to do some basic web browsing. I explained to her how a Chromebook works and asked if she would be interested and she enthusiastically said yes.

I decided to get Mom a Samsung Chromebook with built-in 3G. It comes with 100MB of data per month and 100 GB of storage on Google Drive free for 2 years. This is perfect for Mom. She won’t have to worry about getting internet for the house and if we see that she needs more data we can bump her plan up.

Newegg and Amazon appear to be the only places you can get the 3G model so I went with Newegg because it was the cheapest. Unfortunately, when the Chromebook came in and I began setting it up, it didn’t take long to realize that the sim card was missing. New egg is in the process of sending me a replacement.

I’ll let you know what Mom thinks.

One Week with the Galaxy Note

Note:  I wrote this post on my Galaxy Note a few weeks ago and saved it as a draft, then forgot to publish it until now.

I’ve been using my new AT&T Galaxy Note for just over a week, and in this post I’ll highlight my likes and dislikes.

If you’ve read many reviews, you’ve probably noticed that people either love or hate the Galaxy Note.  I fall into the LOVE crowd.  The first time I saw the huge, beautiful screen combined with the stylus I knew instantly that I wanted one.  However, I can understand why some people would not be as infatuated with this phone as I am.

Size
First of all, this phone is huge, yet I was pleasantly surprised to find that it did fit into the front pocket of some of my pants.  Now I only wear a fraction of my wardrobe…and it is so worth it!  I’ll just have to make sure that when I’m trying on new clothes, I also have to make sure that the phone fits – no problem.

Data Entry
Typing in portrait mode is uncomfortable for me, but landscape mode is perfect.  I’m typing this post on the Galaxy Note.  The handwriting recognition is nice, but takes practice.  The voice recognition is awesome, but if you have an Android phone, you already knew that.

S Memo
I’ve used this app for short notes in brief meetings and classes, but tomorrow I have a 4 hour meeting.  I’m looking foreward to puting S Memo – especially the voice recorder – to the test.

Calendar
I never found a calendar app on my iPhone that I liked.  I want lots of information visible in the month view and Samsung nailed it. Good job!

Bottom Line
If you’re not sure if you would like this phone, you probably won’t.
If you can’t sleep at night because you’re up reading reviews, then get one, you’ll love it.

My Galaxy Note Should Arrive Tomorrow!

I was 100% satisfied with my iPhone 4 until I saw a Galaxy Note last September.  The BIG display and self storing stylus gave me a serious case of gadget fever.  Then I read that Samsung had no plans to release the Note in the US.  That was it.  No more gadget fever.  I was back to being satisfied with my iPhone 4.  Then in December I got ultrabook fever, so I used money I got for Christmas to by a Toshiba z835 (which I’m using to write this post).  I felt guilty for spending so much money on myself, and I even wrote in a blog that there would be no more gadgets for a while (I think I said a year).

Then c|net had to go and report that AT&T would be offering the Note this week.  Instant GADGET FEVER!  Followed by the disappointing news that my contract wasn’t up until June, followed by a call to AT&T to see what the early termination fees would be, followed by rationalizing that this phone is worth the $100 fee on top of the original $300 price tag, followed by ordering a Galaxy Note on Superbowl Sunday, (followed by not liking the Galaxy Note Superbowl ad).

I have a good family.  They accept (but don’t understand) my fascination with with gadgets.  My husband jokes about me using each new device as a tool to research and shop for my next new gadget.  At each unboxing, my oldest daughter reminds me not to throw away any of the packaging…I’ll be needing it shortly when I sell the device on eBay.  My youngest daughter feels that I have an unhealthy addiction to gadgets (and lattes).  I think addiction is too strong  of a word to describe my feelings for gadgets (I am addicted to lattes).  I think of my researching and buying/selling gadgets as a hobby.

Maybe when I retire from teaching I can get a job at a place like Best Buy.  Then I can get my fill of playing with all the latest and greatest gadgets while at work.

But back to the Galaxy Note.  I should get it sometime tomorrow afternoon.  Then I have a three day weekend to play with it and get it set-up the way I like it…In the meantime, I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas!

The Latest Chrome OS Update

I liked the old boot screen

I updated the Chrome OS on my Samsung Series 5 yesterday. I thought chromebooks were supposed to update automatically when you turn them on, without the fuss and interruption that you associate with updating a Windows machine. However, when I went to the About Chrome OS page in Settings, I saw that there was an update available. I had to manually click a button to begin the update. Since this was the first time I had gone through this process, I didn’t try to open any other pages or do anything else until the update was complete. It took several minutes and reminded me of Windows updating on my school computer. Oh well, no big deal.

When the update was complete, the first thing I notices was the new boot screen. Instead of the black screen with “Chrome” in the center (which I really liked), the new screen is white and any graphics look pale against it.

Once I logged in, I noticed that the app icons on the New Tab page were huge. In the old New Tab page, I could adjust the size of the icons, but I haven’t figured out how to do this since the update.

For the past month, Google Docs has given me the option to use the Classic or the New view. I’ve been using the Classic view since the New view is pale, like the new log-in screen, and difficult to read.

On a brighter note, I like the features of the New Tab page and the new format of the Chrome Web Store.

Chromebook – 3G Test

Always Connected

The Samsung Series 5 Chromebooks come with 100 MB of data per month from Verizon – FREE!  This feature played a significant roll in my decision to trade in my netbook and iPad for a chromebook.  I’ve tested the Verizon 3G from my house and it worked, but the wifi at home is fast and reliable, so I haven’t had a reason to really use the 3G…until today.

We spent the day at my in-laws, and AT&T’s data coverage there is not good – no 3G, just Edge.  My iPhone 4 drags when loading web pages.  I fired up the chromebook, disabled the wifi, and enabled 3G.  I was impressed!  The indicator showed that I only had a bar or two of service, but web pages loaded quickly and Google docs ran smoothly.  However, when I loaded a You Tube video, it stuttered a bit.  To be honest, though, with only 100 MB/month, I doubt that  a person would be watching much video without a wifi connection.

Bottom Line:  The free 3G was great for viewing web pages, checking email, and editing documents.  I wouldn’t recommend watching video because of the limited amount of data available and the lag.

Samsung Galaxy S II: First Impressions

The SII has a beautiful screen

My husband has been using a dumb phone for years but was recently drawn back into the fold of smartphone users by the Samsung Galaxy SII.  He had a love at first sight experience a couple of weeks ago at the AT&T store and within days had an SII of his own.  I have an iPhone 4, and I must admit, the extra screen real-estate is nice.

My husband uses the voice input, search and command features a lot.  He likes the convenience of sending text messages by voice.

The faster battery consumption of the smartphone vs. the dumb phone startled my husband at first, but with a little power management, like adjusting the screen settings, he was able to get that issue under control.

My husband encountered a more serious problem after installing some games, an app for our local news, and an rss reader.  He was burning through data like nobody’s business.  He shut down all the apps – still using enormous amounts of data.  He uninstalled all the apps – same problem.  He went to the store where he bought the phone.  At first they said he wasn’t really using that much data, but he showed them that it was showing up on his monthly usage on AT&T’s website.  The manager of the store said that my husband’s basic $15, 200MB/mo. data plan was not intended for a smartphone (this is not true; my daughter and I each have an iPhone 4 with the same data plan and we don’t have any problem staying within our limit).  Next, my husband called AT&T’s tech support.  They agreed that the extreme data usage did not seem normal, but were not able to pinpoint the problem.  Next, he called Samsung’s tech support.  Basically, it was a waste of an hour and a half of his life.  They said that using exorbitant amounts of data while doing nothing was normal!?!?

This morning, my husband reset his phone to it’s factory setting and the problem seems to have been resolved.  He knew when he got an Android phone that he was going to have to watch out for malware.  I guess one of the free games he installed was malicious.  Have you ever had a similar problem?

The bottom line:  My husband loves the Galaxy SII, he just has to be more cautious when choosing apps to install.

The Appeal of a Chromebook’s Simplicity

I enjoy writing lesson plans on my new Chromebook.

What drew me to getting a chromebook was it’s simple design, which led to ease of use.  A Chromebook is definitely a niche product.  You have to do your research before you buy one, but this is true of any tech purchase these days.  Analyze how you use your current device.

I got an iPad 2 to replace my netbook because the netbook was so slow starting up and launching software.  If I needed to check the weather or shoot out a quick email before school, I wouldn’t have time because it took so long to fire up the old netbook.  After using the iPad 2 for a couple of months, I noticed that I used it for:
1) School-word processing, spreadsheets, email, and online research
2) Blogging & YouTubeing
3) Entertainment-Netflix and surfing the web

The iPad 2 was perfect in every area except it wasn’t practical to type a math assignment in Apple’s word processor-Pages.  Again, I like things simple, and Pages is a simple, yet powerful word processor, but it lacks an equation editor for typing math problems.  Before purchasing the iPad 2, I did my research and found a way to work around the lack of an equation editor, but when I put it into practice, my workaround just wasn’t practical.

I had looked at Chromebooks briefly before I got the iPad, but chose the iPad because it was more portable.  Samsung’s Chromebook is instant on, has a great battery life (8.5 hrs), I can type math tests in Google Docs, and while I’m at it, I can update my calendar, and consult my lesson plans that I keep in a Google spreadsheet.  I can email my lesson plans to my principal directly from the spreadsheet, and I don’t have to worry about keeping my school computer synced with my home computer.  Everything is on Google Docs-I can access it anywhere.

Chromebook: First Impressions

It looks good.

My new Samsung Series 5 Chromebook came in this past Wednesday. I’ve been so busy with end of the quarter grading and parent/teacher conferences that I’m just now getting a chance to really play with it.

Here are some first impressions:

1) Nice size – The 12.1″ screen doesn’t feel cramped like my old netbook, but you don’t have to sacrifice portability.

2) Love the simplicity – Chrome OS seems like it will be a good fit for me. So far I don’t feel like I’m “missing” anything.

3) The price was right – I watched Series 5 prices on eBay for about a week while I sold my netbook and iPad 2. New chromebooks were selling for $360 to $400 including shipping. I got lucky and was able to get mine for $322 with free shipping. Retailers like Best Buy and Amazon are selling them for $499.

4) No need to buy software – When I bought my netbook, I also bought Office 2010 Student Edition ($80) in order to write math tests and lesson plans. When I bought my iPad 2, I had to by apps for those same tasks: Pages ($10), Numbers ($10), and MathBot ($5). Google Docs has all the features that I need for my school work…and it’s free!

5) Feels cheap – My iPad 2 felt heavy yet well made. The Series 5 feels heavy yet cheap. This isn’t a major issue for me, since my chromebook will not normally leave my house. For anyone who plans to tote it around, I would suggest a well padded bag.

Overall, I am pleased with my purchase. I used Google Docs on my school computer to write a couple of tests earlier this week, and I used a Google spreadsheet to write my lesson plans today. At the moment I’m writing this blog on my chromebook (I normally use my phone to compose posts…its nice to have a real keyboard for a change). So far, the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook has been a convenient, easy to use gadget.

My Chromebook Is On The Way!

Isn’t this a beautiful machine?

I put Google Docs to the test last week. I sold my netbook and iPad in the midst of midterm exams, so I had to use Google Docs on my spouses desktop to type my tests. Typing an equation heavy math test was just as easy as using Microsoft Word on my old netbook, but I didn’t have to worry about saving a copy in Dropbox.
Using Google Docs was infinitely more convenient than using my iPad to create a math test.

I’ve mentioned before how much I loved my Gateway Lt2104u netbook with Microsoft Office for doing school work…but booting was just…too…slow. The instant on feature of the extremely portable iPad 2 was a welcome change. Doing lesson plans on a Numbers spreadsheet was fun, and Pages is a great word processor for a teacher…as long as you don’t teach math. I found a decent work around that allowed me to insert equations using an app called MathBot, but it just wasn’t practical for large numbers of equations. See my related video.

I debated between the iPad 2 and a Chromebook this summer, and decided to go with the iPad 2. The iPad 2 is a wonderful machine, it just lacked an equation editor in the word processor- a feature that less 1% of the population would ever notice (closer to 0% than 1%).

I’m quirky when it comes to gadget purchases. Even though Chromebooks are not as popular as iPads (understatement), I think the Chromebook will suit my needs. I just bought one on EBay today – factory sealed for $322 total (it would have been $499 from a retailer).

Am I Crazy for Wanting to Replace My iPad with a Chromebook?

No matter what I happen to be shopping for-car, clothes, gadgets-my options always lack one very small feature that ends up making the item near useless…at least that’s how it seems.

…I’ll find a car I like, but in order to get the one feature that makes that vehicle desirable, you have to buy the super luxury model that is out of my budget.

…I’ll find an article of clothing that I like, but the store won’t have my size.

…I’ll find my dream gadget (iPad 2), and it lacks one, tiny feature (no equation editor). This is only an issue because I’m a math teacher. I thought I had found a way around this problem, but my work around is not practical for a large number of equations in one document.

Here are some of the things I think I would like about a Chromebook:
-Google docs-has an equation editor.
-access to Dropbox.
-instant on.
-Netflix.
-free 100MB of 3G per month for 2 years!

The one thing I don’t like:
-can’t edit documents off-line.

Everything that I do on a computer, other than word processing, is on the web.

If you’ve used a Chromebook, let me know what you think.