Chromebooks or Desktops or Notebooks or Tablets?

As a previously avid and enthusiatic Apple MacBook Pro and iPhone user and fanatic - I have used and/or owned almost every model of both of these devices, which now takes up an entire shelf in my IT supplies cabinet - I still make use of an old 23" 2010 iMac (reinstalled with ChromeOS Flex), which I use for webinars, training sessions, and as a second screen on my desk.

I've tried a few tablets incl. Android, Apple and Windows variants, however I've always felt that without a physical keyboard and trackpad/mouse, on a tablet of any size, I'm always working at less than the optimal capacity of my ten-finger-touch-typing skills (developed over years, initially requiring dogged determination to learn, and which is something that I'm still mastering.

As an ICT service provider, over the past three decades, I have encountered numerous (mostly Android) tablet charging trolleys filled with dusty tablets that are no longer in use, because they are no longer able to receive updates, or the educators couldn't figure out how to incorporate them into their lessons, and when they tried, the batteries didn't last long enough for students to complete a lesson, without going to fetch a charging cable, and hunt for a spare charging socket in the classroom. Does that sound familiar?

For me, a device with a (permanently attached) physical keyboard, a trackpad and enough USB ports to connect some peripherals (at the least: a mouse) is essential in an educational (and, importantly later, in a real working world professional context. 

~ After all, how many jobs can you do effectively, just by using a tablet? ~ 

I switched to Chromebooks about five years ago, as a result of needing to deploy Coding and Robotics labs for schools, who typically didn't have any technology, or when they did, it was a half functioning computer lab with sluggish, outdated desktop PCs, that were more trouble than they were worth. Is your current lab coming to mind?

~ My hunt for the perfect education device, built primarily for teaching and learning, led me to Google Chromebooks. ~

I can now do everything and anything on my Chromebook, incl. running a full instance of Windows, and any installable app (think .exe) too, thanks to clever software like Parallels (requires a Chromebook Plus device), or more recently, using Cameyo (recently acquired by Google), and now built into the Google ChromeOS ecosystem (as of 13-Nov-2025).

So, in the spirit of sharing, and being true to my convictions, and considering what kind of devices are affordable and sustainable here in Africa - and without arguing the real value that many in academia are getting from other excellent devices (such as Apple iPads) - here's a report that highlights the typical ROI experienced by those who have deployed Chromebooks in their organisations. 

 

PS: And yes, thankfully, a regular School IT Administrator can also manage phones and tablets using the Google Workspace for Education platform, of which Chromebooks are a natural fit - and if you give them a try - will quickly become an essential component of your digital transformation journey, enabling engaging and exciting teaching and learning (and robust and practical assessment and reporting).

Disclaimer: This post was authored entirely on my Android Based Nothing Phone (1), typing only with my thumbs (and without leaning on Gemini AI, for a change). 

Incidentally, this device pairs perfectly with any Chromebook that I am signed into.