Acer announces $179 Chromebox appendage, launching late Sep in U.S. and Canada

Some of us are old enough to remember when desktop computers were large towers that you stored under your desk; these days, you can hide the desktop PC behind your monitor.

Acer has today announced a new Chromebox based on its C7 series Chromebook, the Chromebox CXI. The compact format makes it suitable for mounting on a monitor stand … 

The CXI series is ideal for education, small to medium businesses and budget-conscious users who don’t require a mobile platform and who are either invested in or want to leverage the affordability and security of the Google Chrome ecosystem.

A ‘Powerwash’ option makes the machine ideal for use in environments like schools where there are multiple users for each machine, allowing all local data to be quickly cleared after use, leaving a clean machine for the next person.

The CXI offers dual-display support via HDMI and DisplayPort and four USB ports (two of which will continue to power external devices even in standby mode). The $179 model comes with 2GB RAM, with a 4GB version available for $220.

Acer also launched a new 13-inch Chromebook earlier this month, taking on Samsung’s Chromebook 2 with better battery-life, faster graphics and a lower price.