Most people working long hours on computers prefer a desktop, but buying a new one could prove to be costly, especially if you have to buy Windows with it. If you are not into gaming and you need a computer for just basic things take a look at LG’s Chromebase.

This all-in-one PC looks almost like an iMac and takes up minimum space on your computer table. It costs just Rs 32,000 and you pay nothing for the operating system. You get a 21.5-inch display at 1920 x 1080 resolution, powered by an Intel Celeron dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and an array of standard ports along with a standard keyboard and mouse thrown in. The CPU is in the monitor itself. It also packs a 1.3-megapixel webcam and built-in speakers. The hard disk has a capacity of just 16 GB, but you can easily connect a pen drive or an external hard disk to save your files. In addition, customers get 100 GB of space on Google Drive for free for two years.

This machine runs Google’s Chrome operating system, thereby freeing you from the bloat of Windows and its associated perils such as malware. You will not be able to run any Windows programs and your apps are limited to what you find in the Chrome web store. Interestingly, you can even run some Android programs on this computer with a simple hack. Over time you should see more apps made specifically for the Chrome OS in the Google Play store.

The computer is easy to set up. It requires six screws to mount on the stand. The mouse and keyboard connect to the USB 2.0 ports at the back of the monitor. If you have a wired Internet connection there is a Gigabit Ethernet port for it too. As soon as I connected the power, the computer booted within seconds. The tutorial on the screen was easy to follow. It easily connected to the Internet through WiFi. You can use a 3G dongle from Airtel or any other provider to connect to the Internet too.

YouTube videos streamed without any problems. I connected my 500 GB Seagate external hard drive to the USB 3.0 port and found that I could access all my files perfectly. I could even watch the movies I had stored in my hard drive. Media file formats such as 3gp, .avi, .mov, .mp4, .m4v, .m4a, .mp3, .mkv, .ogv, .ogm, .ogg, .oga, .webm, .wav are all supported.

I could open Word, Excel and PowerPoint files from a USB stick with the Microsoft’s suite of Office apps found on the Chrome web store. You can save your files to OneDrive and download them to a pen drive when you need them. If you need hard copies of your files make sure you have a Google Cloud Print ready printer. You can set it up easily by associating it with your Google account, preferably from a Windows PC or a Mac.

The biggest drawback for the Chromebase is its very poor support for typing in Indian languages. It does not support Inscript, the standard keyboard that is followed in all offices for typing in Bengali or Hindi. Instead the keyboard offers the unprofessional transliteration and phonetic keyboard options for Indian languages.

The monitor has its own settings that are controlled by touch buttons on the front. The ‘Reader’ button prevents eye fatigue when you are reading long articles. I found the output from the 5-Watt speakers very poor. This is even if you turn up the volume on the front of the monitor. There is another volume control located on the tool bar on the lower right part of the screen. But this does little to better the sound. If you add an external speaker or use a headphone the sound is pretty good.

Desktop computers are going out of fashion but its all-in-one version is getting popular. It is ideal for use in offices and homes where Internet is readily available. If you use your computer primarily for web browsing, creating documents, or even some photo and video editing, this computer will suffice.

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