If you are looking for the perfect gift for the blogger in your life, a Chromebook may just be the best laptop for blogging. For bloggers traveling across town or the country, a Chromebook is a perfect companion.

Chromebooks, which are manufactured by a variety of manufacturers and powered by Google's Chrome OS, are some of Amazon's best sellers. It once seemed paramount to be tethered to a desktop or a heavy-duty laptop. With everything that gets accomplished in daily life, there's no doubt about it – you must be connected to the Internet. This is what makes them great gifts for bloggers, who will want to go online anytime, anywhere and be able to easily jot down ideas for their next blog post.

Chromebooks reflect the times we live in. After years of heavy-handed equipment that often works for a while, then shuts down, a Chromebook is light and bright and offers you all the features of the Google operating system for far less than a fully equipped laptop.

What can Chromebooks do? Do you check email, write papers or posts, take notes, or tweet out your news from the coffee shop? You can do all of these things on your Chromebook, plus a whole lot more. They are perfect for most applications, and everyone from college students, bloggers and those wishing to stay connected online will find this is the easiest way to do that.

Below are some of the key features of the Chromebook that make these portable computers so popular.

Your Documents are Always Backed-Up

Here's something to think about: what happens when your computer or laptop refuses to boot up when all you get is that deathly blue screen and you start to panic? It's not a pretty picture. But, with a Chromebook, if it should die suddenly, you can retrieve all of your documents from another Chromebook or computer. That's the beauty of the Chrome Operating System.

Chromebooks may not have all the bells and whistles of a fully-loaded laptop, but think about how much of your computer time is spent in a browser. Probably most of it. Anything that runs in the Google browser will be fully accessible to you. 

Keep in mind, even if you can't access a Windows or Mac program there are many free web-based alternatives in the Chrome Web Store.

Easily Share Your Work

Whatever you are working on can be shared easily with others when you use a Chromebook. While you can't do tons of local storage on your Chromebook, manufacturers are counting on the fact that you'll be sending your documents to the cloud.

You do have the capacity to save movies, music, PDFs, videos and documents with the Files app. If space starts filling up quickly, just move some of it to your Google Drive.

Chromebooks make it so easy to share multiple projects with colleagues and customers alike and because of built-in security, you'll be comfortable sharing and downloading files without the fear of a crash or malware taking your data down.

and on that topic...

Never Worry About Viruses

With a Google Chromebook, you always have the most up-to-date virus protection, because they are automatically kept current. Best of all, as your Chromebook ages, it won't slow down like so many computers and laptops are apt to do. So anytime you turn on your Chromebook, you'll have the peace of mind you need. Chromebooks have multiple layers of security and a verified boot which keep you safe from malware, viruses and other wonderful surprises that are often waiting for the unsuspecting computer user.

Get Writing in Seconds

Do you turn on your laptop, then wait, and wait some more? A typical Chromebook boots up in about ten seconds. If you're late to the meeting or class, or just want to hold that thought until you can get it down on ‘paper’; you'll be able to do so within a few seconds with a Chromebook. Which means you can get to work faster, stay there, and get what you need to be accomplished.

Long Battery Life Keeps You Going

This is one of the best features of all. Nothing is more frustrating than to be in the middle of a brainstorm and have your laptop zing out because of no more battery power. Now with a Chromebook, you can stay put longer and get that blog post polished to perfection. Whether you're at the coffee shop, airport, park or sitting comfortably in your living room, there's no need to be constantly plugging in for power.

Doesn't Break the Bank

Many Chromebooks are under $300. This makes them very affordable, especially when you don't have a lot of cash to put out all at once. What makes Chromebooks so affordable? First of all, you'll be using a free operating system as opposed to Windows 8 or Apple OSX which charge the manufactures a fee.

These laptops are easy, breezy, and require no ongoing maintenance thanks to the Chrome OS. A Chromebook boots up in seconds, has all the essential programs, and they are easy to manage. They are available in a range of options from a large number of manufacturers. If you, or the blogger in your life, are in the market for a lightweight, fast, portable computer you may be looking to purchase a Chromebook. 

Which Chromebook Should You Get?

There are many great options that you can checkout here: http://www.google.com/chromebook/ - here you can sort by manufacture, screen size and type. 

 At Blog Hands we chose the Toshiba Chromebook 2 due to it's beautiful screen and great processing power and battery life for the price. If you want to keep it a bit longer I'd also recommend a case. Here's the one we use.