[kortina]

History:
My XBMC history is extensive; I have used an original XBOX for 5 years and moved on to systems that will run HD.

1 - Celeron 2Ghz, Nvidia 9300 (ION)
2 - Atom D510, Nvidia (ION2)

These systems cost me around $600 (AUD) when I first purchased them.


I have used, Windows, Linux (Ubuntu), XBMCLive and Openelec. I am a Windows guy for my day job.


I have used Openelec exclusively for the last 2 years, and have to say that it is hands down the best platform to run XBMC on.




Friends and family have all seen XBMC and love it, but not many of them are interested in building their own or spending good money on their media solution.
I find this interesting, as the same people will happily spend $100's of dollars on Blu-ray/DVD-Recorder/TiVo appliances. Maybe it's not a money thing?


So is the XIOS any good?
Yes, yes it is very good

There are a few things that really make the XIOS great.
1) XBMC-Linux install
The install is painless, you don't need to know any Linux or even understand that the OS is there. The distribution gives the device an 'appliance' feel, and it just works.

2) Remote Control
In my opinion, there is only one real way to control XBMC, and it is with a remote. The Web-Interface and iPhone/Android remotes are all very cool, but there is no substitute for a real remote.
The XIOS remote just works. No config, no stuffing around. It is exactly what you would expect from a DVD/BluRay player. For my liking the remote feels a bit "cheap". The Microsoft RC6 remote is about as good as it gets (IMHO).

3) Low power
This thing is great on power, it is likely to use LESS power than any PC that is turned OFF! (Seriously, don't be surprised that your old PC sucks more than 30w turned off!)

4) HD resolution
Not only does this device allow for hardware decoding, but it takes a lot of the guesswork out of screen resolution issues. There is no need for screen refresh hacks or choosing 23.976/25/50/60hz. By removing a lot of this option, there is also no need to re-sample any audio.

5) Silent
This thing has no moving parts, and no fan. It is silent. Not "almost silent". 0db.

6) Cheap
The device is cheap, you couldn't build any better for the price. While there are competitors they lack the polish of all of the points listed above.




So what's not so good?
1) CPU
OK, so there is always a trade-off when something is cheap. In the case of the XIOS it is the grunt of the processor. While the system performs well (much better than other media players, looking at you WDLive), it is simply not as fast and fluid as a full PC.
You also don't have the heat, POST, noise, standby issues either!


Would I use this instead of my ION or ION2 system?
No.

Why?
Basically the ION and ION2 systems perform better, with more fluid menus and a nicer feeling remote. Plus I have already spent the money years ago and should have forgotten about the purchase price.



Would I recommend this to my friends and family?
Yes, without hesitation.


What could Pivos do to make it better?
Offer a more expensive version for the enthusiast. When you have spent $2000 on a TV, $1000 on audio the $110 purchase price for the player is nothing.
Offer the product within Australia, it cost me $40 (AUD) to get the thing shipped from USA->Australia! (ouch)



Conclusion:
Get an XIOS for your bedroom, spare room, holiday house, in-laws.
If you want the best experience, get a Mac-Mini at 10x the price.

[touser]

Great review that mirror most of my thoughts exactly. I completely agree with the idea of offering a more expensive unit to increase performance! Everyone i know besides myself is looking for an appliance that runs xbmc FAST. I've setup friends and family with htpc's running xbmc but they all have their quirks and require my assistance from time to time, a faster version of the current pivos would be absolutely ideal. All these people were willing to shell out htpc money to begin with for what they use as an appliance. I do recommend the pivos to others as it sits, but always with the catch that it will be slow to navigate the library.

[j1nx]

Great post.

Would I use this instead of my ION or ION2 system?
No.

Why?
Basically the ION and ION2 systems perform better, with more fluid menus and a nicer feeling remote. Plus I have already spent the money years ago and should have forgotten about the purchase price.



Would I recommend this to my friends and family?
Yes, without hesitation.

This also captures the problem occuring lately with a lot of new XBMC users. The old farts like us, stay with our custom builds, but the enormous amount of new users attracted by the Android build, they kind of expect the performance of what we have, but then captured in that small, fanless arm box. Then there is this enourmous amount of friends and family users that all of a sudden do have access to XBMC. (Just buy a box, plug it in and it works)

Don't get me wrong, I am happy to see this new users and they are mostly welcome, hence they even might push XBMC to the next level (whatever that is). It is just funny to see all the old against the new types of posts lately. (I even participate in it myself)

[buzzqw]

4) HD resolution
Not only does this device allow for hardware decoding, but it takes a lot of the guesswork out of screen resolution issues. There is no need for screen refresh hacks or choosing 23.976/25/50/60hz. By removing a lot of this option, there is also no need to re-sample any audio.

so it support 23.976/25/50/60hz. AND 24 fps or not ?
or it will resample all to 50 or 60 ?

it is able to switch tv refresh to 23.976/24/25/29.97/30/59.98/60 ?

BHH

[BORIStheBLADE]

Good write up. I think if and when Pivos comes out with a new version with better cpu power it will be pretty close to perfect. Thats what I'm waiting for..

[lagledavid]

Good write up. I think if and when Pivos comes out with a new version with better cpu power it will be pretty close to perfect. Thats what I'm waiting for..

+1

[kortina]

I forgot to mention a big thanks to davilla who is doing a great job on XBMC in general and also making the XIOS such a great device.


When I get some more time, I will:
Test the XIOS with my Nyxboard
Test the XIOS with Flirc
Test the XIOS with my Microsoft branded RC6 remote and dongle (the dongle is almost the size of the XIOS!)
Report on 23.976, 24, 25, 30, 50, 60 fps

[bluepeter]

http://www.pivosforums.com/viewtopic.php...8&start=30

Regards
Peter

[Jezz_X]

Would I use this instead of my ION or ION2 system?
No.

Why?
Basically the ION and ION2 systems perform better, with more fluid menus and a nicer feeling remote. Plus I have already spent the money years ago and should have forgotten about the purchase price.

I actually reckons it plays video better then my ion2 system but then I have the shuttle xs35 that seems to have issues in that regard anyway

I also would recommend them for the price its a great system but it does not actually come with the linux version of xbmc on it by default so may need some setting up if you get them for non techy people

Personally I think they should sell them as xbmc boxes with linux version installed by default and instructions on how to flash android onto it if people want

[T800]

Would I use this instead of my ION or ION2 system?
No.

Why?
Basically the ION and ION2 systems perform better, with more fluid menus and a nicer feeling remote. Plus I have already spent the money years ago and should have forgotten about the purchase price.

I actually reckons it plays video better then my ion2 system but then I have the shuttle xs35 that seems to have issues in that regard anyway

I also would recommend them for the price its a great system but it does not actually come with the linux version of xbmc on it by default so may need some setting up if you get them for non techy people

Personally I think they should sell them as xbmc boxes with linux version installed by default and instructions on how to flash android onto it if people want

I agree.
As an android box they work but feel underwhelming. Running Linux as a dedicated XBMC box they really perform better than you would expect.
If it's about first impressions, starting with Linux and flashing back to Android would be better.
Either that or sell two different versions.

[solamnic]

Great review... really to the point...

+1 so Pivos Releases - also - a more Powerful Version of Pivos..

and wouldnt mind paying +$50 more...

(of course Pivos Xios Ds would remain on the marked for those that want a cheaper machine)

Competition is offering products with the MX Proccessor (which is dual core - although i cant comment on its performance compared to the M3 that Xios DS has)

[kortina]

OK so I finally got some time to do some more playing with my XIOS...

Test the XIOS with my Nyxboard

Plug in the Nyxboard, it just works. Control is great, keyboard is nice.
RF - Power on/off doesnt work. Guess I might be able to teach the IR side. Gave up on trying to remember how to get the IR learning to work.


Test the XIOS with Flirc
Flirc works great, plug it in and it just works. I had previously configured my flirc, and used some generic 'SONY-DVD' codes that my Yamaha multifunction remote likes.



Test the XIOS with my Microsoft branded RC6 remote and dongle (the dongle is almost the size of the XIOS!)
RC6 works well, plug it in and it just works. Power button sends it to sleep but something wakes it up again straight away. (only on rear USB?)




Report on 23.976, 24, 25, 30, 50, 60 fps

Not sure if others have covered it, but played some content. Using the onscreen info ('o' on the keyboard) it shows up that the CPU clipped a couple of times playing the "Killer" sample.
-1min into Planet Earth 1080p ep1, where all of the birds fly past and the bitrate hits like 44mbs

Overall the playback is not perfect, but unless you are a videophile you probably wont notice, if you are a videophile then why are you trying to use a $120 device!?!?

Played back some other 720p rips, they look fine. Audio seems to take an extra 1sec to cut in, but I suspect it could be my cheapo 23" monitor with built in speakers.


Plugged in a 2.5" (1.5Tb) Toshiba external drive. Plays perfect, powers up the drive with the single USB port (my drive only requires one).

I think that I have found the best use for my XIOS... Portable XBMC.
No more hotel pay per view, no more DVD at coastal rentals, no more lack of the "Wiggles" at the in-laws place.

XIOS + 2.5" Drive = Amazing bang for buck.

Front lights on the XIOS are still a bit weird, with the "!" light constantly on, and the power light seems to be more of a NIC activity indicator !?

Looking forward to the next Linux firmware, its been about 5 weeks, Have not bothered tracking down any nightlies.

[MrTourettes]

Great post. This is the kind of post I like to see because its to the point.

[tennisbgc]

OK so I finally got some time to do some more playing with my XIOS...

Test the XIOS with my Nyxboard

Plug in the Nyxboard, it just works. Control is great, keyboard is nice.
RF - Power on/off doesnt work. Guess I might be able to teach the IR side. Gave up on trying to remember how to get the IR learning to work.


Test the XIOS with Flirc
Flirc works great, plug it in and it just works. I had previously configured my flirc, and used some generic 'SONY-DVD' codes that my Yamaha multifunction remote likes.



Test the XIOS with my Microsoft branded RC6 remote and dongle (the dongle is almost the size of the XIOS!)
RC6 works well, plug it in and it just works. Power button sends it to sleep but something wakes it up again straight away. (only on rear USB?)




Report on 23.976, 24, 25, 30, 50, 60 fps

Not sure if others have covered it, but played some content. Using the onscreen info ('o' on the keyboard) it shows up that the CPU clipped a couple of times playing the "Killer" sample.
-1min into Planet Earth 1080p ep1, where all of the birds fly past and the bitrate hits like 44mbs

Overall the playback is not perfect, but unless you are a videophile you probably wont notice, if you are a videophile then why are you trying to use a $120 device!?!?

Played back some other 720p rips, they look fine. Audio seems to take an extra 1sec to cut in, but I suspect it could be my cheapo 23" monitor with built in speakers.


Plugged in a 2.5" (1.5Tb) Toshiba external drive. Plays perfect, powers up the drive with the single USB port (my drive only requires one).

I think that I have found the best use for my XIOS... Portable XBMC.
No more hotel pay per view, no more DVD at coastal rentals, no more lack of the "Wiggles" at the in-laws place.

XIOS + 2.5" Drive = Amazing bang for buck.

Front lights on the XIOS are still a bit weird, with the "!" light constantly on, and the power light seems to be more of a NIC activity indicator !?

Looking forward to the next Linux firmware, its been about 5 weeks, Have not bothered tracking down any nightlies.

Glad to here your Nyxboard is working good I ordered one last week to go with my xios, how is the range and response with it? also If you have the m3 its apparently incappable of turning off. If you think your getting good results with the offical beta then I think you'll really like the nightlies alot I've been using the toys4me build and can't complain. The only bugs ive really incountered are audio delay if I resume from pause like you'vre mentioned and that's with my tv speakers but I think that can be fixed, 1 sec video stutter during the beginning, and 1080p output apparently theres a bug at least with the nightly build were some videos wont play correctly but 720p output corrects this. I have no regrets buying this to replace my boxee box except the remote but hopefully the Nyxboard will fill that gap.

[kortina]

The range seemed fine. I have used the nyxboard with my ION2 based system for about 6 months and haven't had issues with the range at all.

I don't see why the XIOS would be any different. I only tested it in my office (smaller than the lounge room).


I have a 'kill-a-watt' style power meter, so I can record the power consumption. (standby, idle and 1080p playback)


When I have some more spare time I will post the power consumption figures, I might get super keen and put in the ION and ION2 systems as a reference point too.

From what I have read the XIOS M3 doesn't turn off, it just suspends.

My gut feeling is that this device uses so little power that it probably isn't worth turning off... the figures will help others decide.