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**waldo22** · 2010-06-10, 15:57

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6856119017

Dual-core atom.

Looks like a pretty good deal to me.

1) add a stick of DDR2 laptop RAM
2) add a USB stick and run XBMC live (no need for a Hard Drive)
3) add a remote

you have to use coupon code:

Code:
EMCYTZY32

to get the $160 price.

Negatives:
1) no optical or coax spdif
2) no component video out (nobody has this, though)
3) no built-in IR receiver
4) no internal or external CF slot. Would have been nice for using a cheap CF as an SSD

Necromancyr · (This post was last modified: 2010-06-10, 16:09 by Necromancyr.)

Hrm...how does it do 8 channel audio without the S/PDIF out? It has a line out jack and the corp. website says it does S/PDIF (then again it says it has optical out as well)

Kind of confused...

(And will get one in a second if I can figure this out...)

Irish2685 · 2010-06-10, 16:20

Is HDMI capable of supporting 8 channel audio? The reason I ask is because it has an HDMI out on the back...

Hannes The Hun · 2010-06-10, 16:23

we've had some threads about this baby in the forums already, and I have one sitting on my TV shelf. be aware that the fan is somewhat loud and kicks in quite often, esp. when using windows or when you are in the XBMC menu. it's not really annoying and when watching a GPU-supported video file it's mostly quite. I can only test 5.1 channel output via HDMI.

we hope that foxconn give us a better fan control in the next BIOS version. until now, no manual selection known. speedfan (windows) is even crashing when trying to detect the controller chip.

apart from that, works like a charm. added 2GB RAM and intel 40gig SSD. logitech harmony is at HP MCE receiver (which is nearly bigger then the whole system...)

Necromancyr · 2010-06-10, 16:37

Does the bios have some overclocking settings available?

**waldo22** · 2010-06-10, 16:57

Necromancyr Wrote:Does the bios have some overclocking settings available?

No, not according to a reviewer at Newegg.

I don't think you'd want to though, based on the current heat and fan noise.

-Wes

BORIStheBLADE · 2010-06-10, 16:59

Not a bad deal. No Spdif isn't that big of a deal. You can buy a USB adapter for about $20.00 that will give you Spdif. I got one working with my Acer Revo.

cowfodder · 2010-06-10, 17:12

If that coupon works with the black version it's on sale for 184.99 right now.

Necromancyr · 2010-06-10, 17:16

Doesn't work on the black version. Did try that.

Necromancyr · 2010-06-10, 17:19

Something to keep in mind, this basically comes out to $260 with HDD and 2GB ram (from newegg).

Useful to remember when comparing to other 'solutions'. (Revo equivalent is $330)

**waldo22** · 2010-06-10, 17:44

Yes, but presumably you can just use a USB "thumb" drive plugged-in to the back and run XBMC Live, so you shouldn't need an HDD or SSD.

No spdif is a big problem for me. I don't want to buy a new receiver. (that's why I like component video as well).

Maybe it has one of those 4-pin motherboard headers, but I doubt it.

Necromancyr · (This post was last modified: 2010-06-10, 19:07 by Necromancyr.)

I believe it has a mini-jack SPDIF out capability. Seems that way from the website description and some random things I've found via search.

That being said...this is a good deal for a XBMC Live setup, not so hot for anything else from what I've read. Basically, putting a HDD in this completely destroys it's ability to cool itself and the fan runs constantly. So, a Win7 setup is out the door without a bit of hacking around or the fan on constantly - and even then people have reported it overheats and blue screens after 30-40 minutes of video. (although some say it's fine). Removing the cover alleviate this completely with a HDD in, it should be noted.

Also, Win7 isn't included. So...need to price that in as well.

Without Win7, I think Flash and Hulu won't be working all that well on this in HD.

(Tough decision...would like this but the above...and the Win7 cost...is an issue)

**waldo22** · 2010-06-10, 19:34

I've had good luck with my home-made HTPCs with a high-speed 4GiB CF card and a SATA to CF adapter. I run XP with no page file and boot directly to XBMC from off in about ~25 seconds. Not amazing, but it works pretty well.

Big problem is I'm decoding h.264 in software, so the fan comes on and runs hard with the case on.

Running C2D 7300 (2.66 Ghz I think) it does Planet Earth HDDVD (not killa, just the regular DVD) just fine in software.

Should have waited on ION, I guess, but then I'd need Vista or 7, right? Or Ubuntu Smile

GJones · 2010-06-10, 19:47

Necromancyr Wrote:Something to keep in mind, this basically comes out to $260 with HDD and 2GB ram (from newegg).

Useful to remember when comparing to other 'solutions'. (Revo equivalent is $330)

Yes, but the Revo is silent and has well-documented solutions.

Hannes The Hun · (This post was last modified: 2010-06-10, 21:24 by Hannes The Hun.)

Necromancyr Wrote:and even then people have reported it overheats and blue screens after 30-40 minutes of video. (although some say it's fine).

sounds like faulty units... I tortured my netbox with win7, XBMC DSplayer playback, fullscreen stephen colbert flash (aaah the beauty of 10.1) and even threw in some half-life: source sessions for good measure, no overheating or blue screens.

at the weekend I'm going to do some tests with the lid removed in vertical position. as I just had a look at the box, the back carries something that looks an awful lot like an analog SPDIF out, if that's any help to some of you guys.

as for the CF to SATA adapter mentioned above: when I was searching for a small SSD with good value I also stumbled upon the new kingston value series; since they had some problems with intel, they're now using toshiba technology. the PCB inside of the the 30GB kingston is really tiny, so you could unscrew the thing and just stick the small PCB directly into the SATA port. this should vastly improve airflow, assuming that's the problem with the netbox.