Zbox (atom/ion) - $290 with $30 gift card

[Rajahal]

Zotac ZBOX-ID41-PLUS-U Intel NM10 2 x 204Pin SO-DIMM Next Generation NVIDIA ION (w/512MB DDR3 memory) Black Mini / Booksize Barebone System

 

$289.99

$30 promotional gift card w/ purchase, ends 9/19

 

If you are looking for a DIY HTPC, this one is my favorite. Just add RAM, SDD/HDD/SDHC, a remote control, and OpenElec.

 

[NodNarb012]

According to the description and the reviews, this comes with 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive.

[mexicanmike]

Zotac ZBOX-ID41-PLUS-U Intel NM10 2 x 204Pin SO-DIMM Next Generation NVIDIA ION (w/512MB DDR3 memory) Black Mini / Booksize Barebone System

 

$289.99

$30 promotional gift card w/ purchase, ends 9/19

 

If you are looking for a DIY HTPC, this one is my favorite. Just add RAM, SDD/HDD/SDHC, a remote control, and OpenElec.

 

 

Will this do 1080P MKV's. I understand this is a vague question. Does it Bitstream HD audio? Do you own one?

[adammerkley]

Will this do 1080P MKV's. I understand this is a vague question. Does it Bitstream HD audio? Do you own one?

 

I own a previous generation zbox loaded with XBMC and it plays 1080P mkvs with no issues whatsoever.  No idea on bitstream audio though.

[drawz]

Yes, the hardware will support bitstreaming of HD audio if the software does. I recommend an OpenELEC build of XBMC, although only the latest development builds currently support bitstreaming. The ID80 and ID84 are the newer versions of the Atom/ION combo and are slightly faster. This is still a pretty good deal though.

[flips]

With an HD and RAM this is very tempting.  I spec'd a system from scratch for a win7 SageTV client, the cost came out to about $230…  What do you guys think as a comparison to this system?

 

Here is the configuration I posted over at avsforums:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1404685/cheapest-ever-htpc-thats-decent-proud-of-myself/630#post_22306709

 

Thanks,

flips