[Neokurt]

Hello Everyone,

--- Just a little intro, you can skip it if you like ---

I'm new in this forum and would like to start the XBMC experience.
I have been lurking for days, searching everywhere for the best media center experience.
My choice was easy, XBMC.
But the hardware choice was really harder.
I want a sexy looking HTPC, building it was either more expensive than one already made or too ugly/big.
After days searching Zotac seems to be the best bet.

Here is my requirement :
- Best if under 500€ but could go higher
- Blu-Ray ripped 1080p capabable
- Blu-Ray drive a plus but not mandatory
- Capable of playing any kind of encoding at the higher speed/resolution
- Very Silent, nice looking and slim
- Capable of using XBMC as it best with heavy skins
- I live in Switzerland, therfore will not have access to US only parts

-- End of intro ---

Which Zotac Blu-Ray case would be the best with XBMC ?

All Zotac products mentioned can be seen here : Zotac Official website ZBOX Blu-Ray
Please note that every product exist in normal and PLUS which only means they are shipped with RAM and HDD

I plan to chose a normal version and add the maximum memory allowed plus a small SSD.

1. Would D525 with 2nd Gen ION be better or AMD E-350 with Radeon HD6310 ?
2. I fail to see the the difference between the Zotac Blue-Ray 3D and Zotac Blu-Ray HD
3. What XBMC build would you recommend ? Live, Windows for support of Blu-Ray, Ubuntu, etc. ?
4. Would it be really silent ?
5. This product seems a bit old, is it still up to date ?

Or maybe you know a totally different product which would be better.

The best HTPC I could found is still the Tranquil PC MMC-12 but it's price is very expensive, I don't think such power would be needed for me.
On the other hand If i had to build it, I would chose a HFX micro M2 but the case, PSU and cooling kit is 265€ alone ...

What do you recommend, would Zotac be a good choice still today ? Should I build one ? Or invest on the Tranquil PC ?

Thank you for reading

[Jetster]

In your Lurkings did you see this?

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?p=8...post843683

I dont know much about the Zotac's but I enjoyed building mine.

[bigbw]

I have a zotac z-box with atom and 2nd gen ion.. I have xbmc live installed and nothing else. I use a HP media remote. It is small, quiet and plays everything i have, including blu ray rips.. I have 2gb of ram and a 250gb hdd. I got the whole thing for about $270 USD..

Issues for you would be no blue ray and i have heard it does handle heavy skins well, though i have never tried one.. I still use PMIII (slightly modified)..

[AtOurGates]

I set up the ZBOX-AD02-U with 8GB of RAM, a 60GB SSD and a 2TB external HD hooked up with USB 3.0 this fall. I think my total cost was close to $325 USD before the external HD.

I have it running Windows 7 - and I have yet to encounter anything that doesn't play back perfectly in XBMC. I think the largest 1080P Blu-Ray rip I've tried was about 17GB - and it played smooth like butter.

The only caveat is that XBMC is the only program that its video playback hardware acceleration seems to work correctly in. VLC chugs on even 720P movie rips of anything above 2.5GB or so. iTunes movies downloaded in HD are unplayable - until I remove the DRM and re-encode them so that I can play 'em back in XBMC.

So long as you plan to play everything in XBMC - I'd heartily recommend the AD02-U. It's essentially silent, reliable, a great form-factor and a great value for the money.

[Sureguy]

The only caveat is that XBMC is the only program that its video playback hardware acceleration seems to work correctly in. VLC chugs on even 720P movie rips of anything above 2.5GB or so.

Did you enable GPU acceleration in VLC?

Instructions here.

[steve1977]

Out-of-the-box - go with a Mac Mini. You won't be able to play bluray disks, but everything else just works. Best form factor, no bugs and very silent compared to the Zotacs...

[eskro]

can your mac mini pass-through HD-Audio?

[steve1977]

can your mac mini pass-through HD-Audio?

Nope. You are right that there 2 short comings (bluray disks and HD audio). As long as you can live without those 2 things, I still suggest the Mini.

I probably have tested around 8 HTPCs by now and noise / form factor of other solutions remain an issue. I just bought the Zotac Nano a few months back and again noise is an issue.

Anyhow, if you are looking to play bluray disks and have HD audio, the Mini is not an option...

[eskro]

yeah thats why i never considered mac mini's...
specially since at a pricey price, it still cant do HD-Audio passthrough :/

[Geeba]

Ouch £600 - £700 quid to for a half decent one... I'd have my £250 all in Zotac attached to the back of my TV all day..... cant see it or hear it.

[NEOhidra]

I would go for ZOTAC ZBOX Blu-ray AD03. It needs only one SSD drive and 4GB of RAM.
That way it will fulfill almost all yours requirements.

[FishOil]

Out-of-the-box - go with a Mac Mini.

[bluray]

You'll be very happy with one of this- Shop IdeaCentre Q180. Small and quiet...and included AMD HD6450!