Vcash
Member
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
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