My Current Chrome OS Desktop Layout (September 2015)

After a few months away from writing Articles due to commitments that have made it hard for me to update my Blog I'm back with an update on my current Chrome OS Desktop Layout.

De-Branding & Removing Windows From A Laptop

After having my trusty Toshiba Laptop for about 5 years now I've decided to totally De-Brand and remove Windows from it and turn it into a Linux Laptop.

My Home Office Set-up (April 2015)

My Home Office setup isn't like the video tours that you see on YouTube, it used to similar at one time. It’s now a lot more modest and minimalistic, but it works well for me.   So here’s my text and picture tour of my Home Office as it didn't seem worth while doing a YouTube video. The storage part of my Home Office is an old Computer desk that houses a Box of Printer Paper, a Shredder, a Box of Envelopes and a brown box that has some Computer stuff on the bottom shelf, the Keyboard drawer has an old Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard while the top shelf has a Printer Organizer with mostly odd bits of scrap paper and the charger for my Asus Google Nexus 7, Bluetooth headphones and my Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 USB Headset & on top of it I've got my Kodak esp 1.2 AIO Printer.

Putting An Old Desktop PC To Use With Linux (Update)

I was going to put my old Desktop pc to use running Ubuntu Linux on it, but unfortunately after testing it last night and everything worked fine. When I came to install Ubuntu on it this morning I somehow ended up killing the Power Supply after adding a second HDD so I'll not be able to use it unless I can find a cheap compatible Power Supply for Motherboard that's inside somewhere so this little project is on hold for now.

Putting An Old Desktop PC To Use With Linux

In this series I'll be putting an old Desktop Tower PC that I built back in the early 200's into use running More than likely Linux or possibly Window Server 2003 unless I can find drivers for al the different Motherboard Chipsets, Graphics and Audio for Windows 7, 8/8.1 or even the Windows 10 Technical Preview, as the last time I tried Windows newer than Windows XP on it was Windows Vista and I struggled to get everything to work due to none existent drivers for anything other than the Nviidia Graphics card that I installed in it.

My Home Office Set-up 2015

My Home Office setup isn't like the video tours that you see on YouTube, it used to similar at one time. It’s now a lot more modest and minimalistic, but it works well for me.   So here’s my text and picture tour of my Home Office as it didn't seem worth while doing a YouTube video. The storage part of my Home Office is an old Computer desk that houses a Box of Printer Paper, a Shredder, a Box of Envelopes and a brown box that has some Computer stuff on the bottom shelf, the Keyboard drawer has an old Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard while the top shelf has a Printer Organizer with mostly odd bits of scrap paper and the charger for my Asus Google Nexus 7, Bluetooth headphones and my Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 USB Headset & on top of it I've got my Kodak esp 1.2 AIO Printer.

What’s On My Chromebook Shelf Right Now (April 2015)

THE MOST USED APPS ON MY CHROMEBOOK, AND

WHY THEY’RE THERE

This is my latest Chrome OS shelf line up that I’ll probably stick with for at least the near future. While my iPhone and Google Nexus 7 Tablet are mainly used for leisure, my Chromebook is used mostly for work, I spend I’ve most of my day, it’s what I use to update this blog and work on various other projects. So I thought I’d do a post in the style of the what’s on my Mac Dock and why, but for Chromebooks, so here’s what’s on my Chromebook Shelf and why. First off we’ll cover some of the stock Chrome apps, and there are a few. The first is Chrome as it’s permanently placed on the Shelf by default, Files as it’s easier than having to go through the App Drawer to find it, finally I've got the Wallpaper Picker as it’s convenient for quickly changing my Desktop Wallpaper. Now onto the rest of my Apps.

How I Use My Chromebook

As a Blogger my Chromebook is used on a daily basis for writing articles, as it's light and got a long battery life it goes with me when I'm on the road, the fast boot up and little in the way of maintenance required allows me to be productive in a relatively short amount of time.

Chrome OS App Launcher To Receive Google Now Make Over

The Chrome OS App Launcher is to receive another update, after the last update that moved the start Men styled App Drawer to a more central App Launcher/Search engine will be given a splash of material design as well as get Google Now cards which until now have only been available in the Notification Centre.

Home Office Set-up Christmas 2014

My Home Office setup isn't like the video tours that you see on YouTube, it used to similar at one time. It’s now a lot more modest and minimalistic, but it works well for me.   So here’s my text and picture tour of my Home Office as it didn't seem worth while doing a YouTube video.

LibreOffice on rollApp Vs Google Drive

LibreOffice on rollApp gives you the fully functioning LibreOffice Suite on your Chrome OS device like you get when you use Microsoft Office Online or Apple iWork iCloud Beta, but as it’s streamed from the rollApp website you have to be online while using it like you have to when using Microsoft Office Online or Apple iWorkk iCloud Beta.

New App Launcher Position & Easy Unlock Launched in Latest Developer Channel Release Of Chrome OS

New app launcher position

In the latest developer build of Chrome OS Version 41.0.2243.0 dev (64-bit) Google has made the centered app launcher that has been available for a while under a flag the default launcher position, and while the flag still exists to enable the centered launcher it's inactive as flipping it to disable doesn't do anything.

My Home Office Set-up December 2014

My Home Office setup isn't like the video tours that you see on YouTube, it used to similar at one time. It’s now a lot more modest and minimalistic, but it works well for me.   So here’s my text and picture tour of my Home Office as it didn't seem worth while doing a YouTube video. The storage part of my Home Office is an old Computer desk that houses a Box of Printer Paper, a Shredder, a Box of Envelopes and a brown box that has some Computer stuff on the bottom shelf, the Keyboard drawer has an old Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard while the top shelf has a Printer Organizer with mostly odd bits of scrap paper and the charger for my Asus Google Nexus 7, Bluetooth headphones and my Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 USB Headset & on top of it I've got my Kodak esp 1.2 AIO Printer.

iPearl mCover For Acer C720/C720P Chromebook Follow-up (Part 3)

This will be my final Follow-up on this subject as the matter has been resolved satisfactory.

I received this comment from iPearl Europe on my last Article in this Follow-up series.

Hi Roland,
We are sending a new set of Acer 720 case to you, if you have not received, it's probably on the way, but it's coming...

and here is my reply to there comment.

Hi,
Ok thanks. 

The comment from iPearl came on Thursday the 4th of December when I wrote the Article and my reply was on Friday the 5th of December. From the comment by iPearl Europe I wasn't sure what to expect to receive in the Post, but today Sunday the 7th of December I received two lots of mail which was a shock in itself as there isn't normally any post on Sundays.

iPearl mCover For Acer C720/C720P Chromebook Follow-up (Part 2)

After my last Article in this series I'm still kind of having trouble with iPearl, this time with iPearl Europe. Below is the current Email conversation that I've had with iPearl Europe.

Why I Switched To The 11.6" Acer C720 Chromebook

For as long as I've been using Laptop & Notebook Computers I've used Desktop Replacements with large Screens, the smallest screened laptop I've used was a 10" Advent Netbook that I used for a few years when I needed a new laptop pretty quick.

The last Desktop Replacement Laptop I got was a 15.6" Toshiba Satellite C660-15R, Although it's a decent Machine with plenty of Power,more RAM than my current Laptop and a 1TB Toshiba HDD that I installed, and it's even capable of running the Windows 10 Technical Preview it's very heavy on the shoulder to carry around, especially when you factor in things like the Power Supply and a few other Accessories.

My Home Office Set-up Early December 2014

My Home Office setup isn't like the video tours that you see on YouTube, it used to similar at one time. It’s now a lot more modest and minimalistic, but it works well for me.   So here’s my text and picture tour of my Home Office as it didn't seem worth while doing a YouTube video. The storage part of my Home Office is an old Computer desk that houses a Box of Printer Paper, a Shredder, a Box of Envelopes and a brown box that has some Computer stuff on the bottom shelf, the Keyboard drawer has an old Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard while the top shelf has a Printer Organizer with mostly odd bits of scrap paper and the charger for my Asus Google Nexus 7, Bluetooth headphones and my Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 USB Headset & on top of it I've got my Kodak esp 1.2 AIO Printer.

Microsoft Office Online Review

Microsoft Office Online is very much like the Offline version of Microsoft Office from a visual perspective minus a few options in the File Menu that are exclusive to the Offline version. As a suite it is 99.98% the same as what you would get in the Home Offline version & the Home & Personal Office 365 editions.

My Current Chrome OS Desktop App Drawer Layout (Late November 2014)

In this post I'll describe the layout of my Chromebook Desktop with a full description to why I've chosen the layout etc.

The Wallpaper is taken from the 2014 EIHL Play-Off Final when my home team The Sheffield Steelers beat the League Champions The Belfast Giants 3-2 in Overtime. Since it's now the Hockey Season I thought it quite fitting to go with a Hockey themed wallpaper.

iPearl mCover For Acer C720/C720P Chromebook Follow Up Review (Part 1)

After owning the iPearl mCover 9 months and three days it started to fall apart slightly. The rear folding leg on the left hand side broke on the inside of the base of the case meaning that the leg keeps falling down, making it hard to just slip it into my Laptop bag without having to think carefully how I'm sliding it in, and the rear right corner of the base of the cover where it wraps around the corner of the Chromebook has broken slightly.

How the rear left corner of the mCover looks un-broken

How the rear right corner of the mCover looks broken

Rear right fod ut leg broken

This is despite treating my Chromebook with care therefore while I've been using the mCover I've also been treating that with care, so the cover shouldn't just start falling apart when it's been treated as carefully as the Laptop that it covers. I decided to send an Email to iPearl on Sunday detailing my problems.

To who it may concern,

I bought an iPearl mCover for my Acer C720 Chromebook from your Amazon UK store on the 21st of February this year.

 After 9 months and three days of owning it the left hand leg has broken meaning that it constantly falls down when not in use, and the right hand rear corner has broken.

The case hasn't been treated roughly while in use, so quite why the left leg & right rear corner has broken I don't know.

I did a two part review of this cover on my blog over a week when I first received my cover and gave it a very favourable review, had I known that there was these two defects I wouldn't have given it such a favourable review.

Regards

Mr. Roland Hurt

I was shocked at how quickly I got a response from iPearl with it being a Sunday, as they replied to me within a few hours of me sending them an Email.

Thank you for contacting us.  We do have a 90 day warranty on our case, however your case is now out of warranty at this time

Thank you,
iPearl Inc

I was a little shocked that they only have a 90 day warranty on their cases as most Manufacturers have a 1 year warranty on their items. This means that since the cover has started to break after their 90 day warranty period I'm left ether with a broken product or out of pocket having to replace it.

Since I'd not left a Review of the cover on Amazon UK even though I'd had the case for over 9 months, it gave me the ideal opportunity to let people looking at the cover know what happens.

If the cover had been a cheap Chinese knock off bough on eBay then I could expect it falling apart quickly, but I bought the cover from the iPearl UK Amazon store, so I'd expect it to last years with care not just to last past its warranty before falling apart.

I'm a little angry that the case has started to fall apart so quickly as it cost me nearly £20 GBP when I got it. For the build quality since it doesn't even last 1 year without starting to fall apart despite been treated as if it's as fragile as the Laptop that it covers then it should be priced in the range of a cheap knock off Chinese cover sold on eBay.

I'm starting to wish that I'd left the second part of the review for a little longer than a week, so I would't have needed to write this Article, but I expected it to be of sufficient enough quality to have lasted years, especially when I first saw these covers reviewed on Android Central.

I said that I'd recommend the iPearl mCover in the second part of my initial review of the cover earlier in the year. If I was to do the same review now I'd have to think long and hard about whether I'd recommend the iPearl mCover or not. based on the fact that it's only covered by a 90 day warranty I'd probably not recommend it, but as it's the only hard shell cover for the Acer C720/C720P then I'd still recommend it but this time with a warning that it's only covered by a 90 day warranty and even if it is treated with care like the Chromebook that it's protecting it'll start to break after the 90 day warranty has expired.

Rant over

Roland