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It’s become apparent that for the day to day tasks most people do on a computer don’t actually require a lot of power, especially as most of it is done in the cloud. I came to that conclusion when looking for a laptop for my daughters GCSEs when I got her an Asus Chromebook 11 and it’s worked out pretty well so I’ve been looking at the other platforms that use Chrome OS and I’ve been testing an Asus Chromebit as a project for work.

I know you probably know all about Chrome OS and its fall and rise into superiority especially in the education market. But you may not be aware of the devices made to plug into TVs to make them even smarter.

Well, basically the Chromebit is a Compute Stick which is one of the those mega small form PCs with an HDMI connection that looks a bit like an oversized USB stick.

Now in the first instance you may think that you wouldn’t be interested in it but please hear me out. I bought a so called Smart TV A couple of years ago. It does all of the usual things like YouTube, Netflix and casting but since the day I bought it there has never been a major software update to make it comparable to systems in 2018. But what if you could override this with a more modern and more efficient system that felt more like using a computer?

Obviously Chrome OS is essentially a browser so it doesn’t need much on the silicon side but it does feel like a powerful system nonetheless. Everything is fast and responsive. And with it being Chrome you have access it all of its extensions and apps so you can customise it to your heart's content. But I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this as you’ve all used Chrome.

Hardware wise, it’s really well made. And I mean really well made. It’s rugged and feels like it’s not going to break anytime soon. It’s actually a shame it gets hidden behind your TV.

Apart from that there is not much more to say about it. All in all if you’re looking to turn your TV into a pretty decent computer with not too much maintenance then this is the stick for you.

Author

Paul Wright

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