Chromebit Update: Eight Months In, Still Ticking Along Happily

August 26, 2016 by Dave Haynes

cbit-testscreen

I don’t have the technical background to say this is indicative of anything, but my test so far of the little Asus Chromebit as a simple signage player has been positive.

The little $85 Google-approved HDMI stick I bought has been running on a spare screen at World Headquarters/spare bedroom for eight months, and it just keeps ticking along. I turn the screen off and every month or so and have a look, and the thing continues to happily play out a set of maybe 20 different videos, without dropping a frame. It’s been running Appspace’s Chrome player without a hiccup (that I know of).

I just checked the device itself, and at most I’d say is that it is warmish to the touch – definitely not hot.

I’ve not done anything to really push the little fella, or throw crazy high bitrate or UHD content at it.  Who knows what would happen if I repeatedly recycled the power to it or tried to “break” it in some other way.

cb1

Several industry contacts have indicated they are using the little sticks on small business jobs, and have been very happy with the performance.

I’ll stress here that these sorts of devices are really best left to small business jobs that aren’t going to happen unless costs are kept well down. These would appear to be a way better option than container-loads of dodgy, unpredictable $60 Android sticks and boxes from Chinese companies you’ve never heard of. But for scaled, mission-critical jobs, you do still want to make the dollar investment in commercial-grade gear – whether that’s for ChromeOS, Android, Linux or Windows. They’re designed to last, and made for the mean old world, not the back of a TV at home.

I’d love to hear stories from companies that have real-world experience putting out Chromebits in larger, scaled networks, if that is indeed happening.

Update:

  1. Jack Nasa says:

    did u ever overcome need to enter password on a reboot?

  2. ATL says:

    Running on Chromebits for 5 months without any issues. A one of a kind KISS installation (Keep It Simple Stupid)

    http://bit.ly/Lexus_Chromebits

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