CES 2014 was wild! Chromebook fans had some good things to look forward to, as well as one of the weirdest Chrome OS devices in existense – the LG Chromebase. The device features a nice 21.5-inch screen, but lacks portability. We went hands-on with the Chromebase and are still a bit confused, to tell you the truth.
Portability is important, not only for Chrome OS but for any operating system. We already know you won’t be gaming or running powerful apps on a Chrome OS computer, so why sacrifice portability? Yes, it does have a nice, big screen, but this could be replicated by plugging any Chromebook to a monitor.
Specs and first impressions
- Intel Celeron Processor
- 21.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Display
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB SSD Storage
- 1.3 Megapixel 720 HD webcam with microphone
- built-in 5W speakers
- HDMI-in
- Three USB 2.0 ports
- One USB 3.0 port
- LAN port
- Ships with Keyboard, Mouse, and Cable Organizer
Let’s get back to the hands-on though. The device is actually well-built and smooth. It works like any Chrome OS device should. It’s fast, gets updates automatically and looks/feels good.
The screen does look really nice, with a full HD 1080p resolution. The standard in affordable Chromebooks is 1366x768p resolution, so the Chromebase’s display definitely has more than its size to it. It looks nicer and much crisper.
Specs include an HDMI-in port, which means you can also use it as a regular monitor for other computers. This happens to be a pretty neat feature, and it might make or break the Chromebase for you.
The only main downside I found in it are the accessories that come with it. The keyboard and mouse are about the cheapest quality I have seen in a long time. They are also both wired, which is ok because they don’t exactly need to be moved around.
They should have at least given us a half-decent keyboard/mouse setup, though. Luckily, you can just use any other keyboard and mouse.
Price and availability
To conclude: in order for the LG Chromebase to be a good option, it needs to cost less than a monitor and a Chromebook. LG did tell us it would be “priced very competitively”, so we can expect a pretty low price for this. No release date was announced, but we know they are aiming for Spring 2014.
What do you think, guys? Will the LG Chromebase be sitting on your desk?
