If you spend most of your time working on the web (like me) and much of your time spread betting (like me) you may be beginning to wonder if you need a proper PC at all, and whether one of the stripped back web-browser-only Chromebook computers might be more appropriate for your needs.
Chromebooks will not be for everyone because you can’t install traditional Windows PC software, so you’ll likely be out of luck trying to install something as sophisticated as Meta Trader on it. But let’s face it, must of us spread bet solely within our web browsers via the providers’ web sites, and more and more of us are turning to the efficient Chrome web browser. So a cheap-and-cheerful computer that (more or less) runs only the Chrome web browser may be just the ticket, and you can pick up a Samsung or Acer Chromebook for a very small ticket price indeed.
I can’t vouch for the Acer, but I found the inexpensive ARM-powered Samsung Chromebook to be just a little bit underpowered and small-screened for my needs. So enter my salvation, in the form of the brand new Chromebook Pixel!
Warning: this model isn’t for lightweights who baulk at paying the odd £100 bill here and there, because currently you’ll have to shell out more than ten times that amount to buy one from Google Play.
If you like the finer things in life, and you’re not mean with your money, then you might appreciate the Chromebook Pixel’s Apple-like sleek styling combined with the highest resolution touch-screen (apparently) of any current laptop. Mine arrived today, and it’s… so far, so very good.
Here is a picture (which doesn’t do it justice at all) of my freshly minted Chromebook Pixel running the InterTrader web site in the foreground and with IG tucked in behind it. I thought it might make the best picture (I was wrong) but in any case this is not the best way to operate multiple spread betting accounts on a Chromebook. It’s much easier to operate each spread betting web site — let’s include ETX Capital, Capital Spreads, Spread Co and SpreadEx — each in its own browser tab for easy switching between them.
Boys and their toys, eh?
If you’re looking to make a possible move to a Chromebook for spread betting or anything else web-based, you might want to check out the capabilities of the Chromebook’s “cloud computing” approach first in “The Chrome Book”.
Two Steps to Better Spread Betting:
1) Buy the Better Spread Betting Book
2) Sign up with Capital Spreads, IG, ETX Capital, or Spread Co
Disclaimer: this posting is for general education only; it is not trading advice.