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Asus Chromebox M004U Desktop PC - USD $172.90 Delivered @ Amazon

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Asus Chromebox M004U Desktop PC - USD $172.90 Delivered @ AmazonAffiliate
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ezza on 26/08/2014 - 09:37 amazon.com (442 clicks)
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Better price than others posted in the past!
Good unit for a living room as a media centre or general browsing setup, or do funky things and load another OS onto it.

1.4 GHz Intel Celeron 2955U Processor
2GB DDR3 RAM, 16 GB SSD HDD
Intel HD graphics
Google Chrome OS

Items: $159.99
Shipping & handling: $12.91
Order total: $172.90

Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.
Computing ASUS Chromebox

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closed Comments

  • cycleri3 on 26/08/2014 - 10:20

    Will this run XBMC?

    • terrys on 26/08/2014 - 10:22

      Apparently so:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-M1x8lUyUA

      You may need to go to the XMBC fora to get the info on installing OpenELEC but the heavy lifting has been done already:-)

    • daerka on 26/08/2014 - 10:48
      +1

      Yes, quite well in fact, including playback of Hi10P (for whoever finds this relevant). However, minor modding is required.

  • terrys on 26/08/2014 - 10:20
    +1

    With the 4 [count them :-)] USB3 ports you could throw a Mint install on this, have the whole system on the SSD and mount /Home on an external to give you a nice little stand-alone ultra portable. Wi-Fi b/g/n is built in apparently, along with Bluetooth 4, sd card reader, display port, HDMI and RAM upgradeable to 8 GIG:-)

    With a bit of Crouton script, it runs Xfce rather snappily.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xsqrQw1kbs

    • daerka on 26/08/2014 - 10:53
      +1

      Funny you mention this, as Mint is what I've got running on one of my units. I did upgrade the internal SSD though, rather than using an external drive.

      • nmartin84 on 26/08/2014 - 11:15
        +1

        Any chance you have installed Steam? I'd really like to know how this would go with streaming graphically intensive games from a Windows desktop running Steam via this box?

        • daerka on 26/08/2014 - 11:40

          No. Unfortunately won't be able to report on this.

  • hippyhippy on 26/08/2014 - 10:39

    Can this run windows?

    • daerka on 26/08/2014 - 10:55

      Not without issues. I've never managed to get audio over HDMI to work, and I have not seen any reports of anyone else having it gotten to work.

      • ezza on 26/08/2014 - 11:31

        you got windows to work on it? along with sound over HDMI?

        • daerka on 26/08/2014 - 11:39

          Windows, yes. But no, not with sound over HDMI. I've never gotten that part to work. Only sound I was able to get was out of the speaker/headphone jack.

        • ezza on 26/08/2014 - 11:49

          Oh… nice!!! windows 8.1?
          Did you follow a tutorial or something?
          Upgraded the RAM & SSD I suppose?
          Any hints would be appreciated!

        • daerka on 26/08/2014 - 12:13
          +1

          @ezza:

          Yes, Windows 8.1. It's still a Celeron, so don't expect the world, but if you're only doing basic stuff and you're happy with stereo sound over a set of speakers or headphones, it probably will work sufficiently well.

          I only did a test install, mind you, with 4GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD. Windows will complain about not having enough space if you're trying to install it on the 16GB SSD that comes with the unit. Have since gotten rid of that install.

          As for tutorial and hints, it's best to start with the wiki, and follow all guidelines for a standalone install. Once you've flashed the Coreboot firmware, you can simply install Windows from a USB stick. Don't expect to use that machine as a media player though, for that, you should really run OpenELEC, or run XBMC on a working Linux variant, such as Ubuntu or Mint.

        • terrys on 26/08/2014 - 13:04

          @daerka: Then again, as 8.1 wasn't updating because it packed a sad about the libraries being set to the `D:' drive (Why would anyone want to do that with the default partitioning [snarkle]) on my main system, I banished it to a 10 year old aspire with a single core celeron and 1 gig RAM - it runs. When I drop the RAm to 512 Meg, it still sort of runs, so this little box should be fine. Just don't expect Skyrim at 1900 x 1200 and expect to see the Dragons in the distance [g,d,rvf]

        • daerka on 26/08/2014 - 13:32
          +1

          @terrys: Yeah, it did run quite well. But no sound over HDMI was not acceptable to me, otherwise I might have kept it as a Windows box. For some reason I then decided that I did need another Windows box to mount behind my TV and I pulled the trigger on one of the new Zotac Nano CI520 Plus. Got the last one in stock and it has just been shipped. Was charged A$408 odd delivered. Good deal, seeing it includes 4GB of RAM, a 64GB SSD and the cheapest I've seen in Australia was at HB Outlet for $432.90 delivered without RAM and SSD. If it wouldn't ship in 1 to 3 month it would be worthy of OzBargain, especially since the shipping rates are still wrong and Amazon will honor it.

  • bargaino on 26/08/2014 - 12:02

    $2 less than the previous post. Really worth a dupe?
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/157193

  • rogo on 26/08/2014 - 12:33

    Thanks, been thinking about one of these for awhile.

  • BadGiraffe on 26/08/2014 - 15:26

    I've been holding out on getting anything off Amazon, mostly because of postage. How would I get something like this delivered to me? Do I need some sort of mail forwarding service?

    • daerka on 26/08/2014 - 15:41

      Amazon ships this item to Australia. Postage isn't much for standard shipping.

      • BadGiraffe on 26/08/2014 - 15:48

        Dude, in that case, I AM SOLD! I'll look into it when I get home tonight.

        Wait… I don't have to have a US credit card or something nonsense like that do I? You know what? I'll figure it out. Thanks!

        • daerka on 26/08/2014 - 15:51

          Australian Credit Card will do just fine. Mind you, what you will end up paying will depend on what credit card you have exactly. Price in title is in USD, but does include delivery.

        • BadGiraffe on 26/08/2014 - 16:20

          @daerka: Yeah, that's cool. I'll compare it to other places. I'm getting about $250, delivery inclusive, on some sites. They're all from the US. Why don't Aus stores sell these? I mean… we have the Chromebooks. Unless they're not doing so great over here.

          I was thinking of getting one at one stage. Might still get one if they fall in price a little more.

        • daerka on 26/08/2014 - 17:27

          @flaminglemon: Chromebox AU

          To note, US model M004U is AU model M039U.

  • pyr0maniac on 26/08/2014 - 16:16

    Can it run Linux? Sorry..I'm too lazy to do the research.

    • BadGiraffe on 26/08/2014 - 16:22
      +1

      Yup. I'd suggest running a light desktop environment though. Unity, even on my desktop, can be a little sluggish. XFCE is a good choice. That's what I'd do. I recommend Mint with XFCE. Not that I've tried this, but that's what I'd be doing if I got this box.

  • Boodek on 28/08/2014 - 13:09

    It's now up to US$179.44 delivered.

    • BadGiraffe on 28/08/2014 - 15:03

      Yup. That's AUD$199.71. I'll look around. See if it's similarly priced anywhere else.

  • daerka on 12/09/2014 - 09:40
    +1

    It just had a price drop again!

    Asus Chromebox: USD $155.00
    Shipping: USD $12.91
    Total: USD $167.91

    AUD Total @ Amazon Exchange rate: $190.96

    Good deal for the Asus. Better unit than the HP and currently quite a bit cheaper!!

    • terrys on 13/09/2014 - 08:50

      Showing $159 for me, [$169 - $10 rebate]. Then again, it's been shown that Amazon sometimes adjust the price depending on how long and often you have been viewing it, so my price is a cleared cache/bleach-bitten default on my I.P.

      Still a good deal tho, thanks for keeping a look-out.

      • daerka on 13/09/2014 - 10:15

        It went back up to $169, wasn't actually at $155 for long. And AFAIK, the rebate is for U.S. Citizens only.

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