When a Chromecast isn't enough - Asus annouces new chrome OS based desktop

[williamcll]

When one think of chrome OS - they might think of a lot of linux based low end laptops that sells at a price higher than usual.  A few manufacturers the past year have released desktops that are made to run chromeOS since 2014, but most of them remain unpopular. Asus has elected to give this market a push.

Quote

The Asus Chromebox 4 comes with four different low voltage Intel CPU options. These include a 1.9 GHz Celeron 5205U; a 2.1 GHz Core i3-10110U; a 1.6 GHz Core i5-10210U and a 1.8 GHz Core i7-10510U. RAM is pre-configured with either 4 GB DDR4 SO-DIMM or 8 GB DDR4 SO-DIMM chips. Storage ranges from a basic 32 GB eMMC option through to a robust 256 GB M.2 SATA SSD for more demanding users and use cases. The Asus Chromebox 4 models come with a wide range of connectivity options.

These include 3x USB 3.1 Gen2 ports; a 1x USB 3.1 Gen1 USB-C port; a 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 port; 2x USB 2.0 ports; 1x USB 3.1 Gen1 USB-C port (USB 3.0/PowerDelivery/DisplayPort); 2x HDM1 ports; 1x microSD card slot, and 1x LAN (RJ45) port. Wireless connectivity is provided by way of a new Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) modem while the Chromebox 4 also supports dual-band Bluetooth 5.0. The new Asus Chromebox 4 series will go on sale in North America from December starting from US$289.

Source: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-new-Chromebox-4-comes-in-Celeron-or-Core-flavors-of-Intel-s-10th-gen-silicon.505337.0.html
https://www.asus.com/Displays-Desktops/Mini-PCs/Chrome-OS-devices/ASUS-Chromebox-4/
Thoughts: The price is pretty attractive for a desktop that runs a laptop processor. It's certainly better than a lot of aliexpress dongles that I've tested before. the Mac mini might go a lot faster but this would certainly be a great media PC.

[LAwLz]

My mom bought a chromebook recently and honestly it is really good for her. She basically only use her browser anyway and it's way easier and smoother for her. On top of that, her Android apps and games work on it too. 

 

I could see these machines being really good for a lot of users. 

Not sure I'd pick this over a laptop and dock though. The portability would probably be worth the slightly higher price. 

[TetraSky]

I've had a bit of fun with ChromeOS in a VM.

It's ok if all you do is 100% online anyway.

 

That said, why dual cores in 2020 (nearly 2021) ?

These lower end dual core machines are essentially DOA to me.

Even if it is just web browsing, there's still a huge benefit between dual and quad core, especially as you open more tabs and potentially have other apps open.

Might be fine for Grandma with her facebook, but if I was getting one of these to do any sort of "work" from home, I'd be disappointed to all hell.

 

It's barely better than the older N4000, which is also a chip found in chromebooks.

https://askgeek.io/en/cpus/vs/Intel_Celeron-5205U-vs-Intel_Celeron-N4000

(I know these "compare" sites suck ass, but the Passmark score is usually a good indication of a CPU performance when no proper benchmark is available to compare the two chip, I wouldn't even consider anything under 1500 in single core/thread performance in 2020)

 

[LAwLz]

2 hours ago, huilun02 said:

What are the reasons to use ChromeOS instead of Windows?

Better performance. 

Less complicated. 

Support android apps. 

No risk for viruses or other malware. 

 

The drawbacks are really big too, like missing compatibility with (windows) software and it being very locked down, but it isn't for everyone. 

[LAwLz]

2 hours ago, huilun02 said:

Really?

Yes it is very, very snappy even on low end hardware. 

It runs a very stripped down version of Gentoo. Even the BIOS/UEFI are stripped down with custom bootloaders. 

I was very surprised by how well my mom's N4200 based chromebook performed. 

 

It's important to note that I am talking about things like user interaction snappiness, boot times, lack of hiccups and stuff like that. I don't think ChromeOS would perform much better than a windows pc if you for example tried to decompress a large zip file. 

 

 

2 hours ago, huilun02 said:

Isnt that what phones and tablets are for?

Well some things are more comfortable to do on a PC than on a phone. Editing a spreadsheet on a phone is a terrible experience. Firing up an Android app like Excel or Google Sheets is way more comfortable. 

It's also about having everything synchronized between your phone and laptop without even having to think about it. The stuff you do on your phone shows up on your pc and vice versa. 

[Trik'Stari]

4 hours ago, huilun02 said:

What are the reasons to use ChromeOS instead of Windows?

Cheapness.

[strajk-]

1 hour ago, LAwLz said:

It's important to note that I am talking about things like user interaction snappiness, boot times, lack of hiccups and stuff like that. I don't think ChromeOS would perform much better than a windows pc if you for example tried to decompress a large zip file. 

I wouldn't say it has better performance then, and instead say it has a more responsive GUI and OS in general. 

You can easily make Windows 10 incredibly fast by debloating it to run 20+ processes on boot instead of hundreds and with an SSD. 

 

At the end of the day ChromeOS is indeed great for those that only use WebApps and Browse around. 

[Sauron]

14 hours ago, TetraSky said:

Even if it is just web browsing, there's still a huge benefit between dual and quad core, especially as you open more tabs and potentially have other apps open.

Plus they're about to be obsolete in terms of architecture as well

[LstpersonalOF]

6 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Better performance. 

Better Performance i do not think so stabilty and responsiveness of the system,yeah sure its great but it becomes obsolete when you do a update 1 or 2 years later

 

6 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Less complicated. 

Windows and mac are not complicated when you are just doing basic things.

 

6 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Support android apps. 

Not All Android apps would be supported especially ones she would probably use.

 

6 hours ago, LAwLz said:

No risk for viruses or other malware.

Yeah Sure After the year of support for the bloddy thing. and also mac has much much better security in terms of itself and your data is secure and windows has a great security but not as great of the mac

[Bombastinator]

I don’t get why someone would pay money for this.  A better machine capable of running the same software can be had from a junkyard for near nothing.

[mousesnob]

9 minutes ago, min90 said:

 fireboy and watergirl

thats a damn good game

[Morris_lee_9116]

ah yes, ChromeTop