This is a battle that has been raging for some years now, with plenty of good points being made by those on both sides of the argument. But first we need to understand what they are.
What are Chromebooks ?
A Chromebook is a laptop of a different breed. Instead of Windows 10 or Mac OS X, Chromebooks run Google's Chrome OS. These machines are designed to be used primarily while connected to the Internet, with most applications and documents living in the cloud. As a result, these clamshells don't have a ton of onboard storage, but they don't have very large price tags, either Low prices, long battery life.
A CHROME BOOK COMPUTER
What are PC's Laptops?
In its more general usage, a personal computer (PC) is a microcomputer designed for use by one person at a time. laptops, are often referred to as small, portable personal computer with a "clamshell" form factor, an alphanumeric keyboard on the lower part of the "clamshell" and a thin LCD or LED computer screen on the upper portion, which is opened up to use the computer. A laptop combines the components, inputs, outputs, and capabilities of a desktop computer, including the display screen, small speakers, a keyboard, pointing devices (such as a touchpad or trackpad), a processor, and memory into a single unit.
A PERSONAL COMPUTER (PC)
Having seen what each represent in brief , let's have a look at the differences and which to choose on your next visit to the store .
The Operating System
The Chromebook runs on Google chrome operating system, this operating system is a lightweight operating system , that could only be accessed through the Chrome browser which will reduce the amount of memory consumed by the device compared to PC's that use independent operating system like Windows , Linux and MacOS. A search button similar to the Windows Start button sits in a taskbar in the lower-left corner along with shortcuts to Gmail, Google Docs, and YouTube.
A status bar sits in the lower-right corner that provides quick access to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, volume and settings. In a blissfully stripped-down settings panel, you can choose a wallpaper and theme, and you can tweak the settings for the touchpad, keyboard and display. Even with low-end parts, Chromebooks feel snappy. Better yet, it updates itself automatically and the updates take a fraction of the time of Windows and Mac updates to install.
CHROME OPERATING SYSTEM ( INTERFACE )
PC OPERATING SYSTEM ( INTERFACE OF WINDOWS 10 OPERATING SYSTEM )
Apps and Software
PCs are designed to be customized, and come with the option to install literally hundreds of thousands of different programs and types of software at once. Of all the complaints you’ll hear on why Chromebooks don’t measure up, is the lack of available software or apps is the one that’s most grounded in reality. Google keeps their operating system secure by restricting what can be installed on a Chromebook.
Almost all of the apps installed on chrome books don’t actually run locally. Instead Chrome places an icon in your start menu, which is only a link to a website that supports the program in Flash or HTML5. Apps installed on the machine are the Chrome web browser, as well as offline versions of Docs, Sheets, and Google’s PowerPoint competitor, Slides.
How Cheap
How Cheap? , Incredibly cheap , because there won't be need to pay for a Windows software license or that Apple logo, which makes it cheaper than any MacBook and most Windows laptop PC's . The only money needed is buying the machine itself i.e chrome book; Chromebooks ranges between $200 : $500, with a few exceptions.
Offline Use
Chromebooks are designed to rely heavily on the Internet, which means that many apps simply won't work if you're out of Wi-Fi range. There are more than 200 offline Chrome apps that can work without Internet connectivity, including Gmail, Pocket and Google Drive, and tons of the Android apps coming soon will also work offline.
Battery Life
Almost all Chromebooks have exceptional battery life. Achromebook has an average of 9 hours and 59 minutes of endurance on the Laptop Mag Battery Test, which involves continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi. On the top end.
CPU and RAM
Due to a deal inked between Google and Intel, almost all the Chromebooks released last year (and coming in 2017) are equipped with Intel processors. For the AMD faithful this may be an issue, but for most, the Intel mobile line and 5th-generation Core processors can handle Chrome OS just fine. It’s difficult to make a direct comparison of the amount of “power” you get from a Chromebook compared to a standard Windows laptop or Apple Macbook, largely because each one comes with an OS that uses its resources differently. Chrome OS is light, so it runs well on worse (less powerful) hardware. So the comparison is a moot one. If you were to install Windows on a laptop that had identical specs it would run slower, simply for the fact that Windows has tons of extraneous processes and tasks it runs in the background while nothing else is going on. In short, Windows requires more horsepower to run, much like a big truck requires a larger engine over a smaller car.
Storage
One area where Chromebooks still need to catch up is with onboard storage. Because they’re made to be cheap and light, almost all Chromebooks come with an SSD opposed to a standard HDD, which ups the cost of manufacturing. As such, it’s rare to find any model of Chromebook with more than 32GB of available onboard storage. To compensate, most Chromebooks will come with 100GB of free cloud storage, provided by Google’s own Drive service. If the idea of keeping all your data on the cloud doesn’t sound like your cup of tea however, it might be better to simply go with a standard laptop instead.
Laptops on the other hand come in pretty much any storage configuration you can think of. Want your operating system on an SSD and your games/movies on an HDD backup? There’s a laptop for that. Don’t mind long loading times and just want as much space as possible? There’s a 3TB hard drive just for you.
Screen
In the pursuit of making these laptops as affordable as possible, sometimes sacrifices need to be made. Screen quality is an area where almost all Chromebooks lag woefully behind the 1366 x 768 curve, and it’s expected that unless it’s a model that specifically touts its HD-capability, you probably won’t be showing it off to your co-workers anytime soon.
There are some exceptions to the rule, of course. The Toshiba Chromebook 2 was our number #1 pick of the lot for the best Chromebook 2017, a title it won in large part thanks to its absolutely 1920 x 1080 HD IPS screen. If you plan on watching a lot of Netflix or working with color-senstive creative materials online, this model is one of very few that would be able to handle it.
On the laptop side of things – it’s a bit all over the place. Some laptops sport stunning 4K screens that can play Blu-Ray content at its absolute peak, while others are so grainy you can barely read a paragraph of text on them without having to adjust your glasses twice. Where touchscreens are concerned, while Windows does maintain the advantage on the sheer number of touchscreen laptops available, many of them are sub-par in quality.
Comparatively, the ASUS Flip Chromebook made our top Chromebooks of 2017 list both for its solid design, and a touchscreen that responds to even the slightest graze of your finger.
Keyboard and Trackpad
While some Chromebooks are built as cheap as possible and come with keyboards or trackpads to match (looking at you, HP), others, like the Toshiba Chromebook 2, are an absolute dream to type on. Because Chromebooks are made as machines that can help you with work, school, or generally getting a lot of typing done, most of the keyboards on a Chromebook will do the job with flying colors.
The trackpads on the other hand are a bit hit or miss. Cost-compared against Windows machines, you’re going to get a similar deal in quality.
If you opt for a Macbook however, the trackpad will clearly be superior due to the increased price and money spent on the overall quality of the surrounding hardware.
Webcam
This one is a bit of an even draw. Chromebooks may come with some cheap components, but Google knows that of all the features that people want on a laptop, the webcam should be up to par.
Comparing webcams from several of the top Chromebooks on the market right now against what you’d get in a Windows laptop or Macbook five times the cost, it’s clear that any Chromebook worth its salt will have a webcam that works in most lighting situations, even if you still can’t use it to call someone over Skype.
