Zotac AD10 - in case anyone is interested (22 Viewers)

[foxbenw]

So far so good...

Actually had a spot of bother getting the back cover off in a 'don't want to force it/break it way' but it's fine.
4gb sodimm went in fine after that. (for those who have never put in laptop memory - put it in to the slot at a 45 degree angle first, pushing it into the slot, then push downwards towards the motherboard until the clips at each end engage and hold it in place.
Followed by 120gb vertex3. Also simple.

For the win7 ultimate 64 install I didn't know whether to go for my external USB drive (which has separate power and data cables so needs 2 USB ports) or a USB install via the windows USB DVD tool. Laziness won out, of course, so plugged the drive in and away we went. No problems at first but then realised the usb3 drivers are not installed and only have 2 usb2 ports... So power for drive went into usb3, data into usb2 plus mouse into usb2 and it's all fine, don't need a keyboard yet anyway, and will swap mouse for keyboard when i do. New computers are great. (nb didn't bother changing boot order in bios)

Next, enable remote desktop and move upstairs to the bedroom where we'll be using it.
Then realise the network adapter driver wasn't installed by windows (it's on the zotac disk that i haven't touched yet) so can't rdp yet. Network connection in bedroom is netgear av500. Instead of getting keyboard, mouse and external drive and worrying about what fits where, I put virtual clone drive exe and the zotac disk iso onto a USB stick, plus mouse and keyboard. Worked fine, installed drivers etc.
All done!

Install latest mp client only, add unlocked saf, change rtsp server address on tv server side after a bit of panicking about no tv, and we are done. Then add tvseries to test a few files.

Noise is very bearable/quiet but I think I'd persuade myself it was driving me mental if I left it on at night when too tired and listening (don't worry, normal idling sound is v quiet - just not silent!). Startup is v quick - the post beeps happen in quick succession and with ssd the rest is good too. I haven't tried what happens to the fan on full load yet.

No virus scan installed yet, and will be leaving it off for the time being.

Live tv - all good, sd and the 1080i from bbc hd etc. No extra fan noise yet. Tv series plays sd and (1080i) hd recordings with no fuss.

But, can't play sound on BBC one hd, as it's 5.1 AAC only on that. Not sure if it's codecs/sound output settings yet but that's a different post if I get confused.

Haven't tried 1080p yet, not enough time and trying to get the basics right.

Haven't installed a remote control before. The one that came with looks a bit like the old Xbox one (ie pretty crappy) and I tried selecting the mce remote option in config but only a few buttons work so far. More work to be done there as it didn't work 'out of the box' and I don't know if that is normal being a new kid to mp (well, a month or two).

Overall, i am loving the new toy so far. I know I will end up with a nicer looking remote and haven't had time to try different skins or bluray/1080p mkv yet. But I will, and will let you know.

Ben

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi there,

Thanks for reporting back

I'm glad to see 1080i works (albeit 1440).

Can you try ITV1 HD (1920i)? Can you shift-1 and report back any dropped frames?

Is this cabled LAN or wireless LAN?

Thanks,

J.

 

[foxbenw]

Didn't realise itv was 1920, otherwise would have tested there instead. Will let you know when I can (wife depending, of course, not me...)

Ps I have virgin super hub plugged into Belkin n+ in dmz plugged into netgear av500's to the bedroom. Can check wifi if it's important to you? The ad10 comes with wifi plus a screw in aerial and the signal is ok in the bedroom. Let me know if you want to. Bluray is a no go obviously but not sure about HDTV.

 

[webcris77]

1080p with DXVA enable work very well!!!
AD10 with DSM-22 remote is the best choice

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi there,

Testing ITV1 would be great.

I'd be interested to see if wireless works ok, when I tried on previous Zotac's there were issues for me.

Alot of WirelessN aren't actually fully 300Mbps..but 150Mbps...and suffer with latency too.

Cheers,

J.

 

[foxbenw]

Yes, I like the look of that remote. Glad to hear you like it!

Jay - itv 1 hd plays, shifts back and shifts back to end without any frames dropped (tried about 5 times. Unfortunately Bridget jones is on at the moment so thanks for asking me to watch that)

I have saf installed with nothing else at the moment.

That's using homeplug not wifi.

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi there,

Its not timeshifting (back and forwards) I need ya to check... its the statistics (which are turned on and off by shift & 1)... tune to ITV1 HD and then shift-1, and report back what the lines look like, and how many dropped frames it reports (lets say after 10 minutes)

Thanks,

J.

 

[porky996t]

Jay, I don't think Ben has a keyboard attached yet.

Any other way doing a "shift & 1" ?



M.

 

[foxbenw]

Heh, don't worry I have a keyboard! Just haven't bothered putting one into a client setup yet. All via rdp and then remote on tv is a bit awkward though.
Just didn't know that's what shift-1 meant...
Will go back and try again.

 

[porky996t]

aha..."shift & 1" .. the screen that shows what is really happening

To be honest I don't understand all the lines, but if a problem occurs it is useful to see what is see stuttering so others can advise - and it shows the number of dropped frames too.

M