[Beer40oz]

Why does anyone get e-350 when you can get an G530/620, G530+discrete card or Llano for much less?

If you want to use JUST xbmc then sure its an option. But many want the option of doing more with their HTPC. Help me understand where I am wrong and why this forum likes (and sometimes prefers) atom and zacate over the options I mentioned.

I hear you... I was about to buy an e-350... for my desktop. Good thing I did not. I wen't on it more and read about it... it does work for XBMC... but not for my needs.

[Mick1152]

New egg has several e-350 bare bones which it has on sale frequently for $109, or $99. For mobo, case, psu I don't think you can beat that with any of the options you listed. It seems (from what I've read, no first hand experience yet) that it is a functional solution if you just want a xbmc and don't care about other uses. For the right niche, it appears to work fine.

[assassin]

New egg has several e-350 bare bones which it has on sale frequently for $109, or $99. For mobo, case, psu I don't think you can beat that with any of the options you listed. It seems (from what I've read, no first hand experience yet) that it is a functional solution if you just want a xbmc and don't care about other uses. For the right niche, it appears to work fine.

For about $20 more you can build something that is literally x3 stronger and will play everything you throw at it. The $99 newegg e-350 can't do that.

[Mick1152]

$99 E-350 will play everything I, and many others will throw at it is more of the point. Yes, we can debate how much power people need, future proofing systems, etc till we are blue in the face but, if it does what somebody needs and is the cheapest option, why not recommend it Additionally, not everybody is comfortable building their own system so pre built or bare one systems tend to be the recommendations for them. It all just depends on each individual's needs as to what the people on this board recommend.

[zirconicus]

Because i only want xbmc (i have a monster i7 for my gaming and other needs),e-350 is cheap,silent,small and power consumption is non-existent.
Enough for me

JangJong : What kind of tv do you have ? I have a 42" connected with hdmi. I did some test with really high quality mkv (like transformers) and with openelec i can clearly see artifacts in the space at the beginning and less overall definition.

Didn't you notice that ?

Windows settings : all amd settings in catalyst suite OFF,otherwise the quality is shit on windows too.

Sadly with openelec there isn't nothing you can do quality wise. I'm reading on openelec forum that i'm not the only one noticing this

[gabbott]

Some people basically want their XBMC clients to be an XBMC appliance. For myself, I have a couple servers for the backend that do everything else. I don't need my XBMC machines to browse the web, do any background downloading/processing, they just need to simply run XBMC to stream from my media server.

I agree though that there are becoming more options available and some might be "better" but it really comes down to user needs/requirements.

[DavidT99]

My e350 HTPC will play anything my Athlon II HTPC will play the only noticeable difference is scrolling menus and thumbnails where the e350 is bit stuttery.

David

[assassin]

My e350 HTPC will play anything my Athlon II HTPC will play the only noticeable difference is scrolling menus and thumbnails where the e350 is bit stuttery.

David

Again, there are options out there for the same money (or at most $20 more) that simply perform better. They also use about the same amount of energy.

[Golayitdown]

My e350 HTPC will play anything my Athlon II HTPC will play the only noticeable difference is scrolling menus and thumbnails where the e350 is bit stuttery.

David

Again, there are options out there for the same money (or at most $20 more) that simply perform better. They also use about the same amount of energy.

Could you provide/link some? Not doubting you at all, but I'm in the market for new box (a 350 box as of right now). Would prefer a super small bare bones box but would be willing to build if I can get the same size and much better performance..

[Dougie Fresh]

My e350 HTPC will play anything my Athlon II HTPC will play the only noticeable difference is scrolling menus and thumbnails where the e350 is bit stuttery.

David

Again, there are options out there for the same money (or at most $20 more) that simply perform better. They also use about the same amount of energy.

Could you provide/link some? Not doubting you at all, but I'm in the market for new box (a 350 box as of right now). Would prefer a super small bare bones box but would be willing to build if I can get the same size and much better performance..

A6-3500 mini-ITX barebones
7.87"W x 2.96"H (75mm) x 9.29"D
http://www.ecosmartpc.com/ei5a63500.html
$329.99 + free shipping

Just needs 2.5" HDD/SSD and OS.

The G530/H61/4GB/84W version (not listed) can be had for $299 + free shipping

These guys do custom barebones and fully configured HTPCs:
http://www.assassinhtpc.com

Nano-businesses can do what the big brands/big stores cannot -- tailor to our hobby.

[DavidT99]

Again, there are options out there for the same money (or at most $20 more) that simply perform better. They also use about the same amount of energy.

Could you provide/link some? Not doubting you at all, but I'm in the market for new box (a 350 box as of right now). Would prefer a super small bare bones box but would be willing to build if I can get the same size and much better performance..

A6-3500 mini-ITX barebones
7.87"W x 2.96"H (75mm) x 9.29"D
http://www.ecosmartpc.com/ei5a63500.html
$329.99 + free shipping

Just needs 2.5" HDD/SSD and OS.

The G530/H61/4GB/84W version (not listed) can be had for $299 + free shipping

These guys do custom barebones and fully configured HTPCs:
http://www.assassinhtpc.com

Nano-businesses can do what the big brands/big stores cannot -- tailor to our hobby.

But an e350 based htpc can be built for around $200

David

[Dougie Fresh]

Well, two things:

First, building your own is going to be cheaper than buying a barebones because you're not paying someone else to put it together and test it for you -- it's not even comparable. All these posts have been about barebones not DIY.

Second, if you swap an E-350 into those barebones configurations above, let's say the ASRock which tends to be the cheapest of the lot (which i would not use), the difference in price over the G530/H61 would be $30.

Apples-to-apples for DIY (though I would consider the ASRock not the same quality in my experience as Gigabyte/Intel)

ASRock E-350
http://www.amazon.com/ASRock-E350M1-Dual...004KABOZG/
$94.00
Total: $94

Intel G530
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-G530-CACHE-P...005LTU54Q/
$47.18

H61 motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GA-H61N-U...005SCYHV8/
$79.99
Total: 127.17

Difference $33.17

No matter the case, PSU, memory, whatever the difference is $33.17.

[DavidT99]

.......

[Dougie Fresh]

Someone can accuse me of being a fanboy all you they want. I simply want to point out what the real difference is in price so people can make an informed decision based on real data. Someone might decide for $33 they want the more powerful/flexible system. Someone else might decide $33 is a big deal so they want the E-350. At the end of the day, I have no personal stake in what someone decides, i5, i7, i3, Pentium, Celeron, Llano, AllWinner A10, AMD, Nvidia, or otherwise.

[DavidT99]

Someone can accuse me of being a fanboy all you they want. I simply want to point out what the real difference is in price so people can make an informed decision based on real data. Someone might decide for $33 they want the more powerful/flexible system. Someone else might decide $33 is a big deal so they want the E-350. At the end of the day, I have no personal stake in what someone decides, i5, i7, i3, Pentium, Celeron, Llano, AllWinner A10, AMD, Nvidia, or otherwise.

To me it makes sense to go with the G530 for just a small increase in cost. Despite my defence of the e350 I am looking to upgrade so that the Aeon skins run smoother.