Practical Technology

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Entries Tagged as 'Laptop'

7 days in the cloud: My week with the Samsung Chromebook

July 18th, 2011 · Comments Off

It was the best of devices; it was the worst of devices. When I first agreed to write about a week working with nothing but a Samsung Series 5 Chromebook, I knew I was asking for trouble. Although I already knew and liked its Chrome Web-browser-based Linux operating system, ChromeOS, I also know how I [...]

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Tags: Business · Google · Infrastructure · Internet · Laptop · Linux · Network · Network Services · Operating System · Web browser · Web Services · Wi-Fi

Why the Linux netbook crashed and burned

June 25th, 2011 · Comments Off

A friend of mine, Tom Henderson, asked recently, Who killed the netbook? His well-thought out answer blames a combination of smartphones; expensive, but lightweight computers like the MacBook Air; and the rise of tablets. I think all those played a role, but I put more of the blame on Microsoft and Intel. While I’d say [...]

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Tags: Business · Infrastructure · Laptop · Linux · Microsoft · Operating System · Windows

USB 3.0: Great technology, but hard to find

June 20th, 2011 · Comments Off

Over the last few years, the Universal Serial Bus (USB) has become the universal interface. Starting in 1995, when USB 1.0 could only transfer 12 Mbps (Megabits per second), the standard started up slowly. But when USB 2.0 came along in 2000, with its 480 Mbps, the days were numbered for PS/2, serial, parallel, and [...]

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Tags: Desktop · Infrastructure · Laptop · Storage

Five Chromebook concerns for businesses

June 17th, 2011 · Comments Off

Make no mistake about it. I like my Samsung Series 5 Chromebook a lot. I think it will become a major challenge to Windows on light-duty business desktops… eventually. You see right now, as I’m well into week two with my Chromebook, I’m finding holes that need to be filled before I can see many [...]

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Tags: Business · Desktop · Google · Infrastructure · Internet · Laptop · Linux · Network · Network Services · Operating System · Security · Web browser · Wi-Fi

The first Chromebook Review: Samsung Series 5

June 13th, 2011 · Comments Off

If you want a Windows laptop, get a Windows laptop. But, if you want an easy-to-use, Web-based laptop, consider getting a Chromebook. So long as you realize that the Samsung Series 5 and its brother from another company, the Acer Chromebook, is not a full-featured Windows or Linux notebook computer you’ll be fine. So it [...]

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Tags: Business · Cloud Computing · Google · Infrastructure · Internet · Laptop · Linux · Network · Network Services · Operating System · Web Services