Asus Chromebox Release Date, Review: Specs Of ‘World’s Smallest Chrome Computer’ W/ Dual-Core Celeron Processor Adequate To Get The Job Done; ‘Can Replace A Normal PC Desktop Setup’

Asus Chromebox release date, review: Specs of the Asus Chromebox M004U a dual-core celeron processor version for it’s $179 unit. Though small in size, this portable ‘PC’ can replace the usual desktop setup. In a review, it says that the non-traditional PC option can get the job done.

Dimensions of the Asus Chromebox are 4.9 inches by 4.9 inches x 1.67 inches. It’s one of the smallest available in the market. There are two USB 3.0 ports on the front box and keyboard lock on the side.There is also an MMC/SD slot, power Ethernet, HDMI, DisplayPort, a headphone/mic jack, and two more USB 3.0 slots on the rear.

The Asus Chromebox reviewed has a dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 are included as well.

According to Mark Hachman of PC World who did a review on the Chromebox, reviewing one is a challenge. The reason is all you get is a small featureless box that runs a simple OS based on a web browser. The way to differ from one Chromebox to another is processing power and price, the writer notes.

Asus dived into the Chromebox game and the PC World scribe reviewed the Asus Chromebox M004U with a dual-core Celeron processor. It’s the recommended variant, more than the pricier Core i3 and Core i7 versions of the unit. The price point of $179 is very affordable and a Core-caliber processing power is unnecessary to run a web browser.

In terms of performance and speed, which a few benchmark tests is able to measure, the Asus Chromebox blew away the Chromebook Series 3 but was underwhelming compared to the Toshiba CB35-A3120. In a Sunspider Test done by PC World, the Asus Chromebox returned a score of 423 ms and generated a score of 2,661 in the PeaceKeeper test. 

PCWorld noted that the Asus Chromebox felt snappy while browsing the web and playing a few Flash games. Java and Silverlight remain unsupported for the machine and number of ChromeOS packaged apps are very small.

The Asus Chromebox M004U comes with either 2GB or 4GB of RAM and has Intel integrated graphics. Key specs for the unit is storage. It comes with 16GB of internal flash and up to 100GB of Google Drive cloud storage free for 2 years.