CTL’s latest Chromebox is a small desktop computer that features the kind of hardware you’d expect to find in a pretty good portable notebook. Starting in November, the company will offer a version of the CTL Chromebox CBx1 with an Intel Core i7-8550U quad-core processor for $599.
For that price you get a computer with 8GB of DDR4 RAM, a 32GB solid state drive, and Google’s Chrome Operating System. But CTL says the system supports up to 16GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage if you want to upgrade the hardware yourself.
Other features include Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, and a decent array of ports, including:
- 3x USB 3.0
- 2x USB 2.0
- 1 USB-C
- HDMI
- microSD card reader
- 3.5mm audio jack
You can connect up to two displays by plugging one into the HDMI port and the other into the USB-C port.
The computer should receive software updates from Google for 6.5 years and it supports Android apps and the Google Play Store out of the box.
While CTL says the Chromebox CBx1 will be available in November “for qualified education and corporate customers,” the company has a habit of making its products available to pretty much anyone who wants to buy them.
32gb of storage is twice as much as most Chrome devices, but why not more? 128gb of storage costs less than $50 these days. There must be some kind of conspiracy keeping Chrome OS device storage down.
If they fitted more storage people would install Windows.
The heck is going on in that last picture?