What is the best internet browser for a lenovo ideapad laptop

[Snow Leopard]

Hey AN,

Just wondering if anyone had any advice as to which internet browser I should be using for a Lenovo ideapad laptop.
Apparantly, Microsoft Edge (which the laptop was installed with) is most suitable. However, I'm used to using google chrome and the news stuff on Microsoft Edge is really distracting for me.

- Just wondering: whether using google chrome with make my laptop load slower or use up more energy (so far it seems to be losing charge really quickly in general though)?
- Any other tips/advice for making a laptop last longer (like should I be restarting it every so often or any other tips)?
- Also this laptop only has 57 GB so any tips as to using that storage affectively?
- From my school e-mail, I'm able to access like word, powerpoint etc (without having bought Office 365 for this laptop (even though I have a 1 year free trial for this laptop) and it seems to be saving it to my onedrive? To any one that uses Onedrive, how reliable is it?

Thanks in advance!

[r1ckworthy]

Hey Snow Leopard,

Yeah, google chrome is a bit of a power hog, in that it is notorious for using up a lot of RAM, making your computer slower. If I were you, I would use fire-fox instead of edge, as edge is a really clunky browser. You can also opt for a couple of other browsers such as vivaldi, opera and so on. However, for windows, firefox should do the trick.

In terms of battery, you should open up the battery usage stats (found in settings- I'm not sure since I use a mac ) or something, where you can see how much battery life is consumed by applications. You should quit apps every now and then, and using firefox instead of chrome will also help. Google it, there should be tons of tips on how to reduce your battery usage.

As for storage, you should back up your files online, so there is sufficient space on your laptop. This is where Onedrive comes in. In my experience, one drive  makes it really easy to back up documents on word, presentations on powerpoint etc. However, it can sometimes be slow and buggy. I once spent a couple of hours trying to retrieve a document I saved on one drive, which might be due to the computer's fault, but still something to know. I generally use google drive, as it is my preferred back up choice. However, since you can access office from your school's email, check on how much storage OneDrive has to offer. If it offers a way bigger storage, you should opt for this. Whilst one drive is frustrating to use at times, it should be really handy for the additional back-up storage. I use google drive now because I rarely use word, powerpoint etc and have instead opted for google docs, slides etc for a couple of reasons.

Hopefully that helps!

[Aaron]

Definitely think using a cloud based storage option given your lack of internal storage is the best way to go. OneDrive is useful because it has two modes: online / download on request or offline availability, meaning you can save the storage. In schools, if they are on the education plans you get 1 TB of storage space which is quite a significant amount for cloud-based storage. For GApps, there's Google Drive File Stream (GDFS) which is NOT the downloadable Google Drive app. It's designed for education deployment BUT can be used on a personal device. The upside of GDFS over the standard Google Drive option is that it like OneDrive has a download only on request feature, saving storage and only downloading to your device when needed.

If you are in a government school (I don't know so going to assume?), Office 365 is available by default using eduPASS (email @schools.vic.edu.au), if you don't know what i'm talking about go and see your IT technician when you return to school. Google Apps is also available by visiting https://drive.google.com/a/edustar.vic.edu.au/ and logging in again with eduPASS details (just make sure your school hasn't already signed up using their own web address first!). If you aren't in the government system, then you'll have to speak to your IT techs to get advice on what your school uses etc.

OneDrive is extremely reliable and is a Microsoft product so you know the reputation is there and your files won't just disappear. The risk of saving to a uni / school account is loss of data once your access is revoked so it's important to remember to get those files and remove them before you lose your access.

Google Chrome is a massive resource hog but not significantly more than any other standard browser. I use Firefox personally for my day-to-day stuff because the aesthetic is much better and suits my eyes more (I don't know what it is, something to do with fonts). I suppose it's something that is personal to you. Choosing a different browser than Chrome purely because of the "resource" reason is a pretty weak reason to justify a browser change... but each to their own I suppose.

For your laptop, make sure you turn it off rather than sleep. I am a serial offender with my work laptop, accidentally forgetting to turn it off and just shutting the screen. Doing this it still utilises a low level of power so the best way to give your parts a rest is to shut it down completely. Play around with the power settings and change the screen / sleep settings along with brightness as these impact the battery's overall performance. Another thing i'd keep in mind is that if your laptop gets quite hot due to use, this can slowly damage your parts (ideally the built in fans are enough but not always) so definitely check that Task Manager to see if there's anything that's hogging your resources.

P.s Edge is (generally) a dud, don't use it unless you're using it to download another browser. While it's mostly compatible with everything, it lacks that polish that the more popular browsers have.

[Snow Leopard]

However, since you can access office from your school's email, check on how much storage OneDrive has to offer. If it offers a way bigger storage, you should opt for this.

Yeah, hopefully it has a good amount of storage!
Thanks so much for all the advice r1ckworthy
Thanks a million for the amazing advice Aaron

OneDrive is extremely reliable and is a Microsoft product so you know the reputation is there and your files won't just disappear. The risk of saving to a uni / school account is loss of data once your access is revoked so it's important to remember to get those files and remove them before you lose your access.

Since I have a 1 year free trial with Office 365, do you reckon I should save all of my documents etc to this laptops Microsoft OneDrive as opposed to my School Microsoft OneDrive (for this year, i.e: Yr 11). Then, next year (Yr 12) save my documents to my School Microsoft OneDrive (which should have 1 TB of storage space, I'll ask the I.T people at school to make sure), then transfer whatever files I want onto a USB stick before the school deletes my account.
(sorry if that made no sense)

If you aren't in the government system, then you'll have to speak to your IT techs to get advice on what your school uses etc

Yeah, I'll definitely need to do this since I go to a Catholic School. Hopefully, they can also help me connect this laptop to the school's printers otherwise I'll have to log onto one of the library's desktops/computers every time I want to print.

Thanks again for all of the advice, I really appreciate it

[Aaron]

If you have a school OneDrive account then you have Office365. I would be VERY surprised if schools did not offer one of GApps or O365 which would signal the fact they are falling behind from a technical/digital learning perspective.

I think you should just use your school one. If you only have a trial for your personal account then it's not worth it because your OneDrive storage would most likely be limited within the trial anyway.

Go to http://www.office.com, sign in using your school details and it should come up with all things O365 - the Office Online products along with some other things depending on the plan your school has. Alternatively, your school should have a O365 portal link on their intranet/website somewhere.

[Snow Leopard]

If you have a school OneDrive account then you have Office365. I would be VERY surprised if schools did not offer one of GApps or O365 which would signal the fact they are falling behind from a technical/digital learning perspective.

I think you should just use your school one. If you only have a trial for your personal account then it's not worth it because your OneDrive storage would most likely be limited within the trial anyway.

Go to http://www.office.com, sign in using your school details and it should come up with all things O365 - the Office Online products along with some other things depending on the plan your school has. Alternatively, your school should have a O365 portal link on their intranet/website somewhere.

Okay, thanks again for the clarification and all of your help