Slashdot Mirror
Tested: Asus Chromebox Based On Haswell Core i3
MojoKid writes "The Asus Chromebox is a tiny palm-sized machine similar in form and footprint to Intel's line of NUC (Next Unit of Computing) mini PCs. One of the higher-end Asus Chromebox variants coming to market employs Intel's 4th generation Haswell Core series processor architecture with Integrated HD 4400 graphics. The machine is packed with fair number of connectivity options including four USB 3.0 SuperSpeed ports, HDMI and DisplayPort output, a microSD Flash card slot, 802.11n dual-band WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.0. It also sports a 1.7GHz dual-core Core i3-4010U processor with Hyper-Threading for four logical processing threads and 4GB of DDR3 1600MHz memory. Finally, the onboard 16GB SSD storage might be appear a bit meager, but it's backed up by 100GB of Google Drive cloud storage for 2 years. In testing, the device proved to be capable in some quick and dirty browser-based benchmarks. For the class of device and use case that the Chromebox caters to, Google has covered most of what folks look for with the Chrome OS. There's basic office productivity apps, video and media streaming apps, and even a few games that you might care to fire up. The Asus Chromebox handles all of these usage types with ease and it's also barely audible while consuming only about 18 Watts under load."
Any word if these can be reformatted to run OpenELEC?
Can I install Windows 8.1 on this so I can get rid of the Google ad/spy ware?
Yeah, this computer is completely unsuited for my needs as a bitcoin mining supercomputer, so no one should buy one.
Unless, of course, you have different needs than mine.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
Not really. The NUCs with a similar price point aren't including RAM or storage, this includes both.
A lightweight one with X and xfce. Put /user on a USB drive and you're set.
I wonder how hard it is to hack the bootloader?
Best Slashdot Co
Even though I do find myself using things like OneDrive and Dropbox to keep non-sensitive stuff I'm working on available at home or at work, I'm not totally convinced that most power users will be replacing their PC or laptop with what's essentially a thin client that Google has control over.
On the other hand, for people who truly don't know any better, live in a location with five-nine, super-fast broadband access and just don't have the savvy to understand that their data is being mined by a third party, this might take off. It's the same reason tablets are taking off among the "content consumer" set. Amazon is doing something very similar with the Kindle Fire -- basically give away the hardware with the knowledge that Amazon uses your browsing habits to improve their prediction engine.
Honestly, I wish Google and similar services would offer a "paid" version with no data mining or tracking. People forget that the awesome search engine, maps, etc. aren't a free resource, and their data is paying Google's bills.
I'm not sure of that. It is on my Acer C720 chromebook (laptop). If it's M.2 you may be able to just buy a bigger SSD on e.g. newegg, load linux or a BSD onto it, and throw it in. Google for instructions, not all chromebook BIOS's allow non-chrome OS installs.
-Matt
The Acer c720 works great as a small laptop and will run Linux. It isn't quite a replacement for a workstation, it's not as fast as a desktop cpu but it is certainly much faster than the much-aligned netbooks from a few years ago. The keyboard and touchpad are pretty good considering the form factor.
Booting and setup is a bit hokey due to the minimal BIOS but it works. The c720 has a M.2 form factor SSD internally and it's *easy* to take apart the back (just a lot of screws) and replace it with a bigger one. I bought a 128GB M.2 SSD for mine.
For the Acer c720 my recommendation is to not overwrite the 16GB SSD in the machine. Instead buy a (bigger) replacement and leave chrome on the original. Also find the acer/google restore disk image (you should be able to google, it's officially supplied) which you can throw onto a USB stick. You need your chromebook's serial number. Always good to have a restore image handy in case you flub the instructions.
Read the instructions on how to install linux very carefully and do not skip any steps. Worst case you brick the laptop and have to put the original M.2 16GB SSD back into it to get back on track (which is why I suggest not overwriting the original SSD).
-Matt
I still hate the fact that mini-devices sport so many ports which require traditional plugs. For example Apple has sported the magnetic power connection for ages - when plugging my Air into devices/power, it's by far my preferred of connector - and don't understand why while technology focuses on things like throughput they don't look at simple usability like connecting the throughput as a very common-sense improvement. In short, fuck USB 3.0, fuck the throughput, I just want to plug in my mouse without having to either visually line shit up or non-visually fish around for the right way to connect two things.
$369?!?!
No thanks. I can get a better laptop/Netbook/tablet for cheaper and they include a screen.
I can build a better desktop for cheaper as well.
If I want to experiment I'll get a RPi
What niche is this filling?
Possibly good for an automotive entertainment center or in an RV... but nah. Way over priced. Let me know when it's under $100.
So used to typing "user" in various contexts. I meant "/usr".
Best Slashdot Co
It cheeses me off.
Why not dd the whole disk, that way you have a bit exact copy of the whole raw block device. Then you can use that 16GB SSD for whatever you want, including use in the laptop. If the laptop really ended bricked though you would need a computer able to read a M2 drive, or a M2 to SATA adapter.
At $300 though ($200 + $100 for a big SSD) I would choose another laptop, there's the Toshiba with the new-gen Atom (celeron N2810) that comes with a 500GB hard drive and page up/page down keys. And oh, VGA and wired ethernet (I had to check that the latter was missing from the Acer)
I read a bit more on the ASUS Chromebox. There are three cpu choices. The 2955U, The i3-4010U, or the I7-4600U. The I7-4600U is very similar to the I7-4700MQ that I have in one of my laptops, and that is a very respectable cpu and very suited for desktop use.
The only one I see on Amazon is the one with the 2955U (1.4 GHz single-core/2-thread celeron).
From what I can google the chromebox uses an internal M.2 form factor SSD (16GB), which means you can potentially upgrade it to e.g. a 128GB SSD by buying it on newegg (another $100). This will be considerably faster than a SD card.
So this chromebox (with the i3 or i7) would definitely be powerful enough as a desktop.
It just comes down to whether the BIOS will allow third-party OS installs or not and I don't know the answer to that.
-Matt
You can DD the whole disk... but unless you have another machine that can take a M.2 form factor SSD you have no easy way to restore it from the image.
The Acer c720 laptop will boot the Acer/Google recovery image from a USB stick but all it can do is completely wipe the M.2 SSD, so you'd lose whatever you had on there. If you do not follow the BIOS directions properly you might also get into a situation where it refuses to boot from the USB stick while the M.2 drive is installed with the non-conformant OS.
-Matt
I think you are confusing Intel's under-powered mobile cpu's with the cpu's they are stuffing into the Chromebox and Chromebooks. These cpu's are MUCH faster than anything ARM has on offer.
-Matt
What's the difference b/w /user and /usr? I've seen both
Is XFCE the default UI for Chrome OS? Or is it something else?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The C720 works wonderful with Bodhi Linux :) I use it for traveling. Sometimes I run bfgminer on for the ASIC miners. Quite usefull when you dump ChromeOS
The 100gb Google Drive is obviously useless.
16GB storage is still more than enough to install and operate a very useful little system though. Somehow I suspect there would be problems trying to get free drivers for some of the hardware, otherwise I might consider grabbing one and slapping slack on it.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
ChromeOS is A WEB BROWSER, so it makes fucking absolutely no difference what the instruction set of the CPU is.
Probably the highest usefulness-to-cost ratio of any computer I've purchased, given it only cost only about $250 and is so low maintenance and light weight (and relatively droppable).
I still like a recent MacBook Pro better though for the bigger screen and better keyboard (including backlit) and better trackpad, as well as the ability to run Eclipse and some other software etc.. But for many people, the extra $1000 or more would not be worth it.
I enjoy the Chromebook immensely more that a Win 8 laptop that has been very frustrating to use, which every time I turn it on nags me with updates and other notices and long reboot cycles and such and just endless clutter getting in the way of actually just using it -- all while not doing much to mitigate security risks from downloads the way a web browser can mitigate risks from loading a web page.
And in a few years, with improvements in web tools including native code compilation within sandboxed zones, the convenience factor of something like the Chromebook will continue to improve. Meanwhile, both Windows and Mac OS seem to be devolving into harder to use systems.
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.