I wrote this blog without an internet connection

Just for the fun of it, I decided to write this blog on the Pixel without an internet connection.

I am doing this because I’ve read that some people think it is slightly insane to pay $999 for a “web browser.”

I think they miss the point, but I’ll play along. It is true that much of the functionality of this device is now disabled.

But it is also true that this is not stopping me from writing this blog in Google Docs, which is automatically being saved to my device. I will then cut and paste into Blogger when I am back on-line. If you are reading this, then it worked as planned.

Out of all the apps that are saved on my desktop, here’s the ones that I can access: Google Keep (as long as I’m not trying to click on any links that I have saved in there), Wunderlist (including my task list and passwords), I have access to my files that are in my desktop Folder, Google Drive, and Slides. In short, most of the real work apps are accessible.

Here’s the ones that absolutely do not work at all: Gmail, YouTube, Pandora, Google Calendar, Facebook, Blogger, Weebly, Google+, and Netflix. Most of those are not crucial for me in the day to day. Plus, I can access any of those through my phone if I need to.

So I can create and edit documents, review or use my saved powerpoint presentations, and gain access information I have saved in Keep, my task list, and my passwords. Hardly crippling.

And that is without downloading a single extension like the Gmail Offline app and the many other apps that also work on the Pixel or any Chromebook when you are offline. I haven’t really even thoroughly researched all of the extensions and apps that are available for offline use because I really don’t need to.

But the reason why I say the critics miss the point is that I’m really getting used to - loving actually - having everything in the cloud and NOT having to save everything in my old school office with my old school MS desktop or using an old school memory stick. True freedom, I think.

I love the fact that I can save a PowerPoint presentation document from work on Google Slides and now can access it from anywhere on any device. Same for documents and spreadsheets.

I also love that everything is so fluid between my Android Nexus 6 and my new home laptop, the shiny new Pixel.

Don’t believe you have to be on-line to use the Pixel; this blog is proof that it’s just not true.

Videos on the Pixel

 

A laptop is only as good as its video playback! Ability to edit videos is nice, too.

Primarily, I watch YouTube and Netflix. I also recently started playing around with the video editing app WeVideo.

I have pinned the YouTube and Netflix icons onto my desktop and with that one click after the quick start up, I watch clips and movies easily due to the Pixel's fantastic processor. I have not yet encountered a situation that the video stops in the middle to load more content as I would occasionally have to sit through on a phone or tablet.

Navigating YouTube presents me with the only situations where I instinctively reach for the touchscreen to skip through video content. It comes in handy, for sure.

My test video is Pink's 'Blow Me (One Last Kiss)'. The blacks are deep and the reds are vivid. The bright FHD screen is pleasing to the eye. Nature videos really come to life.

The speakers, however, are another story.

While passable, if they are turned near or at their highest volume, they sound tinny and unnatural.

Thankfully, you can hear the sound quite adequately when the volume is turned up halfway or a little higher than that. And it is acceptable quality at those middle levels.

Recently, I picked up my dog after he spent two months back in NC. I took a video on my Nexus 6 to capture the moment.

Editing the video on the Pixel with the WeVideo app was fairly easy. I trimmed the length down, added a title, some music, and a filter. Took about 10 minutes.

Overall, I'd say this thing handles video - both watching and editing - quite well.

MightyText lives up to its name

 

I'm not sure how I discovered MightyText, but I'm glad I did. It is the perfect companion for the Pixel Chromebook, or any Chromebook for that matter and it certainly lives up to its name.

I have used several Android apps that sync my phone with my tablets, but I have never used a desktop version, nor did I know it was available.

It really does make my Pixel even more valuable as a one-stop productivity tool because when I get text messages or phone calls on my phone, I don't even have to look at it. I can see who is calling or texting by the notifications at the bottom right corner of my Pixel (see photo). 

What really surprised me as an guy with average computing ability and knowledge, is that not only would MightyText messages and phone call notifications appear on my Chromebook, but they would also appear on my desktop at work, if I was logged in to Chrome. I just didn't know that would happen. 

I can also respond to the text messages and carry out a full out text conversations right from the Pixel or from any desktop computer if I'm logged in to Chrome. 

MightyText also gives you the option to have all notifications from your phone appear on your Chromebook. I had that on for a few days, but I found that to be too distracting, particularly while listening to Pandora on my phone while working on a Slide on the Pixel. So I disabled that feature. 

To add MightyText to your Pixel or Chromebook, simply go to the Chrome store, search for MightyText, and click "add on".

From there, download the app to your phone via the Play Store. The two easily sync.

There are also lots of additional things you can do with MightyText, particularly if you want the Pro version.

Every week I am discovering more tools that Google has made available to Chrome OS users and every day I am loving the Pixel even more as my primary computing device.

Google Slides: ready to be your go-to presentation app

After one month of using cloud-based Google Slides on my Pixel, I do not want to go back to a desktop-based presentation program. 

My first encounter with Slides was updating a 50+ page PowerPoint presentation for work, which was saved to the hard drive on my desktop, which also was at work.

That's great, if I want to do it all while I'm at work. Not as nice if I'm travelling and have access to a bunch of devices, but not the desktop that my PowerPoint presentation is saved on. 

Yes, I know that you can also save and update PowerPoint with OneDrive in the clouds, but this is the Pixel blog, not a Surface Pro blog, so I'm gonna tell you how this whole thing worked for me using Slides. 

I emailed the PowerPoint presentation to myself before I left work and saved it in Slides - which I had read but didn't have complete faith in - was compatible with PowerPoint. 

So now, my PowerPoint document is accessible from my Pixel, but also my phone, my tablet, or whatever other device I happen to be near. I can read it and update it from anywhere. After updating the first ten pages, I simply cut and paste those changes to the PowerPoint presentation when I got back in the office and had time to do it. It took a few minutes, but it was pretty easy overall. 

There is a tremendous amount of freedom in knowing that I'm not locked to the desktop. 

Next up and just last week, I was in a three-day meeting using a MS Office laptop that was not mine and I needed to create a new presentation for a meeting that same week, but I didn't have either my Pixel or my desktop available. 

So I turned to Slides; I created a beautiful presentation in minutes that I updated later that evening on my Pixel. I emailed the presentation to my the person who needed it and we reviewed it in the meeting that I was at later in the week from my colleagues laptop, a MS-based Dell laptop. 

Truthfully, this was one area where I was a little apprehensive about forking over the $999 for the Pixel and why I had considered one of those sleek MS Surface Pros. I had seen people using them and they look like awesome little devices. But I really do not like the colors (personal preference) and I also am pretty attached to the Google ecosystem. 

I also had considered the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2, which has the Hancom Office products. I gave Hancom a test drive on my work tablet, a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8.0. I think the product works beautifully on the Tab Pro, but on the Tab 4 it was an instant headache making any changes or even scrolling through the document for that matter. But I attribute that more to the mid-range specs on the tablet than because of any problems with Hancom itself. 

Other than the aforementioned reasons, I love the fact that Slides is constantly updating itself and I never have to fear getting a phone call, walking away from my desk, and forgetting to update it. 

I'm a huge Google Slides fan. Wonder if they sell Google Slides bumper stickers?

Why I chose Google's $999 Chromebook Pixel

Last summer, I spent one month on a Chromebook, using it almost every day. It was the white HP Chromebook 14. 

I didn't have WiFi in my house at the time, so one of the reasons I chose this model was because it also came with a lifetime supply of data from T-Mobile. Not a lot of data, but enough to get you started. You could add more as you needed. I had heard most of the negatives: you need to be connected to the Internet to use the Chromebook, Chromebooks are cheap, Chromebooks are for people who can't afford "real" computers, and a few others that you might have heard. 

But I hadn't had a desktop computer in my house for a number of years and I really hadn't needed one. Once in a while I would bring a laptop home from work, but more often than not, I would do pretty much everything on my Android tablets, which I used bluetooth keyboards with when I needed that experience. So, I reasoned, a Chromebook could meet my needs.

I really liked my Chromebook experience. I created a really cool website, worked on a blog, created a killer resume from a template I found on the Chromebook, and, more recently have been using Google Slides on the HP Chromebook to update a lengthy work PowerPoint document from home.

While I loved the Chromebook experience, the resolution on the HP Chromebook 14 wasn't all that great. So over the last few months, I started researching newer Chromebooks and new larger Android tablets with keyboards.

I was strongly cosidering buying a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2" with a keyboard for a total price of around $650. The first tablet I owned, however, was the original Samsung Galaxy Tab. I guess you could say I'm an early adapter. I loved that thing and it worked great - for nine months. But at nine months and one day, I started having serious battery drain issues. I sent the thing in to Samsung twice and it was returned with the same problem. Samsung would not replace my device. So when it came time to spend a little more money, all I could think of was if I buy the somewhat pricey Tab Pro and it for some reason stops working, Samsung will not have my back and I'll be out $550. So I just couldn't pull the trigger on the Tab Pro, though I am enamored with it.

Then, I found out that Google just launched the Chromebook Pixel 2. It had everything I had been looking for with its quality and looks. So I ordered it for $999 Friday, sight unseen and it arrived Tuesday.

My next blog will cover week one with the Pixel 2. I will give you a preview: I love everything about it - except one thing.