Useful accessories for your Chromebook

Here’s some add-ons that I think you’ll find very useful if you’ve got or are about to buy a Chromebook.

USB 3.0 hub with Network Connection

At work we use USB to network adapters with Surface Pro’s because they don’t have a network port on them. These nifty little adapters allow you to use a USB port to add a network connection to your device.

On Chromebooks these adapters are perfect for large downloads, file transfers like photos and videos and great for streaming. While searching for one I came across the Anker 3 Port USB 3.0 and Ethernet Hub. It not only is a network adapter but also has a USB 3.0 port included in an elegant aluminium package.

I brought this because it’s portable, useful, stylish and universally compatible with all my devices. In a nutshell it’s an easy way to add a wired network connection and 3 USB 3.0 ports to my Chromebook.

Compact USB 3.0 Flash Drive

Once you’ve installed Linux on your Chromebook you’ll be left with about 9GB of usable space on the internal drive. At some point you’ll need more space and ultra compact USB 3.0 drives are an excellent option. With these drives expect speeds in the region of 150MB/s.

Class 10 SD Card

If you prefer to keep your USB 3.0 free, an SD card is a good alternative to using a flash drive. With a dedicated SD card you can leave it permanently in the slot. SD cards are slower but Class 10 SD cards are the faster ones. It is capable of speeds of up to 90 MB/s and comes in capacities ranging from 16GB to a massive 256GB. The class indicates the speed of the card with class 10 being the fastest.

So if you’re wondering why SD cards vary so much in price, check the class of the card.