Zotac ZBOX NANO ID18 - OK for Mediaportal? (2 Viewers)

[Sepulchre]

I'm looking for a new small PC to hang of the back of a TV in the bedroom to serve as a mediaportal client. Will the Zotac ZBOX NANO ID18 be up to the job?

thanks in advance

 

[resa]

specs say yes, experience says umm-narjoarrr..

CPU is Celeron U1007 i guess, pretty weak.
HD-Source in overlay SHOULD playing without massive stuttering, since Intel HD Gfx on chip, without gurantee.
Climbing through the MePo GUI under Win7 - on such a 'machine' - could lead to massive loss of hair

Huge RAM, min. 4GB, (better 6 or 8GB and then fixing virtual memory at 1-2 Gigs), as well as using an SSD and also tweak Win for SSD, can do a lot... But honestly, personally i would never go below i.e. i3 3227U again for Win&MePo ... or .... there will be blood

You have to imagine, how much YOU can bear, maybe regular delays when pressing a button and micro hangs while jumping and scrolling etc. etc. is not a big problem to you.

 

[Sepulchre]

Thanks Resa, This was my worry, but it will be an occasional use item so if its not perfect I can live with it. The model i was looking at comes with a U1037 1.8Ghz processor, 4GB Ram and 64GB SSD, not bad for £175!

I've done further reading and found this comment from a user in relation to XMBC - "suitable for h264 1080p full HD video playback (10% load on CPU)".

I've ordered one anyway and will report back my findings, maybe I will be lucky and this can be a good option for other people looking for a very small form factor cheap MePo client. If not I will return it

 

[resa]

Well done my 'son', sounds like good offer

And for that reason i implemnted not only my side of view,
since nobody is dying, when there is a hang, for the quarter of a second, while scrolling MePo in Bed, with only quarter of eyes opened already

If you can make another deal to double RAM for cheap, do it!
(DDR3 will not stay on this low prices forever)

Ah, and let me recommend you to avoid WiFi-Connection, if posible
it is not only these unstable bitrates etc. but also error correction and encryption can be a noticebale load for such a petit machine, and since all the loads are cumulating...

Have fun with your Box

 

[Sepulchre]

Hi, I thought I would post back an update now that I have the ZBOX which is set-up and running.

Windows 7 installed very quickly from a USB stick, MePo installed and all settings copied from my main HTPC in no time. I'm connecting to my NAS via wifi - sorry Resa, its my only option just now .

The ZBOX runs very quietly, its virtually silent when not streaming, fan noise is also very quiet when it is streaming and can only be heard occasionally when the sound is off on the TV.
MePo runs very well, no lags in the UI
720p content plays without issues, skipping backwards or forwards is as fast as my main HTPC
1080p content played fine last night but seems a little jerky today, I will look into this more.

For the desired use as an occasional HTPC for the bedroom which needed to be silent, small and able to be hidden behind the TV (an optional Vesa mount is available for it which I've now ordered) I would say its an excellent choice add to this the low cost I'm pretty pleased!

If anyone does go for this option please be aware the bare-bones version ships with a 1.5Ghz processor whilst the version I picked up ships with a 1.8Ghz processor. This is the one I have

Seppy

 

[resa]

Nothing to be sorry about, it is only a sort of mission I always try to sensitize people explicit for Wi-Fi as major source of numerous problems. This is far too often unrecognized, unregarded, forgotten - AND! it seems to be applicable here, since your 1080p problem sounds like a classic Wi-Fi issue Good luck.