Editors' note: In January 2013, Samsung updated the Chromebox reviewed here with a new casing. Aside from the cosmetic change, the 2013 model is identical to the older one reviewed below.
Samsung Chromebox Series 3
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
I can think of a few customers who might consider the attractive, Google Chrome OS-powered Samsung Chromebox desktop. Schools, libraries, Internet cafes, even a parent shopping for a child's first computer might reasonably look into this $329 PC and its locked-down, almost entirely Web-dependent operating system.
I would not recommend the Chromebox for general-purpose budget computing due to occasional issues with general hardware and software compatibility. Its minuscule local storage also prevents the Chromebox from working well as a small home theater PC. If you follow either Google or operating system news, you will know that this PC represents Google's first attempt at expanding its Chrome operating system to the desktop. Given that the Chromebox's laptop counterpart, the Chromebook, is such a difficult proposition, I was surprised by how much I actually liked this computer.
Google's Chrome operating system is the search giant's grand system software experiment, played out in public since last year's launch of the
Staying online all the time can be a challenge for a laptop computer that's supposed to be mobile. Those devices accompany us during air travel, business meetings and conferences, and other circumstances with no guarantee of a reliable connection. Google tries to offset this difficulty by building in cellular data network support with its laptops. That, of course, comes with an added fee, throwing off the already dicey Chromebook value proposition.
Desktops, though, tend to stay put. Service interruptions happen, but in general, if you can maintain a more-or-less persistent connection to the Web, you take away one of the big question marks hanging over the Chrome OS.
Samsung released this PC and a new Chromebook laptop to coincide with a new, public version of Chrome OS. Rather than turn this into a review of both the computer and the operating system, I'll refer you to our standalone review of the Chrome OS. You can also read our review of the new
Among the most important things to know about the updated Chrome OS is that it has expanded support for offline document and media files. While most of your activities with the Chromebook will take place online in either the Chrome Web browser or through a Chrome-specific application, the operating system does let you see local files. The Chromebook comes with a 16GB solid-state hard drive (booting up happens in seconds), and it also supports USB keys and flash media cards (the latter if you connect a USB card reader). If you have any compatible files on either the local or connected storage, the Chromebook can open them.
Supported file types include most Microsoft Office formats (DOC and DOCX, for example), as well as PDF files, JPEG, GIF, and other common image files, and also various audio and video types (complete list here). You can't edit those media files, save for some basic photo manipulation tools, but the fact that you can consume them offline is a marked improvement over the previous-generation Chrome operating system.
Otherwise, the Chrome OS lives on as essentially an expanded version of Google's Chrome Web browser. The system boots into a familiar log-in screen and desktop environment, but once you start playing around with the included applications, or downloading new ones, you will most often find yourself operating within a traditional Chrome browser.