HP Unveils Chromebox Enterprise G2: A Chrome OS-Based Business Desktop
by Anton Shilov on October 14, 2019 5:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Desktop
- HP
- Chrome OS
- Chromebook
- UCFF
- Chromebox for Enterprise
Business and enterprise desktops is an interesting market recently - on the one hand, because extended support for Windows 7 nears its end early in 2020, multiple companies are eager to buy new PCs; on the other hand, margins are low and competition between suppliers is cut-throat. To minimize competition, HP has released one of the industry’s first Chromebox for Enterprise: a UCFF desktop PC for frontline workers, call centers, shared spaces, kiosks, or digital signage applications.
The Chromebox Enterprise G2 comes in a small 14.93×14.93×4 cm black box that packs Intel’s 7th Generation dual-core Core i3-7130U with UHD 620 graphics CPU or Celeron 3867U with UHD 610 graphics CPU that is paired with 16 GB DDR4-2400 DRAM as well as an M.2 SSD.
In a bid to meet requirements of all possible applications, the Chromebox Enterprise G2 features rather vast connectivity capabilities that include GbE, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 4.2, three USB 3.0 Type-A ports, two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, one USB Type-C connector, one HDMI display output, one 3-in-1 SD card reader, and a 3.5-mm headphone jack. Depending on configuration, the Chromebox Enterprise G2 comes with a 65 W or a 90 W power brick.
| HP's Chromebox Enterprise G2 | |||
| Model | Celeron | Core i3 | |
| CPU | Intel Celeron 3867U (2C, 1.8 GHz, 2 MB cache) |
Intel® Core i3-7130U (2C, 2.7 GHz, 3 MB cache) |
|
| GPU | Intel HD Graphics 610 | Intel HD Graphics 620 | |
| DRAM | 16 GB DDR4-2400 Two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots |
||
| Motherboard | proprietary | ||
| Storage | SSD | 32 GB or 64 GB M.2 SSD | |
| DFF | - | ||
| SD | 3-in-1 card reader | ||
| Wireless | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 802.11ac (2x2) and Bluetooth 4.2 | ||
| Ethernet | 1 × GbE port (Realtek RTL8151GH-CG GbE LOM) | ||
| USB | Front | 1 × USB 3.0 Type-A | |
| Back | 1 × USB 3.0 Type-C 1 × USB 3.0 Type-A 2 × USB 2.0 Type-A |
||
| Display Outputs | 1 × HDMI | ||
| Audio | 1 × 3.5mm audio jack for headsets (Realtek ALC5662-CG codec) | ||
| PSU | External 65 W | External 90 W | |
| Warranty | Typical, varies by country | ||
| Dimensions | Length: 14.93 cm | 5.87 inches Width: 14.93 cm | 5.87 inches Height: 4 cm | 1.57 inches |
||
| OS | Chrome OS with Chrome Enterprise Upgrade | ||
| MSRP | ? | ? | |
Unlike Chromebooks, Chromeboxes have not really gained traction on the market partly because people expect high performance and advanced multimedia capabilities from their desktops, but mostly because people are so used to Windows programs. By releasing a Chromebox for Enterprise, HP obviously faces some risks, but believes that since many people use web-based apps nowadays, they will use a Chrome OS-based desktop without any problems. Meanwhile, the advantage of web-based applications is also their disadvantage because they depend on reliability of Internet connection. On the other hand, one indisputable trump that HP’s Chromebox Enterprise G2 has is support for numerous capabilities aimed precisely at businesses, including 24/7 Google support, automatic software updates through June 2024, virus protection, sandboxing, verified boot, remote management, and easy deployment. All in all, it will be interesting to sell how successful HP’s Chromebox for Enterprise is going to be.
HP’s Chromebox Enterprise machines will be available in November. Pricing will depend on configurations.
Related Reading
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- HP at CES 2019: HP Chromebook 14 Combines AMD and Chrome OS
- HP Unveils Premium Chromebook: 3K Display, Intel Core M, 16 GB of RAM and USB-C
- Acer’s Chromebox CXI3 Available in Four Configs: Up to Core i7-8550U, Up to $777
- Acer Announces New Chromebooks And Chromebox Devices
Source: HP
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alufan - Tuesday, October 15, 2019 - link
we tried this for approx 6000 employees with the original chromebox and chromebooks and frankly it was an unmitigated disaster although am firmly and android fan and these boxes do work the constant issues with not being able to share docs with folks on other platforms due to compatibility issues and some of the weird restrictions on file shares etc within the google ecosystem meant this just didnt work, 2 years later we are back on Windows which has its own issues but at least we can be sure other people can in the main interactalufan - Tuesday, October 15, 2019 - link
just had a thought looks like someone needs to shift lots of low end hardwarehaukionkannel - Tuesday, October 15, 2019 - link
Very strange... we have very good experiences from chromebooks... Is chromebox so much worse?flgt - Tuesday, October 15, 2019 - link
I imagine you have to be very careful about matching these with the correct end users. If you just need a platform where call center workers enter information in forms or can pull up diagnostic web pages to help customers, I'm sure they work great. If you start to stray into more productivity tasks it probably gets too restrictive for the employees. But as someone pointed out, it seems it's almost too powerful for the task it's good for, as this excess hardware capability translates to excessive cost.TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, October 15, 2019 - link
I can see the use case for this. We run web applications, and for people like our help desk, the multiple tabs and web browsers easily consume 4-5GB of RAM, which is fine on a system with 8, until you need to run a remote session or something else web based that begins to suck up more RAM.TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, October 15, 2019 - link
Chromeboxes are just as capable as chromebooks. If what you do is web based, they are fantastic.MayDayComputers - Tuesday, October 15, 2019 - link
This announcement must just be for their low end offerings. They already have a 7th gen i5 and 8th gen i7 model for $689 and $969 respectively.https://store.hp.com/us/en/mdp/chromebox-244004--1...
khaydin - Wednesday, October 16, 2019 - link
I feel like 2 screens at work is pretty standard by now. HP, why you only give us one output? Must be because they don't want to have this cannibalize sales of it's Thin Clients which have dual outputs.tigrente - Wednesday, October 16, 2019 - link
The Chromebox has dual video outputs - HDMI and USB-C.