June 9, 201115 yr Zotac ZBOXSD-ID12-U ION Barebone Mini-PC - Intel Atom D525 1.8GHz, No RAM, No HDD, Intel GMA 3150, HDMI, No OS This is the first gen model, but it should still be fast enough for any 1080p you throw at it. TigerDirect has a typo, this is not an ION model. It should still play SD video just fine, but not HD video.
June 9, 201115 yr Damn, I've got tax on Tigerdirect. Only 6 more weeks till no tax on TigerDirect and a Microcenter within a 30min drive Still no Fry's though
June 9, 201115 yr FYI, that unit does not have the ION chipset. It is not suitable for playing back HD video's. I believe it needs HD in the p/n to be an ION. This unit has the SD in the p/n and uses Intel graphics not capable of decoding H.264 or VC1 encoded video. Peter
June 9, 201115 yr Author Damn, you are right. TigerDirect includes 'ION' in the product name, which as far as I can tell is a typo. You can see that the Zotac page for this Zbox makes no mention of ION whatsoever. For anyone who bought this - unless you want an SD-only HTPC, then I would recommend that you cancel your order or return this. TigerDirect is wrong in claiming that this is an ION Zbox, so you have a good reason for the refund or return.
June 9, 201115 yr Just in case, newegg item # N82E16856176002 is the Giada Cube Series CUBE-N3-D2OB NVIDIA ION Black Mini / Booksize Barebone System. Dual-core 330 but in a better case than the Zotac and this one does have the ION NB. $149 shipped and you get a $25 newegg gift card.
June 9, 201115 yr Just in case, newegg item # N82E16856176002 is the Giada Cube Series CUBE-N3-D2OB NVIDIA ION Black Mini / Booksize Barebone System. Dual-core 330 but in a better case than the Zotac and this one does have the ION NB. $149 shipped and you get a $25 newegg gift card. I think I hate you... I just ordered one of the Giga Cube boxes... With 2Gig RAM, a 8Gig CF card, and a SATA-to-CF adapter it came to $214.39 and that includes a $25 gift card... so total is actually $189.39 for a new totally silent HTPC for XBMC
June 10, 201115 yr Author Just in case, newegg item # N82E16856176002 is the Giada Cube Series CUBE-N3-D2OB NVIDIA ION Black Mini / Booksize Barebone System. Dual-core 330 but in a better case than the Zotac and this one does have the ION NB. $149 shipped and you get a $25 newegg gift card. Just curious, why do you consider it to be a better case?
June 10, 201115 yr Just curious, why do you consider it to be a better case? Just that fatter metal cases are easier to cool quietly or even passively than thin plastic ones. I've heard these get warm and noisy out of the box.
June 11, 201115 yr The pessimist in me thinks it was not a typo. The Giadia Cube scores lower than the Zotac ION on the Windows Experience Score but is fine for a HTPC.
June 11, 201115 yr I'd call it realistic, not cynical. Tiger-shenanigans is almost redundant. Feels like much better deals are in the wings for old atom nettop inventory. Now if only one of them used an Intel nic...
June 15, 201115 yr Author Just curious, why do you consider it to be a better case? Just that fatter metal cases are easier to cool quietly or even passively than thin plastic ones. I've heard these get warm and noisy out of the box. Thanks, I didn't know it was metal. I assumed it was plastic from the images.
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