Chromebox

Get a reasonably cheap Unix server by converting a Chromebox to Ubuntu.

How I did it

I bought an ASUS Chromebox from Amazon for $160.

I followed the instructions on the Kodi page to install Ubuntu as a single boot image. In case that page goes away the key incantations are

1. You must remove the screw to enable firmware update
2. To run the ChromeBox E-Z Setup script, perform the following steps:
   1. Power on and boot to ChromeOS. Do not log in, but ensure a network connection is established.
   2. Hit [CTRL][ALT][F2] to open a command prompt ([CTRL][ALT][<--] for ChromeOS keyboards)
   3. Login with user chronos (no password required)
   4. Download and run the ChromeBox setup script using the following two commands (hit enter after typing each command):
      (in place of the <url> below use goo.gl/3Tfu5W)
      curl -L -O [http:// http://]<url>     
      sudo bash 3Tfu5W
   5. Follow the instructions to update your firmware and then reboot.
   6. Repeat step 4
   7. Now choose to install Ubuntu and Kodi in a standalone mode
   8. Reboot into Ubuntu

To get the BEEP command to work....  it boils down to un-blacklisting the pcspkr module in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf. (thanks to antiplex)