Click here to see an article from July 2022 by arsTechnica that gives technical insight to the workings of a Chromebook that you my find useful.

Click here to see an article by XDA Developers that gives reliable and comprehensive advice on how to get the best buy for your budget.

Chromebook : Examples for Newbies:

Click here for details of a touchscreen Chromebook [ACER CB315-3HT 15.6" Chromebook - Intel® Pentium®, 64 GB eMMC, Silver] available at PC World for £349 in July 2020. [Was reduced to £299 for a limited time in late June 2020]

• • • • • • • • • Chrome OS

                • Intel® Pentium® Silver N5000 processor

                • RAM: 4 GB

                • Drive Storage: 64 GB eMMC

                • Full HD touchscreen

                • Battery life: Up to 12.5 hours

Click here to see another [non-touchscreen] Chromebook [ACER CB315-2H 15.6" Chromebook - AMD A6-9220C, 64 GB eMMC, Silver] available at Amazon for £299.99 in July 2020 and click here to see the same thing at Argos for £279.99 in July 2020.

Click here to see a comprehensive list, from aboutchromebooks, of the many different features on offer in the Chromebook world. Obviously the more you pay the more you would expect to get for your money. This guide has provided three rough ranges called "Entry Level", "Mid-range" and "High-end" so you can get an idea of what is available within your budget.

If you are undecided about what Chromebook would suit you best then look through the following points.

Remember these notes where made in Dec 2020 and, as with all things Tech, specifications keep moving forward at a pace and soon yesterday's "must have" becomes today's "norm" or even thought of as being "out of date" - tough but true.

Hopefully they will help you come to a decision, or at least give you an idea of what to look out for, when visiting a shop or doing some background research on-line.

1. Screen dimensions

If you intend to use your Chromebook for more than just a few minutes a day [casual browsing] then it's best go for with a 15.6" [diagonal] screen to give you a good, comfortable, working size. Smaller sizes can be quite acceptable if your eyesight is pretty good and you don't spend long periods of time staring at the screen.

Cheaper Chromebooks start at about 10" - avoid them like the plague.

When you are looking at options you'll notice the majority are of the standard shapes [like a normal laptops screen] but some come with a 16" x 9" cinematic format. The standard shape is fine [and usually cheaper] but either way look for something that has good viewing angles, an anti-glare surface and a good depth of vibrant colour.

If possible try and see several different models together [like in a shop's display area] and you'll be able to spot the difference easily. Just like TV's some can appear wishy-washy where others are like looking at high quality photo's. Generally speaking the more expensive screens give better results but you can always do a Google search for a specific model and find out what other users and critics have say about it.

Finally there are of course the more up market variants with touch screens - while these are nice to have they will undoubtedly be in the higher cost group and you need to consider do you really need it.

2. Memory

Earlier models used to come with just 1 Meg or 2 Meg of internal memory [the bit where all the work in done] - this is not enough. Go for something with at least 4 Meg and preferably 8 Meg [or even more] as long as it doesn't break the bank. Basically you can't have too much memory. A recent on-line review of the Lenovo Flex 5 included this message which probably stands true across the board. "The one thing that holds the Flex 5 back from being our top pick is that mid-range laptops should come with a minimum of 6GB of RAM."

3. Storage

Again earlier models used to come with just 16 Gig or 32 Gig of internal disc storage capacity. These days 64 Gig is probably the norm and more often than not it is provided on eMMC storage [that is a memory chip soldered to the motherboard, meaning it can not be replaced and should it go belly up you are totally knackered - new Chromebook required - get more details here] - however this is unlikely to go under warranty and you may well get in excess of 4 or 5 years out of it, so it may not be too bad as you could be thinking it's time for your next computer upgrade in any case.

If you have the option try to ensure that you get a model that is fitted with a proper SSD [that can be replaced and is more sophisticated meaning it will be faster and more reliable] so that if the worst happens and it eventually fails it can be fixed relatively cheaply.

An SSD drive of 128 Gig is more than enough [they are available up to 1Tb or more, which is really a waste as you will be keeping 99.99% of everything you have "in the cloud"] and you probably don't need all that local capacity unless you want to store lots of video and photo's off-line, but why would you ?

4. Keyboard

It's probably fair to say that most models on the market today are adequate as competition is tight and anything unsuitable just would not sell. Obviously some devices have smoother keyboards that are better than others, and some may have back-lights to the keys which are a luxury you can probably do without. You do hear tales that some keyboard depressions are a bit "clunky" and not suitable for a "hard day at the office" but if you are a relatively low level user this probably will not be of great importance to you. The bottom line is that if it feels right to you - then it will be o.k.

As well as the keypad your device will come with a track pad for cursor movement and a number of other controls. This is probably sufficient for most users but if you are used to having a mouse at your fingertips then you can always add one via a USB port - these can be either wired or wireless, it does not matter.

5. Processor speed

This is the "engine" of the machine and the bigger and faster the better - but obviously as speed goes up so does the price. It's unlikely that the average user will require a "workhorse" as most of the time will be spent just using the "light" features of the browser and a less powerful processor will do. Having said that do not go for one with a really slow processor just because it's cheap. Such devices are less likely to be around so much now but don't buy 'old stock' that may be on offer at large outlets that are just trying to unload with dazzling deals. Again you can always Google any model to see how it's rated and perhaps when it first 'came to market'.

6. Form Factor

Again there are all sorts of shapes and sizes just made to confuse you [think clam shells, detachables etc.] so if you don't have a strong reason for buying one ignore all of that and go for something that looks more like a traditional laptop.

7. Wifi standard

Not much to say here other than most recent models should be 802.11ac compatible. If it's less than that [as found on some older models / bargains] forget it. The very latest Wifi 6 standards are now coming to market but unless you will be using the device on a Wifi 6 network then shelling out extra would be a waste of money unless you plan / think you will require these higher specifications sooner rather than later.

8. System Compatibility with Android etc.

Finally you will see that the better models offer full Android compatibility [meaning you can run all of your favourite Apps from the Play Store] which may be important to you. Obviously this feature is nice to have but not a deal breaker if you intend to spend most of your time browsing and can avoid spending loads of money. Remember most Android Apps are designed fore smartphones with touch screens so if you want the same experience you'll need a Chromebook with a touch screen to enjoy them properly.

Remember if your key requirements are using the browser functions to visit websites and run PWAs then the basic ChromeOS is more than enough to meet your needs.

For completeness it's worth mentioning that the bigger, more powerful, models offer Linux Application compatibility, and the really new and expensive ones will run some Windows Applications. Don't be sidetracked by all this glitter if you don't really need it.

Buying a Chromebook [or any computer] is like setting out to buy a car - the choice is enormous and you need to focus on what you need and how much you are prepared to spend.

The saying "How long is a piece of string" was never truer !