Subj : Chrome OS Flex
To   : Moondog
From : poindexter FORTRAN
Date : Sun Mar 05 2023 11:59:23

  Re: Chrome OS Flex
  By: Moondog to poindexter FORTRAN on Sun Mar 05 2023 08:26 am

 Mo> I've noticed on ebay there are several Chrome desktops/ small form factor
 Mo> desktops for sale. If I was in the market for another small board computer
 Mo> li ke the Raspberry Pi and didn't need the gpio header, for the price
 Mo> they'd make a good replacement.

I've got a SFF desktop running as a server - it's got a decent i5 processor, takes 32 GB of RAM, and takes both an M.2 slot and 1 SATA drive (2 if you don't mind zip-tying a drive into the DVD slot...)

For about the price of a Pi, I got a much more capable system for what I need. It uses more power and doesn't have the same iot possibilities of a Pi, but it make the basis for a decent homelab.

The Chrome desktops/laptops get marked down to ten cents on the dollar as soon as they go EOL from Google. If they're supported by SeaBios, with a little work with a screwdriver and a BIOS flash, you could get a decent low-end system for almost nothing. Run Windows or Linux on them, or continue them with Chrome OS using Chrome OS Flex.

I'm loving the idea of a Linux VM running in Chrome OS for coffee shop work - you get the battery life of a Chromebook with the flexibility of a Linux shell.
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