Login at Kodi Home

wowow13 · 2012-01-16, 18:27

hey guys

sorry if i do this incorrectly im new to xbmc and new to forums

what im looking for is a pretty much out of box solution to run xbmc on my projector system.

i had settled on a ZOTAC ZBOX nano AD10 Plus system but then i saw a review and they said to get the version without a hard drive or ram would be better as i could but a 7200rpm drive and 4G ram and have a better system.. then after that i found this forum and now im confused ..

what im looking for is something with HDMI out to connect to my pioneer elite that does 1080p ..

i would like it to be less than or close to $300 canadian if possible final after everything

i dont mind adding the HD and ram myself

hope i havent made a fool of myself with my request ..

if someone could give maybe 3 options that i can choose from that would help

problaze · 2012-01-16, 18:34

Hey wowow13, welcome to forums Wink

Whats your setup like? Is there ample room for a full atx / matx / itx system?

You would probably be best suited for a small system like a zbox and then utilising a NAS for out of room storage...

Do you want to play games/emulators or anything?

DEFO look at the stickies at the top of this forum specificly poofy's and lately Eskro's

bluray · 2012-01-16, 18:39

wowow13 Wrote:if someone could give maybe 3 options that i can choose from that would help

Welcome to the forum!

Here are more choices- The Smallest Pre-built Windows 7 HTPC .

wowow13 · 2012-01-16, 18:42

thnx for your prompt response

i posted in the wrong place earlier and they said to move it here

i have alot of space but prefer something small ..and all in one

umm for nas i have a drobo .. and i really only want to use it for (not sure if im allowed to say it I**films)

i was going to settle for the ZOTAC ZBOX nano AD10 Plus and i saw the Asrock Ion 330 Dual-Core Nettop in the contest as well

like i said i dont mind adding ram and a hard drive to save $$ on a barebone ..
but i like all the features the zotac has ..dont know much about the other ones ... i just wat it to play the videos smothely ..and hook up to my receiver for audio and vidio through hdmi ... eventually i may build my own collection

hope my info helps you to recommend something

dannycorker · 2012-01-16, 18:49

wowow13 Wrote:thnx for your prompt response

i posted in the wrong place earlier and they said to move it here

i have alot of space but prefer something small ..and all in one

umm for nas i have a drobo .. and i really only want to use it for (not sure if im allowed to say it I**films)

i was going to settle for the ZOTAC ZBOX nano AD10 Plus and i saw the Asrock Ion 330 Dual-Core Nettop in the contest as well

like i said i dont mind adding ram and a hard drive to save $$ on a barebone ..
but i like all the features the zotac has ..dont know much about the other ones ... i just wat it to play the videos smothely ..and hook up to my receiver for audio and vidio through hdmi ... eventually i may build my own collection

hope my info helps you to recommend something

When you say play videos, can you be more specific? Are these all just streamed videos, or are we going as far as 1080p 3D with HD Audio? Or full blu ray rips? If it's just streaming from particular services that may or may not be mentioned, I'm sure most of the pre built boxes would be suitable. Take a look here: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?p=8...post843683

bluray · 2012-01-16, 18:58

wowow13 Wrote:i have alot of space but prefer something small ..and all in one

These are tiny-
1. Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180- (it is probably the best Nettop at this price point)

2. Asus EeeBox PC EB1021 AMD Dual-Core E-450- (it is very well equipped little box)

wowow13 · 2012-01-16, 20:01

dannycorker Wrote:When you say play videos, can you be more specific? Are these all just streamed videos, or are we going as far as 1080p 3D with HD Audio? Or full blu ray rips? If it's just streaming from particular services that may or may not be mentioned, I'm sure most of the pre built boxes would be suitable. Take a look here: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?p=8...post843683

yes i was referring to streaming but i will most likely get the bug and want to upgrade to more ...but for now yes lets say streaming

wowow13 · 2012-01-16, 20:05

bluray Wrote:These are tiny-
1. Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180- (it is probably the best Nettop at this price point)

2. Asus EeeBox PC EB1021 AMD Dual-Core E-450- (it is very well equipped little box)

im loving both of these ..

i thought the zotacs were good lol

are there versions of these without hard drives or RAM

or is it better to just get this ready made one .. ( not sure if ill save alot of $$ by getiing my own )

i think i confused myself reading all these posts ..some were saying to add a SSD to make it run faster

im not sure how im going to set it up to boot str8 to xbmc or to windows

i do want the htpc to be able to use to surf the web as well

billybarty · 2012-01-16, 20:12

Definitely consider running XBMC on an Apple TV 2 before going with an HTPC. It's smaller, quieter, easier to use, less hassles with MSFT software updates, faster booting, and much cheaper.

wowow13 · 2012-01-16, 20:17

billybarty Wrote:Definitely consider running XBMC on an Apple TV 2 before going with an HTPC. It's smaller, quieter, easier to use, less hassles with MSFT software updates, faster booting, and much cheaper.

thanx , that was an option , but i like the option to use the machine as a full computer to surf the web as well ..

bluray · 2012-01-16, 20:17

wowow13 Wrote:im loving both of these ..

i thought the zotacs were good lol

are there versions of these without hard drives or RAM

Both have better specs than Zotac Nano in your link, and it's only a couple inches wider but it is thiner. It's fully equipped <another word- everything is included (CPU/iGPU/RAM/HD/Windows7)>. It's ready for XBMC out of the box!

bluray · 2012-01-16, 20:19

billybarty Wrote:Definitely consider running XBMC on an Apple TV 2 before going with an HTPC. It's smaller, quieter, easier to use, less hassles with MSFT software updates, faster booting, and much cheaper.

AppleTV2 is less capable than any of the tiny HTPC's I listed!

wowow13 · 2012-01-16, 20:32

bluray Wrote:Both have better specs than Zotac Nano in your link, and it's only a couple inches wider but it is thiner. It's fully equipped <another word- everything is included (CPU/iGPU/RAM/HD/Windows7)>. It's ready for XBMC out of the box!

ok i think im almost ready to go buy lol

im leaning toward the Asus EeeBox PC EB1021 AMD Dual-Core E-450 because i can get one down the street

someone mentioned the foxconn nt-a3500( is it older ?

is it worth it for me to go without a hard drive and ram ..( i can prob get 4gb ram and a 7200rpm drive for $100 here)

problaze · 2012-01-16, 21:08

yeah I have a foxconn ( i think i even mentioned it ) they are good but you'd be better going with a barebones with a e450 processor, as it is slightly faster CPU wise than what the nt3500 offers Wink

If you are going for ease, I would go for the EeeBox, returns to a store are so much easier Smile

...the ideacenter though does promise to kick ass! Only other thing I would suggest then is to go for a smaller SataII SSD rather than HDD as it will make the whole solution "snappier"...especially if you already have storage and plan to stream mostly!!

Best of luck Smile

bluray · 2012-01-16, 21:28

wowow13 Wrote:ok i think im almost ready to go buy lol

im leaning toward the Asus EeeBox PC EB1021 AMD Dual-Core E-450 because i can get one down the street

someone mentioned the foxconn nt-a3500( is it older ?

is it worth it for me to go without a hard drive and ram ..( i can prob get 4gb ram and a 7200rpm drive for $100 here)

E-450 is newer, and the CPU/iGPU performance is slightly better. If the Asus included everything, why bother adding anything else. You can try it "As Is". If you don't like certain thing in it, you can always replace it later!