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Zotac has always had an impressive lineup of barebones Atom based Nettops, but even with the added power of the Ion 2 chipset behind it, 1080p streaming in flash could be hit or miss making them difficult to recommend for anything other than basic standard definition streaming. In response to the critical review the follow up Zboxes are now shipping with optional dual core Intel CULV processors giving them the extra kick needed to make it an extremely powerful HTPC. The appeal of the Zotac Zbox from an enthusiast standpoint is that they come without RAM, Hard Drives, or the OS allowing you to easily open and customize the performance to fit your intended application. You can simply pop in any old 2.5” hard drive you have lying around, or even step up to an SSD.
The new Zbox HD series sports either a Celeron 743 (single-core) or SU2300 (dual-core) processor, can accommodate DDR3 memory, and comes with HDMI / DVI outputs for the video. Additional storage can be added via any of the 6 external USB ports or the single eSATA. Built in Wi-Fi 802.11N, Gigabit Ethernet, and even 7.1 Channel LPCM surround sound round out the features on a box that makes my PS3 slim feel chubby.
Pricing for the new Zboxes haven’t been announced, but it sounds as though the entry level models will retail for around $270 or less according to Engadget.
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Links of London
December 08, 2010 at 9:54pm
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bell22
August 30, 2010 at 6:50am
Hey, that's a cool stuff...but what is that actually? And yeah I think it's still too expensive at the moment. cheap find car rentalmiami
triclops41
August 30, 2010 at 1:23am
this is cool and all,
but as has been pointed out, its way too expensive right now.
a dual core atom with everything except an os can be had for about 300. yes, this system has the potential to kill a dual core atom, but for the price of said system, you can find a damn powerful quad core amd system and even slip in a respectable gpu.
igoka
August 29, 2010 at 12:07pm
Aproximate zbox price 270 $
Memory 2 Gig around 70 $
Hard drive around 100 $
Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade (you can install it on empty hard drive) 125 $
270 + 70 + 100 + 125 = 565 $
Is it really worth it ? For entry level ?
neo_mouse
August 29, 2010 at 1:45pm
so why would i want something this slow, if i wanted a 2gb single core box with a weak hdd, i would just pull out my 10 year old computer from the basement, oh wait, thats still running as a "sad" file server
Pleidius
August 29, 2010 at 6:50am
I would hope that the documentaion would innclude at least a picture or diagram of the installation procedure for the HDD/SSD.
994196003
August 28, 2010 at 11:02pm
Is this worth it?
i dont see a dvd slot, how do we install an os? (mabey i missed it, i watched the video 3 times?)
Wyluliraven
August 29, 2010 at 12:20am
I would hope that you would at least have a USB DVD drive by now... That is the easiest way given the hardware configuration.
