Comparing the Zotac ZBOX and the Acer Aspire Revo as HTPCs

[Flomaster]

Crystal HD seems to be very popular with ATV guys I don't see anyone putting that card into a  linux box or even windows box for the matter.

 

-=Jason=-

[Rajahal]

No, rich, the Zbox has no PCI slots at all.  There isn't room in the case for any type of PCI card anyway.  Here's a picture of the internals of the box.  The open slots you see are for the HDD/SSD and RAM.

[rich.bingham]

Great, thanks to Rajahal and prostuff1 for the input.  I'm still in the "hmm, I'd like to do that" stage with XBMC, so I haven't done much research yet, just heard about the CrystalHD and thought I'd keep my options open in case it would benefit me.  Sounds like I now have one less thing to plan for though

[poofyhairguy]

I have messed with the Crystal HD card in XBMC. The decoding is so much less robust than ION+VDPAU it is not even funny.

[Tight_wad]

Rajahal,

 

I have a few questions about the Zotac.

 

Did you have to do the Bio and Utility upgrade to make the unit quieter and run cooler?  I have read that they are quite loud until that has been done?  Do you use a IR remote on it, and if so, what receiver and remote are you using?  And if so, did the IR work out of the box, or did you have to do some hacks to make it work?

 

I have been playing with the XBMC software for a couple weeks now on my Vista notebook, and I am thinking about setting up a Zotac the same way you have, booting live on the flash card and no hard drive.  Is there any drawbacks to using live as apposed to the full Linux or Windows versions?  Could someone get it all running on the flash drive, and then just copy the flash drive, and then put it in a second Zotac and be all up and running?

 

All said and done, I would like to end up with 3 of these units, and use my Harmony One remotes to operate them.  I was also thinking about doing the synchronizing that lifehacker gives instructions for, but I have never done anything with MySQL databases, so I would have to do some more research about this.

 

 

Thanks for any help!

 

[Rajahal]

No, I didn't run any updates/upgrades on the ZBOX (besides adding an SSD and RAM, of course).  It is plenty quiet out of the box, about the same as the Revo.  I definitely don't hear it when sitting on my couch across the room.  The only moving part is the CPU fan.

 

I use a Microsoft brand MCE remote for my unit.  I'm not sure if you can still buy the exact same model I bought (I've had mine for years), but here's a generic model that has all the same buttons.  Pretty much any MCE remote should work (there are better looking ones and different models, if you shop around).  Mine worked out of the box, no configuration needed.  Just plug in the IR via USB, and it works immediately, just like a mouse or keyboard.

 

I've never tried booting XBMC Live from a flash drive, but I imagine it would work just fine (though maybe a bit slower).  I booted from an SD card for a while, and that worked great.  I'm now using an SSD, and it is a bit faster, but not insanely faster.  I imagine you can copy the contents of a flash/SD/SSD to another flash/SD/SSD and have it just work, but I've never tried that.

 

The only drawback to running XBMC Live that I can see is that you don't get to use the box for any other purpose, such as browsing the internet.  That's pretty much the only other thing I would like to do with my HTPC.  Everything else I prefer to do on my regular desktop or laptop.  On the other hand, the major benefit of running XBMC Live is fast boot times.

 

If you are thinking of buying three units, now's the time! Well, the rebate probably only works on one unit per household...still, that's a full $50 cheaper than I paid for my unit.

 

One warning - I had little to no luck configuring my Harmony 610 to work with XBMC (this was back on the Revo, I haven't tried again with the ZBOX).  The basic controls would work (play/pause, volume, etc.) but some of the required buttons for menu navigation wouldn't (the 'back' button, for example).  Maybe you'll have more luck with the Harmony 1.  Also, maybe the newer versions of XBMC will help.

 

I just ordered a refurb 8 GB iPod Touch for $165 at TigerDirect.  I plan on running Collect3 on it to control my HTPC.

[gabbott]

I'm wondering about this box as a revo replacement:

 

Shuttle XS35GT

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856101114

 

My understanding is it is completely fanless

[bigdog66]

in case you miss it this site gets revo 1600 refurbs routinely....I just ordered 2 yesterday

 

http://shop.revonate.com/Refurbished_Acer_Aspire_Revo_AR1600_U910H_p/c-pt.scl05.004.htm

[Rajahal]

I'm wondering about this box as a revo replacement:

 

Shuttle XS35GT

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856101114

 

My understanding is it is completely fanless

 

Looks good to me, I see no reason why it wouldn't work.  The optical bay is definitely nice if you want to be able to play DVDs as well.  It doesn't have gigabit LAN, but I suppose that shouldn't be a big deal for streaming.  Still....it is something that I would want to avoid.  I suppose that's a bit irrational, but I don't like having a 100 mbit device on my LAN while all my other devices are Gigabit.  In fact, I still give my Xbox 360 dirty looks for just that reason

[Flomaster]

holly crap that collect3 is running skins and what not or thats a collect3 skin its using, its pretty bad ass non the less, but I have the xbmc remote on my Droid phone that displays artwork and what not, but not nearly as fancy as the collect3. maybe I need to rig my ipod touch to do that.

 

-=Jason=-

[Rajahal]

For $4 it seems like a great deal to me.  Of course I had to buy the iPod touch for $165, but at least I didn't pay the full $300 price tag.

 

I'll give you guys a full review once I get mine up and running.  I've seen a friend using Collect3 on his iPhone and it was very slick, but I haven't spent a lot of time with one for day-to-day viewing.

[bigdog66]

yea let me know....i ordered 2 revo's .....one i will setup for someone else and they have an iphone

 

one of my kids has an ipod touch and im sure they would love to use that when they are using it

 

Thanks

[Tight_wad]

Thanks for the answers to my questions Rajahal.

 

I did decide to jump on the Shell Shocker deal, I have 2 coming, one for me and one that my brother is nice enough to get for me.  I decided to go with the SD cards.  Was there a reason that you switched to the SSD instead of the SD card?

 

 

I appreciate the info on the Shuttle (I wanted gigabit lan) and the Revo's (not had much luck lately with recondition things lately, my back luck I am sure).

[Flomaster]

SSD for os is > than anything else  period..... for lightening fast menus and speed you want an SSD.... its on my list of things to get, but for now my 30 GB gen1 raptor WD sata drive is doing alright, albeit its very F*ing loud  so I can't wait to get it replaced as I think its on its way out....

 

but yeah SSD over Compact flash, or Sd card any day of the week.

 

boot time + lightening fast speed + zero noise = xbmc nirvana

 

-=Jason=-

[NAS]

I cant believe that no manufacturer has realized there would be a demand for 8GB SSD. I refuse to pay for 22GB of extra and expensive SSD that i will never use.

[prostuff1]

I cant believe that no manufacturer has realized there would be a demand for 8GB SSD. I refuse to pay for 22GB of extra and expensive SSD that i will never use.

 

Agreed,  I would love to have a modern SSD that is less than 15GB-ish in size.  I have a large one in my XBMC machine but it is going completely unused.  If/when I get a chance I will probably pull it out, put it in my MacBook Pro, and place a smaller one in the XMBC machine.

[Flomaster]

yeah I wish they made a smaller SSD drives say  15GB that would be perfect for HTPCs

 

-=Jason=-

[Joe L.]

yeah I wish they made a smaller SSD drives say  15GB that would be perfect for HTPCs

 

-=Jason=-

You can do as I did

 

I purchased a compact flash drive and paired it with a CF to SATA adapter.

 

Here is a 16Gig CF card with 60MB/s read speeds:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161368&cm_re=compact_flash_16gb-_-20-161-368-_-Product

 

And here is an SATA adapter:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030D3T16/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001870W98&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0YVXX1NDMQ8SXCZQ0KWW

 

I actually used a standard 4Gig CF card in my Revo 1600 with a similar CF to SATA adapter.  It works well, boot reasonably fast, is completely silent, and is way less expensive than an SSD.

[Flomaster]

Joe, would the CF be just as fast if not faster than an old WD Raptor Sata1 Drive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Digital_Raptor

 

its old, its loud and I don't find it to be fast at all.. maybe its because its on its way out?

 

-=Jason=-

[poofyhairguy]

I cant believe that no manufacturer has realized there would be a demand for 8GB SSD. I refuse to pay for 22GB of extra and expensive SSD that i will never use.

 

I think for the $70 30GB SSDs we see popping up nowadays most of the cost is the controller. Kinda like how HD's flatline at $50. You can't put anything together at a smaller size for significantly less...

[Tight_wad]

Joe L.  That looks very interesting.  Do you run the XBMClive or do you do this with an OP?  I decided to go with the SD card and use the XBMClive, but I am starting to second guess myself.

[Joe L.]

Joe L.  That looks very interesting.  Do you run the XBMClive or do you do this with an OP?  I decided to go with the SD card and use the XBMClive, but I am starting to second guess myself.

I had loaded the Xbmcfreak version of beta-2, and then when beta3 was released used apt-get upgrade and apt-get install xbmc to get to beta-3.

 

I've loaded it onto the CF card, so it is booting from and loading from the CF card.  I used a USB cd drive to perform the initial install from an ISO image I burned onto a CD.

[gabbott]

Joe L.  That looks very interesting.  Do you run the XBMClive or do you do this with an OP?  I decided to go with the SD card and use the XBMClive, but I am starting to second guess myself.

I had loaded the Xbmcfreak version of beta-2, and then when beta3 was released used apt-get upgrade and apt-get install xbmc to get to beta-3.

 

I've loaded it onto the CF card, so it is booting from and loading from the CF card.   I used a USB cd drive to perform the initial install from an ISO image I burned onto a CD.

 

Just to note, the xbmc devs recommend a clean install for beta 3 as opposed to an upgrade from a previous version, not sure if this applies to the xbmcfeak version (see the update they posted):

 

http://xbmc.org/theuni/2010/10/13/dharma-beta-3/

[Joe L.]

Joe, would the CF be just as fast if not faster than an old WD Raptor Sata1 Drive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Digital_Raptor

 

its old, its loud and I don't find it to be fast at all.. maybe its because its on its way out?

 

-=Jason=-

I read one report of a Revo 1600 equipped with an SSD boot xbmc-Live in about 20 seconds.   My CF card boots in about 25 seconds.  The card I'm using is not one of the faster CF cards, but an older card with a much slower read rate of about 10MB/s.

[Joe L.]

Joe L.  That looks very interesting.  Do you run the XBMClive or do you do this with an OP?  I decided to go with the SD card and use the XBMClive, but I am starting to second guess myself.

I had loaded the Xbmcfreak version of beta-2, and then when beta3 was released used apt-get upgrade and apt-get install xbmc to get to beta-3.

 

I've loaded it onto the CF card, so it is booting from and loading from the CF card.   I used a USB cd drive to perform the initial install from an ISO image I burned onto a CD.

 

Just to note, the xbmc devs recommend a clean install for beta 3 as opposed to an upgrade from a previous version, not sure if this applies to the xbmcfeak version (see the update they posted):

 

http://xbmc.org/theuni/2010/10/13/dharma-beta-3/

I saw that AFTER I had upgraded to beta3... and since I see beta3 showing, and everything is working (as far as I know) and I have both sound and menu sounds through HDMI, I think I'm ok for now.

 

The beta2 version I had loaded and subsequently upgraded was this one:

xbmcfreak-Dharma_beta2-live-nvidia-260.19.1