How to get the most from your Asus Chromebit with these 5 tips

How to get the most from your Asus Chromebit with these 5 tips

Today it was finally the day that th ASUS Chromebit was delivered to my office so I instantly created this unboxing video of this amazing little miracle machine.

what is the Chromebit and what can it do?

Ok maybe you haven’t been following the news on the ASUS Chromebit and that could be the reason why you are thinking, great but what does it do?
The ASUS Chromebit is in fact a complete computer on a stick, I know this sound very star strek but it’s true. A complete computer that is the size of a bike handle and smarter then the spaceshuttle that landed on the moon all those years ago.

It is nothing like the Google Chromecast that allows you to stream a movie and cast some photo’s and videos from other devices.
Althought I thought that this was great when it hit the market. I mainly use the Google Chromecast for streaming netflix and Youtube.
In the beginning the Chromecast could stream movies from my laptop but recently it start crashing more and more.
So time for the ASUS Chome Bit

What comes with the Chromebit

The chromebit specs are:

• ASUS CHROMEBIT
• CS10 RockChip 3288-C 2
• GB LPDDR3L
• 16 GB eMMC
• Google Chrome OS

The small fancy box that you receive after ordering contains :

• the Chromebit
• flex connector
• HDMI cable
• power connector
• Manuals in to many languages
• some fluff pads

Unboxing Video ASUS Chromebit

Installing the ASUS Chromebit 

But before I start about how great this chromebit is and what it can do Checkout the new ASUS Chromebit  in my uncensored video review on the ASUS Chromebit.

 

How to controll the Asus Chromebit without a keyboard.

I don’t have a wireless mouse , how can I use a wired mouse on the Chromebit from ASUS ?

 

 

 

The Asus Chromebit, a Chrome OS on-a-stick device, prices $85 and includes a Rockchip processor, a pair of GB of RAM, sixteen GB of storage, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth four.0, and a USB a pair of.0 port. It’s small, light, and barely larger than a candy.

I connected the Chromebit to associate HDMI monitor with the enclosed HDMI extender cable and blocked within the AC power adapter. On boot, the Asus Chromebit offered to combine with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
The remainder of the setup proceeded as usual:

• connect with a Wi-Fi network and login with a Google account.
• The device properly detected screen settings with 2 displays, however needed changes on 2 others I tested. (Type chrome://settings/display within the address bar to access the show settings.)

The Chromebit achieved hydrocarbon benchmark scores around seven , 600 once running in guest mode.
That compares well to the a pair of014 Toshiba Chromebook 2 (model 3340), that scores regarding eight,600.
And, the Toshiba has four GB of RAM, compared to 2GB within the Chromebit.

The 802.11ac Wi-Fi speeds equaled those i purchase on the Toshiba, as well. However, at longer distances from the access purpose, the Chromebit speed born off. The connection signal was still solid, however network speeds was slashed.

In could 2015, TechRepublic author Conner Forrest known many potential ways that to use Chromebit: On the road, within the schoolroom, during a room, as a kiosk, associated as an onboarding device.

Now that Asus has shipped the device, I tested it. Here area unit some accessories and tweaks to assist you get the foremost out of your Chromebit.

1. work a distance

The Chromebit has only 1 USB port, therefore I counsel you combine the device with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Otherwise, you’ll have to affect USB extenders and a lot of cables. I paired it with the Microsoft Universal Mobile Keyboard associated an Elecom 9nove mouse. These let Pine Tree State management the Chromebit from across the area. With a flick of the turn on the keyboard, I might connect and kind text on a Bluetooth-connected Chromebook or iPad, as well.

2. change text size on chromebit

With a Chromebook, you sit shut enough to the touch the keys. With a Chromebit hooked up to a TV, however, you would possibly sit several meters away. the space makes tiny text tougher to scan, therefore you may seemingly wish to regulate text size settings.

To change settings system-wide, navigate to the Chrome menu > Settings > “Show advanced settings,” then change the “Font size” and/or “Page zoom” settings. I tend to decide on a “Medium” or “Large” font size, with a one hundred and twenty fifth page zoom.

To adjust text size on a page, press Ctrl and + to enlarge text. Similarly, press Ctrl and – to scale back text size.

You can additionally change the zoom level among some apps. for instance, in Google Docs, consider the tool bar. To the proper of the undo/redo buttons, there is a zoom level choice, that is often set to 100%. I tend to decide on “Fit,” that fills the screen.

a-adjust-text.jpg
With a Chromebit hooked up to a screen across the area, you will have to be compelled to change each system (left) and Google Docs (right) text size settings.

How to keep the screen on ASUS Chromebit

I’d expect organizations to deploy the Chromebit during a room, during a research lab setting (e.g., a library or business center), or as assemblage. the simplest thanks to try this would be to get a Chrome Device Management license for an extra fee from Google. this enables associate administrator to put together and management a range of Chrome OS settings. for instance, the Chromebit are often organized in stall mode and set to invariably stay.

Alternatively, if you do not want the management controls, you’ll install Keep Awake. This free Chrome extension adds 2 show management options: “Screen are going to be unbroken on,” that will what it describes, and “System can not sleep,” that blanks the screen when a jiffy, however keeps the system on.

b-keep-awake-extension.jpg
Prevent a Chromebit show from sleep mode with the Keep Awake extension.

Give Presentations like never before

The Chromebit makes an ideal device to pack with a projector, since it simply fits during a pocket of a projector case. Even with the facility adapter, a mobile keyboard, and a mouse, the complete setup weighs regarding .5 kilograms (about one pound.). Add associate HDMI-to-VGA adapter, and you’ll connect the Chromebit to a VGA port, as well.

With alittle of preparation, you will always be able to show slides. Attach the Chromebit to your projector, connect with the net, and access any on-line presentation tool. No Internet? Google Slides stores recent displays on the device for offline use, too. Or, you’ll export and save Google Slides to the device. (While in Slides, visit File > Export, then choose either PDF or PPTX format and save the come in the Chromebit’s downloads folder.) once the Chomebit is offline, you will be able to open these domestically keep files.

5. Learn UNIX system
Like most Chrome OS devices, you’ll put together the Chromebit to run UNIX system. To do this, connect a USB keyboard, then place the device into Developer mode. develop a clasp and press it into the push, then connect power to the device. Press the push once more when you see associate on-screen prompt to try and do therefore. After that, follow the remaining steps elaborated by Dan Graziano in “How to run each Chrome OS and Ubuntu on a Chromebook.” (On the Chromebit, I encountered miscalculation that prevented X11 from beginning. I entered 3 shell commands that mounted the difficulty.)

The Chromebit rings a bell in my memory of the commissioned naval officer VIC-20—an cheap device that introduced many of us to computing. The body of the VIC-20 contained the processor and keyboard, to that you connected a show, storage, and a network adapter. (I connected my VIC-20 to a TV, a transport, and a dial-up electronic equipment.) just like the VIC-20, the Chromebit is low-priced and easy-to-experiment with—although the Chromebit distributes the items otherwise. With the Asus Chromebit, it’s just like the Eighties area unit back—in a decent approach.

Please checkout the Unboxing video of the ASUS Chromebit and the complete real world setup with all the glitches and hassles that normal people have.