ASUS Brings Chrome OS to the Desktop with Chromebox, Set to Start at $179

With its convertible and tablet lines, ASUS has become adept at designing quality Android-based devices, and that being the case, it now wants to add another challenge to its queue: Designing equally impressive Chrome OS products.

First up is the aptly named Chromebox. This mini-PC will start at $179 and come in Intel Celeron and Core i3 flavors (i3 pricing to come later). Despite its affordable pricing, the Chromebox is quite attractive, as are its dimensions: 4.88 x 4.88 x 1.65″.

Outside of the obvious fact that the Chromebox features Chrome OS as the OS of choice, other specs include Intel HD graphics (up to 4400), 16GB of solid-state storage, 100GB of Google Drive space for 2 years, Gigabit Ethernet, dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and a variety of connection options (1x card reader, 4x USB 3.0, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort, 1x LAN, 1x Audio, and 1x Kensington).

Alongside the Chromebox, ASUS will be offering an optional wireless keyboard and mouse combo, although pricing on that will have to wait until the Core i3 model pricing is revealed. Along similar lines, while the Chromebox will be able to output to 4K resolution, the Core i3 model will be required for it (admittedly, I can’t see too many having 4K as a goal when dealing with Chrome OS).

ASUS’ Chromebox will be 100% fanless, and for those who want to mount the PC behind their monitors, you’ll be happy to know that the company will be including a VESA mount for that purpose right in the box.

The verdict is still out on whether or not people will want to use Chrome OS as a desktop OS, but one thing’s for certain: ASUS’ first offering is attractive from a specs, pricing, and aesthetics perspective. Now… all I have to ask is, can we have this same thing with Android?