Aopen MP45-DR mini-review (1 Viewer)

[ziphnor]

I recently purchased an Aopen MP45-DR barebone PC to use as my HTPC client (the server being placed in another room). I thought people might find a mini-review interesting, as actual details about this barebone are pretty scarce. So here it is:
Barebone: Aopen MP45-DR
CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9100 3.0Ghz (ES)
RAM: 4GB DDR2 (SODIMM)
HDD: Mtron Mobi MSD302 2.5” 16GB SLC SSD
Videocard (integrated): X4500MHD
Good:
- Build-in IR receiver for MCE remote (ships with an MCE compatible remote, but the real one is better and can be used instead).
- HDMI output WITH audio output using the Intel chipset (with the included DVI-HDMI adapter). The motherboard also has a Realtek build-in audio chip which can be used for analogue and SPDIF audio (but I don’t see any reason to use it when you can get HDMI video+audio in a single cable).
- Low power use ( about 20W in idle with the above CPU, and <1W when turned off (can still turn on from remote))
- Build-in display adapter capable of HD decoding (X4500MHD)
- Size: REALLY small
- Slim slot loading DVD drive (included): looks and feels cool
- Silent when idle and under low CPU load
Bad:
- Uses mobile parts(SO-DIMM ram and Socket P CPU), which are more expensive (especially CPU)
- Supports one slim IDE slot-loading optical drive and one 2.5” SATA hard-drive only. This makes it damn expensive to replace the DVD drive with a Blu ray drive if required.
- A bit noisy when under high CPU load

I am very pleased with the configuration as listed above. It is capable of software decoding h264 1080p movies without issue, enabling the display of MKV subtitles for example and the playback of all h264 movies instead of only those compatible with hw decoding. I have not really used the GPU decoding yet, but it is pretty obvious that the driver support from Intel is not as good as from ATI or nVidia, and I had a little bit of trouble getting hardware MPEG2 decoding working correctly (issues with deinterlacing).

Links:
GMA X4500-based AOPEN MP45-DR Mini-HTPC - AVS Forum
http://global.aopen.com/products_detail.aspx?ctgr=74&Auno=2661&mdstl=309

 

[Curry]

I've bought the MP45-BDR myself but have a problem with the supplied remote - on Windows 7 most of the buttons are rerouted to WMC for some reason. So if I press the 'My Videos' button it opens WMC on top of MediaPortal :X

Any idea how to fix this since you don't appear to have this problem?

 

[wijnand]

Curry:

Any idea how to fix this since you don't appear to have this problem?

I just renamed the mediacenter folder. Don't know the exact location and name anymore, but this is easy to find..
( I'm at work now..)
This worked for me on W7 perfectly!

Good luck!

[EDIT]
Old Path:
c:\windows\ehome
New path example with renamed MCE folder:
c:\windows\ehomeBAK
[EDIT]

 

[crawdaddy]

Is this a barebones system, or a full machine with ram, processor, hard drive and such? It looks like Newegg's only listing it as a barebones...

Newegg.com - mp45

 

[Curry]

Is this a barebones system, or a full machine with ram, processor, hard drive and such? It looks like Newegg's only listing it as a barebones...

Newegg.com - mp45

Yes it's a barebone system, you can add memory, CPU and HD as required.

 

[chlopak]

Great mini system got the MP45-BDR - Been running with this for almost a year now and its been really great. Most importantly keeps the wife happy as its small and quiet.

My set up my Aopen MP45-BDR is:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9100 3.06Ghz
RAM: 4GB DDR2
HDD Hitachi 7200rpm 320GB 2.5 HDD
miniPCI-e: HP Tv Tuner Aver A310 - not really working
USB: Aver USB Tv Tuner - this one works.

I've purchased the Intel Core 2 Extreme Mobile X9100 cpu to replace the P8400 and this has made a big difference in response to mediaportal. However I'm finding that the fan is working more times than not and have had to revert to the old cpu. It was hitting a max 85 degress on one core and about 65 deg on the other. Didn't want to leave it as the wife was starting to notice the noise. Running the P8400 I noticed the temps range from 35 up to about 50 under load and the fan starts spinning when it hits about 50 deg. At idle the X9100 is sitting about 46 deg in both cores and easily jump over 50 deg when even idling. Did you use your own cpu heatsink compound? Or am I missing something?

Cheers