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Chromebook journal and a question about mindmapping software
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Posted by jaslar
Sep 24, 2017 at 05:59 PM
I recently picked up a Chromebook (C100p notebook) at $250 for an overseas trip. It worked great; really light and easy to travel with. The screen and keyboard are a little small, but then, so is an airplane table.
In addition to things you would expect to work well (Google Docs, Gmail, and Chrome), I also found it very easy to work with Dynalist. I use Simplenote for general notes,and for the first time have been playing with Office.com for Microsoft products (necessary for my job). I’m happy with the purchase and the device.
But I had two areas of awkwardness. One was SIMPLE list making. I’m one of those people that I have to have a quick, ubiquitous tool to grab my incoming to dos. (As I’ve learned to my sorrow, I have to capture things to one place. Multiple places doesn’t work.) Simplenote doesn’t quite work for me because it doesn’t have checkboxes, or any easy way to reorder things within a note,or reorder notes. While Dynalist is great on the Chromebook, I’m not keen for it on mobile. Re-ordering is clunky. So I took another look at Google Keep, and I don’t know if it’s me, or them, but suddenly I find it a very good fit for the simple task inbox I was looking for. Really handy on mobile.
But what I haven’t been able to find is a good cloud based mindmapper. I use mindmaps for planning talks, and general thinking. My little Chromebook doesn’t have Android apps implemented just yet, it appears. Dr. Andus and others - what mindmapping solutions have you found for the Chromebook? I’ve looked at Mindmup (which now is subscription based, $2.99/mo if you want to save private maps) and Coggle ($5 a month).
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Sep 24, 2017 at 08:38 PM
A few years ago I used Mindomo:
I found it adequate for my needs at the time. I haven’t used it for a few years, so I am not sure how much it might have evolved. It has desktop versions, for when you’re not using your Chromebook.
Steve Z.
Posted by Dr Andus
Sep 24, 2017 at 08:40 PM
jaslar wrote:
>I recently picked up a Chromebook (C100p notebook) at $250
>for the first time have been playing
>with Office.com for Microsoft products (necessary for my job).
>But I had two areas of awkwardness. One was SIMPLE list making.
> I’ve looked at Mindmup (which now is subscription based,
>$2.99/mo if you want to save private maps) and Coggle ($5 a month).
Welcome to the Chrome OS world! Check out https://www.reddit.com/r/chromeos/ , it’s the best community I found of Chromebook users.
BTW, I love my C100 Flip as well, it was an amazing piece of kit when it first came out, and it is still running strong for me after 2 years.
Luckily the C100 comes with Android, so you can also make use of the MS Office Android apps.
For list-making I use WorkFlowy. It also has an app version in the Chrome Web Store, which means you can use it offline as well (though I prefer to use the browser version, enhanced with Stylish CSS and other extensions).
For mindmaps I use the free version of Mindmup. I have not yet reached the point when I needed to subscribe to it. I just save directly to Google Drive, which is great. But I wouldn’t mind paying for Mindmup if I was pushed to it, it’s a great app.
I also love to use Gingko on Chromebooks, though that makes for a different type of list-making and outlining.
And check out Caret in the Web Store for text editing. And Speed Dial 2 for bookmarks in new tabs. Well, I could just go on, as there are lots of great extensions in the Web Store that enhance the browsing experience.
Posted by Dr Andus
Sep 24, 2017 at 08:46 PM
jaslar wrote:
>My little
>Chromebook doesn’t have Android apps implemented just yet, it appears.
I missed this sentence. The C100 was among the first Chromebooks that got Android, so you definitely should be able to set it up. Look for the Play Store icon among your apps to launch it.
Posted by jaslar
Sep 25, 2017 at 04:03 PM
Thanks for the comments. Mindmup, using the free version, won’t let me save to Google anymore. I’ve also been looking at mindmapmaker.org, which offers a somewhat quirky, but free and open source outliner. I haven’t made up my mind about it.
I’m puzzled by the android app setup. In setting, the “Google Play Store (beta) option gives me a button that says “Turn On.” When I click it, nothing happens, and I don’t have the icon in my list of choices. Am I missing something?
Thanks for the Reddit link.
I forgot all about Gingko, which I liked when it first came out….