Thursday, June 14, 2012

Google Unveils Chromebox

By Shaine Murray


Specs-wise the Chromebox is built around a 1.9GHz dual-core Intel Celeron B840 (Sandy Bridge) CPU with 4GB RAM as well as a 16GB SSD. Wireless connection is provided by using WiFi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 radios, the latter enabling the use of wi-fi keyboards as well as mouse out of the box. Click here for more information.

Snap the lower cover off, and the only user-serviceable parts are the two 2GB PC3 10600 SoDIMMs. Accessing the remainder of the computer hardware needs a Phillips #0 screwdriver, some care plus a bit of fortitude. We took this aside down to its mainboard and located the energy supply, an Atheros half-height mini-PCIe WiFi a/b/g/n card (connected to a set of antennae), a Bluetooth 3.0 module, a DisplayPort subboard, a developer switch subboard and also a 16GB Sandisk SATA SSD (inside a mini-PCIe form factor). Interestingly, there are 2 unused connectors, one as a mini-PCIe socket -- for your lost 3G radio, perhaps?

Back in the early days, Chrome OS would often stumble with just a handful of tabs wide open. Things improved noticeably last year when the primary Chromebook unveiled through an additional core. Still, the netbook-spec program would certainly struggle with video playback, specially HD content.

This handles 1080p video play back with no hiccups or drama -- watching YouTube, Vimeo, Hulu or Netflix is no longer a gamble. The best part is, with 4GB of RAM it's now possible to open several dozen tabs prior to noticing any performance hit. Oh, and it only takes about five seconds for your box to start.

Similar to Samsung's new Chromebook, the Chromebox runs version 19 of Chrome OS, which can be now available for the original Chromebooks and the Cr-48 (dev channel only). The new OS breaks totally free of the limits of your browser that has a desktop, an application launcher, easy to customize backgrounds as well as multiple-window support. Chrome right now supports seeing both online and offline documents in a wide array of formats and features a brand new media player and also a built-in photo editor software kit.

Additionally, this new version affords the grounds for upcoming services for instance Google Docs offline editing, Google Drive integration as well as Chrome Remote Desktop BETA.

The Samsung Chromebox Series 3 is precisely what you would expect -- a cloud-based workstation within a box. It gives you the exact same functionality as Samsung's new Chromebook Series 5 550 with out a display, keyboard, trackpad, battery and 3G radio. Whatever you gain rather is actually a slightly faster processor, a Bluetooth radio and a smorgasbord of jacks.

Dependant upon budget, die-hard Chrome OS enthusiasts are in all likelihood better off sticking with the brand new $449 Chromebook, and we believe the entry-level Mac mini is a handier option for a compact desktop program. Nevertheless, inspite of the somewhat hefty $329, it's going to be hard for computer software as well as hardware tinkerers to resist the appeal of this extremely hackable little box.




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