Welcome to Ask Jerry, where we talk about any and all the questions you might have about the smart things in your life. I’m Jerry, and I have spent the better part of my life working with tech. I have a background in engineering and R&D and have been covering Android and Google for the past 15 years.
Ask Jerry
Ask Jerry is a column where we answer your burning Android/tech questions with the help of long-time Android Central editor Jerry Hildenbrand.
I’m also really good at researching data about everything — that’s a big part of our job here at Android Central — and I love to help people (another big part of our job!). If you have questions about your tech, I’d love to talk about them.
Email me at askjerryac@gmail.com, and I’ll try to get things sorted out. You can remain anonymous if you like, and we promise we’re not sharing anything we don’t cover here.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Can I use online banking with a Chromebook?
Peter asks:
I know nothing about Chromebooks apart from the fact that they are cheaper than laptops. I bank online using a laptop. Can I do that on a Chromebook?
Hi Peter! This is such a good question and something a lot of people wonder about. Almost everything you read about Chromebooks talk about the price and how easy they are to use, especially with multiple users. But a lot of basic questions that are important for people to know before they buy one go unanswered.
The quick answer for you: Yes! A Chromebook offers a secure way to access your bank’s online portal and the website will look and feel — more importantly it will function — exactly the same as it does on your current laptop using a modern and supported web browser like Chrome, Edge, or Firefox.
There are some things a Chromebook can’t do. You’re not going to run any software built for Windows or Mac, so engineering and design software probably isn’t going to work.
You also aren’t going to play any graphics-intensive games so all those AAA titles you see online are designed for a Windows PC or a game console.
You will be able to do almost everything else though, especially anything you do through a web browser. The browser on a Chromebook is Google Chrome; almost the same Google Chrome you can install on Windows or a Mac.
The differences are how the operating system interacts with the browser and you’ll find even a cheap Chromebook without the greatest specs will outperform most other laptops when it comes to browser responsiveness. The Chrome operating system was built from the ground up with the browser — the tool that most people use most of the time — in mind.
So yes, you can do your online banking, or anything else you do through the web browser, from a Chromebook
Converting old cassette tapes the easy way
Ramon asks:
Before my Grandpa passed away in 1994 he was working on releasing his own album as a mariachi in Mexico. What now remains are a few cassette tape copies of what that album would have been.
I recently came across my Grandpa’s old cassette tape and all looked up production companies associated with the album. All entities associated no longer exist so I’m assuming I’m not attempting to do anything illegal.
My question to you is, how can I make this cassette tape into a digital format to allow more of the family to have a piece of it as seven cassette tapes are all that remains?
Thank you for your time!
Hi Ramon! I saw your question in my inbox and had to chuckle because I recently did just what you’re asking about! This is so important because streaming services might be easy and filled with popular music but a lot of us have those one-of-a-kind tapes of our lives in action. It sounds like you have a handful of those tapes.
Converting from a cassette to a digital format like mp3 is easy to do in a few different ways. If you have a computer with an audio interface you can use software to “record” the input into a digital file.
You can also send the cassettes to services that will convert them for you if you’d like someone else to do the work.
I found it easy to just buy the right tool. I bought this cassette player and converter from Amazon for about $30. I picked this one because I can record to an SD card versus connecting it to my PC and it works great. Just take a few minutes to read the directions and you’re set.
I hope you and your family can enjoy all of Grandpa’s music!
