While Chromebooks have a reputation of being fast, secure and lightweight devices, they have their own drawbacks or disadvantages. Hence it is necessary to be aware about the limitations and disadvantages of Chromebooks before buying them.
Once you have gone through the disadvantages of Chromebooks, it is recommended that you also take a look at the Advantages of Chromebooks, in order to get an overall picture of this particular breed of computers.
1. Limited Storage
Low priced or budget friendly Chromebooks are generally sold with limited local storage capacity, with an option to extend the storage capacity by using SD Card.
This means you will have to get used to the idea of storing your files on Google’s Cloud Storage service or manage with the available built-in storage and whatever can be extended by using SD Card or another form of external storage.
2. Cloud Storage
Chromebooks are basically designed to perform all their computing and storage functions on Google’s Cloud platform. In order to make the full use of a Chromebook, you need to get comfortable with the idea of having your files, books, pictures and music on Google Drive.
When you buy a Chromebook, Google offers 100 GB of free storage space on Google Drive for 2 years, after which you will be paying a small fee.
3. Chromebooks Can Be Slow!
Although Chromebooks are known for their ultra-fast boot up times, they can get slow while performing tasks like working on spreadsheets or retrieving and saving files.
The reason for this is due to all the processing being done on Google’s Cloud storage service; which needs to sync back to your device using the limited speed of your internet connection.
4. No Microsoft Office
Chromebooks have their own version of free online suite of Microsoft office-like products that can be used to produce Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentations.
Hence, Chromebooks may not be suitable for you, if you are totally dependent on Microsoft Excel and other Microsoft Office products.
Related: How to Use Microsoft Excel on Chromebook.
5. Other Professional Software Programs
Professional productivity software programs like AutoCAD, Primavera, Timberline, Sage 50, TurboCash, AccuountEdge Pro and the desktop version of QuickBooks cannot be used on a Chromebook.
The reason for this is due to inability of Chromebooks to run .exe files; which are required to download, install and run desktop applications.
Note: Chromebooks can access online versions of QuickBooks, Sage and other software programs.
6. Video Editing
Chromebooks do not support professional video editing software programs like Movie Plus, Cyberlink Power Director, Adobe Premier Elements and others.
However, there are certainly some good online video editing services like WeVideo and others; which can be be used on a Chromebook.
7. No Photoshop
Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and other Adobe desktop software solutions are not supported by Chromebooks.
However, you can make use of online photo-editing applications like Pixlr, the online version of Photoshop Express Editor and others.
These online photo-editing tools are good enough for most casual photo editing functions but not meant for professional photo editing.
8. Limited Gaming
Since, Chromebooks come with a limited amount of local storage and local processing capacity; they are not suitable for playing high intensity PC games.
However, you can play online games like Cut the Rope, Bejeweled and other games available on Google’s Chrome Store.
9. Limited Offline Use
While Chromebooks do have offline capabilities, they are primarily designed to work at their best when they are connected to Google Drive via an internet connection.
For more information about using Chromebooks offline, you can refer to this guide: How to Work Offline on a Chromebook.
10. Optical Disk Drives
Chromebooks do not come with optical drives, which totally prevents you from playing your favorite DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. Also, there is no way of getting around this limitation as Chromebooks do not support external optical drives.
However, this cannot be considered as disadvantage as optical disk drives have almost been phased out and computers no longer support optical disc drives.