Does Computeractive have an anti-chromebook agenda?

In your review of the Asus Flip C101PA Chromebook (Issue 537, pictured), you made the following statements: “it just runs a glorified web browser”, “it [online storage] will cost you £1.59 a month”, “you can’t compare the Flip to a proper PC”, and “less appealing for gamers”.

All of these may be technically correct, but don’t give the full picture. You can run Android apps outside of the browser; Google gives you 15GB of storage free; the Flip is a PC - as in, it’s a ‘personal computer’; and gamers wouldn’t even be looking at a Chromebook anyway.

As for the choice of software, your reviewer obviously hasn’t put the effort in, because there is everything from photo manipulation to office if one moves away from Microsoft’s offerings and uses programs like Libreoffice.

The next generation of Chromebooks will not only have Android apps, but also access to Linux apps, which offers an app store similar to those of Google, Apple, and Microsoft. There’s even talk of dualbooting into Windows 10 in the future. I run Windows 10 and Linux-based PCS as well as a Chromebook.

Computeractive should be encouraging people to understand alternatives, and not just accept the received wisdom that is Microsoft and/or Apple. Steve Bastiman

CA SAYS We agree with Steve that we should explain the alternatives to Microsoft and Apple - it’s why we’ve recommended several Chromebooks this year, including the Flip. But we must point out the limitations of devices. They’re fast to boot and easy to use, making them great for browsing the web. But while there are Android and web apps for many office and creative tasks, they don’t match the features of leading programs you can download to your PC. As such, we stand by the comment that they aren’t serious replacements for Windows PCS. Instead, they work best as secondary devices - ideal for web browsing, but not for intensive tasks like editing photos.