Well it looks like Dell will be bringing Chrome to the desktop with a couple of Chromeboxes set to be released by the end of this month. One will be a cheaper $179 dollar Chromebox while the other will be a much pricier $999 Chromebox for Meetings. The more expensive model is designed for using Google Hangouts to have meetings between people and the cheaper model is a basic Chrome OS desktop.
What a Chromebox does is bring a Chromebook like desktop experience to your own hardware, such as monitor and keyboard, through the cloud. This means that you will have access to all of Google’s services like Hangouts but also eliminate, or at least minimize, a few pain-points of a traditional PC. Using a Chromebox instead gets rid of a ton of the bulk that a computer tower possesses, you also eliminate most of the possibility of getting malware due to the computer running off the cloud.
Dell’s variant of the Chromebox will be packing an Intel Celeron or Core i3 processor which are typically used in Chromebooks these days. When compared to the Chromebox for Meetings, which is is running the Core i7. This is a pretty substantial step up from Dell’s cheaper coming offering. But that extra power will definitely be put to use when streaming live HD video through Google Hangouts all the time. Dells Chromebox for Meetings is specifically designed for having meetings in a professional setting such as in a meeting at work, this combined with Google Hangouts makes a great partnership.
Both of the Chromebox models coming from Dell will offer a 16GB solid-state drive, Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, four USB 3.0 ports, and last but not least an HDMI and DisplayPort display ports. The Chromebook for Meetings will also come with an additional 1080p webcam for all of those Hangouts you will be doing.
The regular Chromebox will be shipping on September 26th while the Chromebox for Meetings will be shipping later this week. We are glad to see more and more companies like Dell get behind Chrome OS and we can’t wait to see who gets behind it next.
