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New year, new look for Samsung Chromebox

The internals remain the same, but Samsung's Chrome OS-powered budget PC gets a new look.

Rich Brown Former Senior Editorial Director - Home and Wellness
Rich was the editorial lead for CNET's Home and Wellness sections, based in Louisville, Kentucky. Before moving to Louisville in 2013, Rich ran CNET's desktop computer review section for 10 years in New York City. He has worked as a tech journalist since 1994, covering everything from 3D printing to Z-Wave smart locks.
Expertise Smart home, Windows PCs, cooking (sometimes), woodworking tools (getting there...)
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Rich Brown
Samsung

With little fanfare, Samsung has revamped the look of its Chromebox budget desktop. Shedding last year's gray-and-black plastic chassis, the 2013 Chromebox now comes in a white, rounded plastic shell.

You won't find any new specs in this new model. The 2013 version has the same 1.9GHz Intel Celeron CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 16GB solid-state hard drive as last year's Chromebox. Its ports remain almost entirely unchanged as well. You still get two DisplayPort outs, a DVI output, and six USB 2.0 ports. The only update is a small door that hides the Chromebox front-side USB and audio ports.
Samsung

With no new specs, the new Chromebox gets the same assessment as last year. Assuming its U.S. pricing holds steady at $329, this PC and its Web-focused Google Chrome OS could make sense for schools, Net cafes, or other places where you can get away with lightweight, low-maintenance PC functionality. Regular consumers, even those shopping for a budget desktop, will likely get better value from a more traditional Windows box.