[SilverJS]

Hi all,

Looking to build an absolute minimalist machine with this :

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PI...ME%29.aspx

Looks like it has 1 GB RAM, and a 8 GB SSD. All I want is to slap Linux Mint on that, and an install of XBMC (no fancy skinning, just basic install). Movies, thumbnails, database are all stored on an external server. This is just to watch my 1080p movies (streamed via N wireless) and surf some web.

Think the 8GB SSD will be enough? Mint apparently requires 5 GB.

Thanks!

[eskro]

8GB is enough for XBMC Live or OpenELEC

[SilverJS]

OK - but can I add a desktop and web browsing functionality to either?

I guess the better question is - how much space does XBMC require?

[Vandaahl]

Dont forget to check if hardware acceleration is supported. Since playing 1080p movies with only the cpu wont work.

[SilverJS]

That's the one unknown. From most of what I've read in reviews and such, the E-350 and XBMC do alright together (just a matter of installing XBMC, enabling hardware acceleration, and you're off to the races). But, I don't know for the C-50, although I suppose it would be quite similar.

[voochi]

Linux support for ATI graphics cards is still far behind Nvidia.

You would think that AMD/ATI would reach out and help, since HTPC use is one of the biggest attractions of these platforms.

[eskro]

Dont forget to check if hardware acceleration is supported. Since playing 1080p movies with only the cpu wont work.

well, its got these specs:

[CPU] AMD C-50 (1.0GHz) Dual-Core
[iGPU] ATI Radeon HD6250
[RAM] 1GB DDR3

so it will playback 1080P but use WIndows7 if you dont like headaches,,,
again, linux and ati dont play %100 well together....
problem is, it might be a little under powered for windows7
and also, it'll require at least 2GB's of RAM & a 30GB SSD...

[mrsmegzabush]

Could Always go with Windows XP >>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947311

I cannot think of anything you would loose by using XP instead of Win7.

[eskro]

well, you'll loose hardware Accel within XBMC,,,,

[Wizz]

Hi Silver JS,

I picked up one of the eee box 1020 to see how well the c50 would perform with xbmc. I use openelec with the developer fusion builds found here:
http://sources.openelec.tv/tmp/image/

I must say it performs quite well. I downloaded some 1080p trailers and it decoded very well. Note that the openelec fellows have been working on builds that take advantage of AMD's video decoding acceleration (UVD3).

You can read a bit about fusion and openelec here:
http://openelec.tv/forum/43-fusion-platf...d-platform

I still have some problems to iron out with the eb1020.
First, I could not get the headphone audio to work. Tried a whole bunch of different settings to no avail. I also could not get this working with just Ubuntu 10.10 either.
Audio through HDMI works fine though.

Second, the wireless doesn't work out of the tin with openelec. However, it does work with Ubuntu fine, so I suspect that openelec does not have the correct driver installed in its distribution.

The video is surprising smooth though, and the CPU load decoding 1080p is only something like 35%.

Ubuntu 10.10 works ok, but you have to download the proprietary catalyst drivers to get decent video performance. I haven't tried xbmc on top of ubuntu.

Wizz

[grantd]

This is honestly the first net top that has ever had any appeal to me as a htpc. At $221 on Amazon this is a serious bargain. 8gb should be plenty for Live or even ubuntu desktop with regular xbmc.

The only things that have me scratching my head are 1. Why the comm port? 2. why no integrated IR receiver and remote, the wired keyboard and mouse could be easily ditched.

Looks like it uses SO Dimms but I've got a lot of that laying around from broken laptops so the installed 1 gb is no problem for me.

I'll be watching to see where these platforms go, and how they end up being supported.

[jordiboy]

The EB1020 is on sale at Buy.com for $151 http://www.buy.com/prod/asus-eeebox-eb10...70689.html