Buying a pre-built HTPC -Zotac Zbox AD04 or Zbox ID80 Plus?

[Vcash]

Hello Everyone,
I started of my first post in the Media & Streaming PC's section of the forum seeking advice on media player but unfortunately, the thread did not elicit any response. As I did some independent research almost settling on the WDTV Live Hub, I discovered and downloaded XBMC on my laptop and connected it to my 720p LCD. I was blown away - The interface, the playback, the beautiful Android and iPad remote (Who needs a HTM MX-3000 remote!).

I have decided to up my budget from the intial $200 USD to about $350 USD (The reason I write USD is because I have to order from the US) for a HTPC that can run XBMC Eden.

Now, I know that most of you would recommend that I build one myself from scratch or using barebones, but a friend will be carrying one back from the US and he has limited space and would rather carry a built unit rather than components.

So I did some more research and came across the Zotac Zbox, Xtreamer Ultra (2?), the Asus eePC and Lenovo's Q180.

I am dismissing the Q180 because it ships on 25th April which is too late for me. I need to order the HTPC, latest by this Thursday.

The Xtreamer Ultra 2 looks great spec wise but it's pricey and is currently only on preorder. I expect this to blow my budget by about $50 as well.

The eePC is good but pricier than comparable Zotac boxes.

So, we come to the Zbox AD04 (ZOTAC ZBOX AD04 PLUS [ZBOX-AD04-PLUS-U]) and the Zbox ID80 (ZOTAC ZBOX ID80 PLUS [ZBOX-ID80-PLUS-U]) priced at $335 and $325 each - Fusion E-450 Vs. Cedar Trail 2700. ATI Radeon Vs. Nvidia. However everything else remains the same - The form factor, 2GB Ram, 320 GB 5400 rpm Hard drive, HDMI Outputs etc.

The question is which one of these boxes should I order? Or should I be looking at another pre-built HTPC? The price difference between both is $10 with the AMD powered one being more expensive. The AD-02 (Which runs the forum favorite E-350 is available for the same price as the ID-80).

My basic requirements are as follows:
I plan to upgrade to a 1080p 50 Plasma along with a 5.1 HTIB setup from the 720p TV that I have now. These are my requirements:

1. Ability to stream a wide variety of video files either on a wired \ wireless network or locally from an inbuilt hard drive.

2. Decent codec support (Regular firmware updates will be much appreciated) - xvid, divx, mov, avi, mkv, H.264, etc.

3. User Interface This is my most important criteria Must be simple, lag-free and fast to use especially while browsing between files.

4. Ease of setup Plug & Play after OS install is what I am looking at. Also, once I install the entire system, I want the setup to be very stable where apart from adding a few media files, no other changes \ tweaks need not be made.

5. What I dont particularly care for 3D \ Blu-Ray ISO \ 7.1 I will not need support for any of these (Maybe 3D, but once in a blue moon and that too if I buy a 3D TV when upgrading the TV)

From my initial research and understanding, it seems that the AMD is the stronger performing chip of the two, however Intel's Cedar Trail is better at handling Linux (I cannot afford to install Windows 7 hence will have to go uBuntu \ Openelec or some other build route)

Look forward to your replies.

Cheers,
V

 

[redscare24]

Honestly,
The best bet you have. And the only company that I know of that can handle everything you want it to be is:

Assassin HTPC -

They are very very highly reviewed.

 

[Vcash]

Honestly,
The best bet you have. And the only company that I know of that can handle everything you want it to be is:

Assassin HTPC -

They are very very highly reviewed.

Thanks - I did check these guys out but they are very expensive. I am going to install xbmc myself so don't want to pay a premium for their install and optimization services.

Right now ID80 looks more tempting because of better Openelec support.

 

[baijuxavior]

XBMC based HTPC is the way to go. Since E450 supports 3D, I would suggest it for your use even if you are not interested in 3D.

 

[Vcash]

XBMC based HTPC is the way to go. Since E450 supports 3D, I would suggest it for your use even if you are not interested in 3D.

I believe that Zotac AD04 does not support HDMI 1.4a 3d playback but the ID80 does if it has the right software. So another point for the Intel setup.

My main criterion is stutter and lag free performance both while playing 720p and 1080p videos as wellas while browsing XBMC menus.

I believe that the E450 has better performance than Cedar Trail but that does not translate into the real world because of non linux optimization for the Brazos platform.

How has your experience been with XBMC live or Openelec on your AMD setup?

 

[jatinmalhotra]

I am in the same boat Friend.........

After having abysmal experience with Himedia 900a, I have given up on Realtek players ( All 1186) . There is a major issue with How realtek Firmware misses file commit to NTFS disks.


After researching as yourself I also came to the conclusion of having a HTPC.
Zotac ad 10 and Foxconn 350 is top of my list but in last 3 days newegg and Amazon increased the price by 20 to 50 dollars for both. So I am waiting for them to get down.

Ignore the Plus version for Zotac .Plug ram Yourself ( Atleast 4 GB) and use a SSD instead of a internal HDD. 60-64 GB ssd is best bet. You can plug an external USB HDD later on. The Speed difference is too much to Ignore. There are lot of reviews on Net

Beware that Intel Ion performance is lower compared to amd Fusion. Do some goggling. So my choice AMD Fusion. Ion is out ( Xtreamer Ultra 2 also out).

Now for u r Questions

1. Ability to stream a wide variety of video files either on a wired \ wireless network or locally from an inbuilt hard drive.

JM >> Forget streaming High Bitrate Over Wifi . Prefer only wired. Internal HDD is good to go

2. Decent codec support (Regular firmware updates will be much appreciated) - xvid, divx, mov, avi, mkv, H.264, etc.

JM>> Not an issue with XBMC

3. User Interface This is my most important criteria Must be simple, lag-free and fast to use especially while browsing between files.

JM>> The HTPC chosen in pretty fast so not an Issue.

4. Ease of setup Plug & Play after OS install is what I am looking at. Also, once I install the entire system, I want the setup to be very stable where apart from adding a few media files, no other changes \ tweaks need not be made.

JM>> You are good to go with Win 7 x64 and XBMC eden. DTS MA and DD tru HD otstreaming are also not an issue with Eden any more. Since you cant have Win 7, XBMCubuntu will also work....

5. What I dont particularly care for 3D \ Blu-Ray ISO \ 7.1 I will not need support for any of these (Maybe 3D, but once in a blue moon and that too if I buy a 3D TV when upgrading the TV)

JM>> You need E450 and Not E350 for 3d . But still debatalble if Fusion 450 will ever do 3d. I think These HTPC cant do 3d. Any other user care to comment.

 

[baijuxavior]

My main criterion is stutter and lag free performance both while playing 720p and 1080p videos as wellas while browsing XBMC menus.

I believe that the E450 has better performance than Cedar Trail but that does not translate into the real world because of non linux optimization for the Brazos platform.

How has your experience been with XBMC live or Openelec on your AMD setup?

jatinmalhotra has answered to most of your questions. I think E450 has HDMI 1.4a support.

XBMC interface is indeed very fast and stutter free on my AMD 350 fusion. I have played both 720p and 1080p clips and they play fine. My HD RIPs are just 2.5-4 GB size. However other AMD users have confirmed that it plays even 40+GB Blu-Ray ISOs perfectly.

Openelec has different versions to suite different platforms. Also XBMC is available as a live CD called XBMCbuntu. I tried to download XBMCbuntu but the download interrupted when my download rig restarted unexpectedly and there is no resume support for this download. May be I would download it later, but for now I am very happy with my Win7+XBMC especially after the recent reinstall when my openelec installation turned out to be a tragedy.

Openelec can be installed on to a pendrive, but be very careful to remove your HDD before installation. It will wipe out the entire drive. I knew this but was lazy to remove the HDD from the coolermaster cabinet. Instead I disabled the HDD from the bios, but openelec can still see your HDD. I had carefully selected the usb drive, but the installation halted at 100%. So I pressed the 'Enter' button a few times and guess what the installation started again and this time it selected the first HDD and wiped the entire drive before I recognized my folly losing ~ 100 HD movies and 20K+ songs. Luckily I had backups of the songs and most of the movies were watched ones.

Added - PQ through HDMI out of my HTPC is not sharp on my HD LCD TV. I have tried even a DVI to HDMI adapter, but the PQ is very bad. But VGA out connected to the PC port rocks. The images are crystal clear. The hdmi problem may be due to the fact that my tv is hd only and not full hd. I don't have access to a FHD TV to test my HTPC. So my next upgrade will be a 42" FHD TV.

 

[sam9s]

I have been saying this all along right from very bigining, when it comes to quality UI, seemless playback and customization, nothign comes near a decently built or (bought) HTPC. After playing around media players for years (WD TV, WD Live and POHD) I fonally setelled with HTPC and much much happy about it.

@vCash you have made the right decision, and choice as well. Just consider a DIY HTPC as well if that would not be too much for you.

Most of your questions have already been addressed, correctly of course, I just want to say something about your point 5. Do not underestimate you multimedia needs, try to be future proof, maybe 3D is not needed now but you never know, same for ISO playback.

You can check my or baiju's HTPC thread for more details ....

 

[jatinmalhotra]

Hows this for diy

Case option
MINI ITX CUBE CASEING, @ 1400 ALL INCLUSIVE | eBay

Case option 2
http://www.ebay.in/itm/CFI-cabinet-...1?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_203&hash=item5d331a76e9


Processor

amd a6 3500. 4k

mobo asrock mini itx 6.6k

hp ir reciever 800rs

ddr3 ram 4gb 1200 rs

ssd 60 gb. 4775rs

 

[sam9s]

^^ I will add a GT440 GPU if it goes in to the mobo, else would choose an ATX. and definitely minus the SSD.

 

[jatinmalhotra]

Any reason to add a separate GPU and removing SSD..

 

[Vcash]

jatinmalhotra has answered to most of your questions. I think E450 has HDMI 1.4a support.

Added - PQ through HDMI out of my HTPC is not sharp on my HD LCD TV. I have tried even a DVI to HDMI adapter, but the PQ is very bad. But VGA out connected to the PC port rocks. The images are crystal clear. The hdmi problem may be due to the fact that my tv is hd only and not full hd. I don't have access to a FHD TV to test my HTPC. So my next upgrade will be a 42" FHD TV.

I checked the Zotac site and the 450 does not have 3D support due to a lack of 1.4a on the AD04 box.

My TV upgrade will be to full HD so I am not overtly concerned about this. HDMI Is needed for 1080p right?

@vCash you have made the right decision, and choice as well. Just consider a DIY HTPC as well if that would not be too much for you.

Most of your questions have already been addressed, correctly of course, I just want to say something about your point 5. Do not underestimate you multimedia needs, try to be future proof, maybe 3D is not needed now but you never know, same for ISO playback.

Thanks Sam. Can't do a DIY for reasons mentioned in original post. I am upgrading TVs and 3D is not on my list because of budget and because I dislike the experience. I won't even go to the theatre to watch a 3D movie.

Beware that Intel Ion performance is lower compared to amd Fusion. Do some goggling. So my choice AMD Fusion. Ion is out ( Xtreamer Ultra 2 also out).

JM >> Forget streaming High Bitrate Over Wifi . Prefer only wired. Internal HDD is good to go

I know that in benchmarks the 450 beats out Atom D2700 but that is typically when it comes to gaming which I don care for. And general consensus is that Atom processes video better which is important to me. Is this true?

 

[jatinmalhotra]

I checked the Zotac site and the 450 does not have 3D support due to a lack of 1.4a on the AD04 box.

My TV upgrade will be to full HD so I am not overtly concerned about this. HDMI Is needed for 1080p right?



Thanks Sam. Can't do a DIY for reasons mentioned in original post. I am upgrading TVs and 3D is not on my list because of budget and because I dislike the experience. I won't even go to the theatre to watch a 3D movie.



I know that in benchmarks the 450 beats out Atom D2700 but that is typically when it comes to gaming which I don care for. And general consensus is that Atom processes video better which is important to me. Is this true?

no evidence that its only gaming....
Go for a superior product. Amd

Hdmi is for 1080p. You are right.

 

[assassin]

no evidence that its only gaming....
Go for a superior product. Amd

Hdmi is for 1080p. You are right.

Why on earth would anyone choose the Atom or Zacate anymore? Very poor choices, imo.

Since you don't want or need 3D the new Intel SNB Celeron/Pentium CPU with onboard 1080p video are a much better solution (or even a Mini-ITX Llano with the A6 or A4). You can easily build a very small HTPC with upgradeable/reusable/replaceable/non-proprietary parts for about the same amount of money that will run circles around that Zotac box.

I would never buy something that small and underpowered. There are much much better options out there.

Both of these are better choices and will only use about 10 watts more than the atom or zacate.

 

[Vcash]

Why on earth would anyone choose the Atom or Zacate anymore? Very poor choices, imo.

Since you don't want or need 3D the new Intel SNB Celeron/Pentium CPU with onboard 1080p video are a much better solution (or even a Mini-ITX Llano with the A6 or A4). You can easily build a very small HTPC with upgradeable/reusable/replaceable/non-proprietary parts for about the same amount of money that will run circles around that Zotac box.

I would never buy something that small and underpowered. There are much much better options out there.

Both of these are better choices and will only use about 10 watts more than the atom or zacate.

I understand that I have the ability to build a mini-PC - I have built a desktop in the past after ordering parts of Newegg. I cannot build a HTPC for reasons mentioned in the opening post.

Is there a pre built HTPC running the configuration that would perform better than the setups I am considering.

Also, is all that extra power necessary? I am not looking for a high powered gaming rig here - Just a box that can play a mix of 720p and 1080p files smoothly at a reasonable cost (Else - I would have bought a Mac Mini).

 

[manniraj]

Why on earth would anyone choose the Atom or Zacate anymore? Very poor choices, imo.

Since you don't want or need 3D the new Intel SNB Celeron/Pentium CPU with onboard 1080p video are a much better solution (or even a Mini-ITX Llano with the A6 or A4). You can easily build a very small HTPC with upgradeable/reusable/replaceable/non-proprietary parts for about the same amount of money that will run circles around that Zotac box.

I would never buy something that small and underpowered. There are much much better options out there.

Both of these are better choices and will only use about 10 watts more than the atom or zacate.

Welcome to our forum assassin..I presume you are the same assassin from avsforums..its great to have your inputs in our forum as well..I regularly follow your valuable inputs especially the 24 frames playback and the madvr thing..

thanks

 

[assassin]

I understand that I have the ability to build a mini-PC - I have built a desktop in the past after ordering parts of Newegg. I cannot build a HTPC for reasons mentioned in the opening post.

Is there a pre built HTPC running the configuration that would perform better than the setups I am considering.

Also, is all that extra power necessary? I am not looking for a high powered gaming rig here - Just a box that can play a mix of 720p and 1080p files smoothly at a reasonable cost (Else - I would have bought a Mac Mini).

Is the extra power necessary? Absolutely. There are already some things that the Zacate/Atom struggles with (Netflix HD for example) and this will only get worse as technology continues to advance. A recent census I conducted at AVS showed that the average HTPC users expects their hardware to last 3-5 years. You are already on the downslope of that with the Zacate/Atom and that's at the beginning of ownership. Not a very smart investment, imo.

Again, you can build (or even buy) a mini-ITX HTPC that is a little larger but still very capable of being put in a backpack or piece of luggage for transport. And its better from a hardware perspective as well for the reasons that I outlined previously.

 

[assassin]

Welcome to our forum assassin..I presume you are the same assassin from avsforums..its great to have your inputs in our forum as well..I regularly follow your valuable inputs especially the 24 frames playback and the madvr thing..

thanks

Yes. He is I and I am him.

Thanks for the kind greeting. I hope to stick around a bit.

 

[Vcash]

So much to everyone's disappointment here, I picked up the Zotac ID80 running Cedar Trail. I got the Plus version as well as this is the only one that was in stock. I want to swap out the 320 GB HD for a SSD. And I want to upgrade the Ram as well. My questions are:

Should I Upgrade from Samsung 2GB 204-pin DDR3-1066 SO-DIMM RAM to Any Good Brand (Transcend, Kingston, Corsair, etc.) 4 GB 204-pin DDR3-1066 SO-DIMM RAM? But then the 2GB stick will get wasted - Instead can I put another 2GB Stick - Does it have to be the same brand and model or can I buy any make?

I am thinking of getting a 64 GB 2.5-inch SATA 3.0 Gb/s SSD Hard Drive - IS this overkill if I plan to run primarily XBMCbuntu with the possibility of upgrading to Win 7 HP later? Or should I save some money by getting a 32 or a 40 GB SSD?

Thanks,
V

 

[jatinmalhotra]

So much to everyone's disappointment here, I picked up the Zotac ID80 running Cedar Trail. I got the Plus version as well as this is the only one that was in stock. I want to swap out the 320 GB HD for a SSD. And I want to upgrade the Ram as well. My questions are:

Should I Upgrade from Samsung 2GB 204-pin DDR3-1066 SO-DIMM RAM to Any Good Brand (Transcend, Kingston, Corsair, etc.) 4 GB 204-pin DDR3-1066 SO-DIMM RAM? But then the 2GB stick will get wasted - Instead can I put another 2GB Stick - Does it have to be the same brand and model or can I buy any make?

I am thinking of getting a 64 GB 2.5-inch SATA 3.0 Gb/s SSD Hard Drive - IS this overkill if I plan to run primarily XBMCbuntu with the possibility of upgrading to Win 7 HP later? Or should I save some money by getting a 32 or a 40 GB SSD?

Thanks,
V

Ditch SSD, not so much improvemeent over a HDD. I am regretting buying it.