ASUS' Chromebox arrives in March for $179 !
With easy out-of-the-box setup, integrated virus and malware protection and feature-enhancing updates, ASUS Chromebox starts up in seconds to get you to your favorite websites and apps instantly. And why a box? Because with a box it houses a processor powerful enough for ultrafast multitasking performance in Chrome OS and the connectivity options to choose your own screen size, connect to multiple displays at once and even attach to any VESA-mountable monitor or HD TV. All this starting at only $179, ASUS Chromebox is the always-new computer that just makes sense.
Asus Chromebox
With hopes of chipping away at the low end Windows PC market, Google enlisted ASUS' help in putting together a small form factor desktop machine running Chrome OS. The result is the ASUS Chromebox, a NUC-like machine running Google's browser based OS. The specs of the ASUS Chromebox are respectable compared to Intel's line of Haswell NUCs.
You get your choice of one of three CPUs, all based on Intel's Haswell architecture. There's the Celeron 2955U, Core i3-4010U or the Core i7-4600U. All three options carry the same 15W TDP rating, and the system is apparently fanless (at least the Celeron and Core i3 versions are, waiting for confirmation on the i7). ASUS only plans to offer the Celeron and Core i3 versions in North America. 4K video out is supported on the Core models. Given how well Chrome OS can run on a pair of ARM Cortex A15 cores, I fully expect a 15W Haswell based system to be a great performer.
ASUS' Chromebox comes with a 16GB M.2 SSD, and dual-band 802.11n wireless all for a price starting at $179. Google will throw in 100GB of space on Google Drive for 2 years to make up for the limited internal storage.
The box itself is a little bigger than Intel's Haswell NUC, but we're still talking about an extremely small form factor computer. ASUS will ship all units with a VESA mount as well. You can expect availability sometime in March.
ASUS Chromebox specs
You could use the $399 Seiki Digital SE39UY04 39-Inch 4K Ultra HD 120Hz LED TV as a 4K 3840x2160 monitor with 4x the resolution of a 1080p monitor if you get the Core i3 version.
$399 at amazon
SEIKI SE39UY04 Unboxing and Overview - PC Perspective
And fast 4TB ext USB 3.0 HDD are about $169 for unlimited storage.
