ZOTAC ZBOX nano AD12 AMD E2-1800
#16
I have the Zotac Zbox AD12 with 8GB stick of RAM and 64 GB SSD drive. MS Windows 7 loaded as the boot OS and XBMC 12 Frodo working great. Streams Blu-ray mkv files perfectly. I don't have a 3D TV but I have ripped some of my 3D movies and want to take it to a friend's house who has a 3D TV and see how well it plays those movies. I have Windows auto-log in with generic account and then auto-run the XBMC. Not too back of boot time to get to the main XBMC screen. I have no complaints about the Windows 7 performance on the AD12. It works great.

I had OpenElec XBMC running on it as well without any playback problems. Super fast boot time!

I am thinking of getting an Zbox ID82 (Intel i3) and setting up a dual-boot for Win7 and XBMC (linux-based). Since the ID82 has a faster processor and more RAM (16GB Max) for the Windows install. However, I think I will convert the AD12 back to just XBMC for simplicity reasons.
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#17
Thx for the info.

Zotac announced a new ZBOX today: Zotax ZBOX ID42

Really nice specs, I think even bit better then the Nano AD12

http://www.zotac.com/products/product/zb...tions.html
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#18
I hope it works better than their website Wink
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#19
(2013-01-07, 21:51)JeeGee Wrote: Zotac announced a new ZBOX today: Zotax ZBOX ID43

Really nice specs, I think even bit better then the Nano AD12

I like how Zotac is spending their time and $ in R&D. They keep making their products better.
http://www.zotac.com/news/pressemitteilu...ni-pc.html

Zbox ID83 - http://www.zotac.com/products/product/zb...-id83.html
Zbox ID42 - http://www.zotac.com/products/product/zb...-id42.html

Nice Improvements but there are a few things I think they removed that should have stayed. I still think the AD12 will be fine since it plays everything perfectly and smoothly. I just need to try it with a 3D movie to be 100% sure of that fact.
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#20
Thx for all the links.

What did they remove according to you? Just curious.....

I am looking for a nice HTPC, but pulling my hair out on my search...
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#21
I currently have the AD12 setup using the following procedure:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=141369

This worked great for me, for basic setup. Couple of notes:
1) Has a bug in the underscan setup. The question asks if you want to disable underscan, but selecting it actually enables underscan.
2) LIRC is just the setup, and not configured. Follow instructions from http://youresuchageek.blogspot.fr/2012/0...linux.html to configure it (I used the internal IR and has worked great so far).
3) The Sensor stuff appears to only handle NVIDIA chipsets, so again should follow instruction in the youresuchageek blog above.

You might be asking why not just use the youresuchageek blog. I did try it, and found that it did not set things up as nicely (seemed to see a lot of delays in the menuing). Also, it is a long manual process, where the other is running a script file and answering a few questions.

Hardware:
ZOTAC ZBOX Nano AD12
8gb Ram
64gb SSD
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#22
(2013-01-07, 22:06)JeeGee Wrote: What did they remove according to you? Just curious.....

I know the nano version (like the AD14) has an eSATA port. Even though it isn't a multiport eSATA, it is nice to have that connection. Now that I think about it, I don't think it was ever on the non-nano versions.

ID42 only has a total of 4 USB ports.... but they added the 2nd gig NIC. Whereas the ID83 still has 6 total USB ports
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#23
Appreciate all of the info as well, I did notice the ID42 this morning and might go that route once I look into it more, USB doesn't matter to me.

My main concern is still psysfaction mentioning that HD audio wasn't working properly with the AD12. Bitstreaming is a must for me, my entire collection is blu-ray. With the card that's in the AD12 I'm not sure why it would be a problem, but it's always possible it's something specific to the AD12 I guess. I know it's not bitstreaming as a whole because I do that perfectly with my PC right now.

One thing I really wish is that zotac would figure out their model naming, it's terrible and not intuitive at all.
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#24
(2013-01-08, 00:44)GreenOnyx Wrote: ....USB doesn't matter to me.

My main concern is still psysfaction mentioning that HD audio wasn't working properly with the AD12. Bitstreaming is a must for me, my entire collection is blu-ray. With the card that's in the AD12 I'm not sure why it would be a problem, but it's always possible it's something specific to the AD12 I guess. I know it's not bitstreaming as a whole because I do that perfectly with my PC right now.

I have 350+ Blu-ray's ripped and they all play flawlessly on the AD12. Not sure if it is bitstreamed but I get surround sound and a great picture.

(2013-01-08, 00:44)GreenOnyx Wrote: One thing I really wish is that zotac would figure out their model naming, it's terrible and not intuitive at all.

NO KIDDING!!!!! It is insane when a model number increases but the power / hardware decreases!

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#25
Appreciate the info RamHawk, one last question, are the XBMC menu speeds and response times decent on the AD12 when running Windows 7? I've only ran it on a fast PC up until now and was curious if there was much of a difference on the lower end processsors.
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#26
It's pretty good with the default skin (Confluence) but the more advanced skins will slow down the response time.
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#27
I am searching for a low power pc to replace my desktop and my search brought me to zotac. I was wondering if anyone is using their Ad12 (or other Zotac) for web/email/chat on windows 7? It would be nice to move from my ps3 for mkv playback but I'm more concerned about surfing and chatting.
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#28
(2013-01-23, 07:44)Freefallmerc Wrote: I am searching for a low power pc to replace my desktop and my search brought me to zotac. I was wondering if anyone is using their Ad12 (or other Zotac) for web/email/chat on windows 7? It would be nice to move from my ps3 for mkv playback but I'm more concerned about surfing and chatting.

The Zbox AD12 is a very nice Windows 7 machine. Mine has 1 stick of 8GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD drive. 25 GB for the full Windows 7 install. Tweak a few services that aren't needed to help XBMC run smoother. I'll be adding MS Office 2013 to it too.

All around it is a fast little machine with plenty of CPU and GPU power. Way more than any web surfing, chatting, or email will ever require.
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#29
(2013-01-23, 08:20)RamHawk Wrote:
(2013-01-23, 07:44)Freefallmerc Wrote: I am searching for a low power pc to replace my desktop and my search brought me to zotac. I was wondering if anyone is using their Ad12 (or other Zotac) for web/email/chat on windows 7? It would be nice to move from my ps3 for mkv playback but I'm more concerned about surfing and chatting.

The Zbox AD12 is a very nice Windows 7 machine. Mine has 1 stick of 8GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD drive. 25 GB for the full Windows 7 install. Tweak a few services that aren't needed to help XBMC run smoother. I'll be adding MS Office 2013 to it too.

All around it is a fast little machine with plenty of CPU and GPU power. Way more than any web surfing, chatting, or email will ever require.

Do you have a link to the RAM you purchased? I read that these are very picky about what RAM will actually work. Also, the SSD needs to be mSSD right?
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#30
Here's what I have in the box:

8GB single SO-DIMM - Patriot Signature. I think I paid $32 (amazing price)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820220618

Zotac has a "tested memory list" on their web site in the support / downloads section.

128 GB SSD SATA III Drive - ADATA. I think I paid $100. You can go with a smaller (GB) drive but the cost wasn't too much cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820211596

Any hard drive you put in needs to be the thinner 2.5" hard drive style.
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