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Google and ASUS Launch the $85 Chromebit, a Chrome OS Desktop on an HDMI Stick

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Re: Google and ASUS Launch the $85 Chromebit, a Chrome OS Desktop on an HDMI Stick

#51

Post by qq66 »

monochromatic wrote: post #9

I'm trying to figure out what in the world people are going to use these for. Single-app kiosk? Sure, but that's gotta be a tiny market. TV streaming box? Maybe, but it's not clear to me that it really offers anything I care about that isn't already done by Chromecast/Roku. I dunno. It's kind of a cool idea, but it feels like a solution in search of a problem.

Digital signage could be a big market. Right now, the TV screens in an airport or rail station are massively expensive to wire up and maintain because their video feeds are all computed centrally and distributed over wires. This could let LaGuardia just slap a bunch of consumer TVs together and build a web app to deliver the content over a dedicated WiFi network.

Re: Google and ASUS Launch the $85 Chromebit, a Chrome OS Desktop on an HDMI Stick

#52

Post by voltagex_ »

sowbug wrote: post #28
voltagex_ wrote: post #2

Kudos to Google for building this one, but I've gotta wonder what drove the decision to use Rockchip. I'll be very interested if firmware flashing tools / kernel sources become available for this.

It's the same RK3288 chip as the one in the ASUS Chromebook Flip and Hisense Chromebook. All three devices are low priced. It's likely that price drove the decision to try Rockchip.

Right, turns out my Rockchip knowledge is very outdated. Nothing on eLinux.org about RK3288 which is a bit of a worry.

Re: Google and ASUS Launch the $85 Chromebit, a Chrome OS Desktop on an HDMI Stick

#53

Post by jrmcauliffe »

jsmeaton wrote: post #22

What I'm after is something that can run Kodi (xbmc) which links to a NAS for its media. Running Netflix is a nice to have. What devices are out there that I can use for this purpose? At the moment I have a fairly heavy htpc running Windows, but I have more tvs that I would like to use for similar purposes. Edit: Bonus if it can do 4k video, but 1080p minimum is a must.

I've used the cheapest celeron nuc for this. Has built in IR, just add a usb drive / laptop drive and memory. Not much more expensive than a dedicated box here in Aus, and much faster.

Re: Google and ASUS Launch the $85 Chromebit, a Chrome OS Desktop on an HDMI Stick

#54

Post by nl »

DrScump wrote: post #44
jsmeaton wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That looks interesting, but it's out of stock in Australia at t he moment. It does say Intel HD graphics, but does that mean 1080p?

The Kangaroo is unavailable in Australia?

Our crocs ate it

Re: Google and ASUS Launch the $85 Chromebit, a Chrome OS Desktop on an HDMI Stick

#55

Post by sunnyps »

rtl49 wrote: post #16
viraptor wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get a touch panel and put it over the screen. A lot of them just work with X server. Connect to the usb port and you're done.

I don't know that ChromeOS uses X server (I know almost nothing about it, in fact). But by the time you've paid for the additional hardware, it may be the case that it's cheaper to buy a tablet or a professional-grade IDS display.

ChromeOS doesn't use X11 any more. It uses a custom graphics stack called Ozone[1] that runs on top of libDRM on Linux and uses features such as hardware overlays which are common now that X11 knows nothing about.

[1] https://www.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/ozone

Re: Google and ASUS Launch the $85 Chromebit, a Chrome OS Desktop on an HDMI Stick

#57

Post by skMed »

avinassh wrote: post #42
peterhadlaw wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Raspberry PI has pretty much what you're looking for. I one set up exactly for this purpose.

Raspberry Pi is not really good as a media player. It struggles for high quality high bit rate 1080p videos and it is limited with USB 2 and does not have gigabit ethernet.

I use an older Pi with Raspbmc (osmc) and I can stream 1080P movies just fine. The key is to 1.) Avoid streaming off a slow disk e.g. NAS, 2.) Ensure you have the necessary bandwidth to stream (no slow wifi), and 3.) Pass DTS audio to your receiver for decoding so your PI isn't doing double duty for audio/video.

Re: Google and ASUS Launch the $85 Chromebit, a Chrome OS Desktop on an HDMI Stick

#59

Post by cbhl »

jrmcauliffe wrote: post #53
jsmeaton wrote: post #22

What I'm after is something that can run Kodi (xbmc) which links to a NAS for its media. Running Netflix is a nice to have. What devices are out there that I can use for this purpose? At the moment I have a fairly heavy htpc running Windows, but I have more tvs that I would like to use for similar purposes. Edit: Bonus if it can do 4k video, but 1080p minimum is a must.

I've used the cheapest celeron nuc for this. Has built in IR, just add a usb drive / laptop drive and memory. Not much more expensive than a dedicated box here in Aus, and much faster.

It's worth noting the Intel Next Unit of Computing (NUC) units only do HDMI 1.4a, which can only do 1080p (not 4K). The newer (4th gen/Haswell, 5th gen/Broadwell, 6th gen/Skylake) units can do 4K output over DisplayPort 1.2. They're also pricier (IIRC, they're kits, and Wi-Fi, SSD/HDD, and OS all have to be purchased separately).

At this price point you'd probably be better served by an Intel Compute Stick, although the current ones only do 1080p HDMI 1.4a output. Rumor is that the next generation ones might do 4K though.

Re: Google and ASUS Launch the $85 Chromebit, a Chrome OS Desktop on an HDMI Stick

#60

Post by arthurfm »

mappu wrote: post #17

See also: the Intel Compute Stick (RRP 150USD) which runs x86 windows, useful for basically the same scenarios but also Steam in-home streaming.

Asus' VivoStick [1] would be a better choice since it is uses Intel's new "Cherry Trail" SoC rather than the slow "Bay Trail" SoC found in Intel's own Compute Stick.

[1] https://www.asus.com/Stick-PCs/VivoStick-PC-TS10/

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