[slowpoke115]

Hi guys, there seems to be a few of these Zboxe's about now and a lot of the older posts recommend obsolete models (I have searched, honest), with the current range of ZBOX's, which ones meet the following needs (in order of importance):

Fast
Capable of clear 1080p playback with no stuttering
Bitstream audio playback (DTS, DTS-HD, TrueHD)
Runs linux or is cheap enough that the license costs of windows wont kick me in the balls
Works with logitech harmony one remote (ideally with onboard IR, rather than a usb dongle)
Wifi fast enough to stream 1080p content

I've seen some conflicting posts about whether linux can bitstream at all and some zbox's not being capable of bitstream at all.

Any advice, much appreciated. If anyone has recommendations for additional hardware, that would be great too (thinking 4gb of memory, 64gb SD card)

[Dougie Fresh]

Modern Intel and Nvidia GPUs can bitstream HD audio and play 1080p with OpenELEC no problem.

While not a ZBox take a look at the Lenovo Q190. There's a long thread here about it.

[slowpoke115]

I saw that, feel like I've got my mindset on ZBOX; however the only reason not to get a lenovo is the fact I need to purchase it with an massive hard disk. All I intend to do is stream video/audio, doubt I'll ever use more than 50GB, the Q190 comes with a minimum of 500GB. Looks nice though, I'll do some more reading about it. So assume with openELEC this will meet all my needs?

[Dougie Fresh]

OpenELEC runs great on the Celeron systems. Are you just looking for a barebones? Something like this is a nice barebones, They have an IR window now (not shown) so you could add an internal IR receiver for your Logitech easily.

[FernetMenta]

If you go with Linux, NVidia is your friend. Intel and AMD have deficiencies compared to NVidia. Zbox ID42 is paired with a 847 and should fit all your needs.

EDIT: Dougie Fresh has systems with similar spec worth looking at them

[slowpoke115]

OpenELEC runs great on the Celeron systems. Are you just looking for a barebones? Something like this is a nice barebones, They have an IR window now (not shown) so you could add an internal IR receiver for your Logitech easily.

Barebones implies I wonna build something from scratch :S not really my cup of tea...

[Dougie Fresh]

With a barebones, it's all put together. you just need to add a HDD or SSD (or USB stick) and install the software. It's move-in ready .

Any advice, much appreciated. If anyone has recommendations for additional hardware, that would be great too (thinking 4gb of memory, 64gb SD card)

Seemed to imply that's what you were looking for.

[eskro]

this ACER nettop --> http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=165880

and

this ZOTAC ID80 --> http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=165797

[slowpoke115]

Looks like pretty nice kit! Although I'm from the UK, so may struggle somewhat... This maybe one of the main reasons I "think" the zboxes are obsolete (amazon doesn't sell the full kit list people rave about on here).

Any of the nano boxes an option? Price isn't really a huge option, the flip side of that is I don't want hardware I'm unlikely to ever need (like windows or 16gb of memory or something).

[Morrtin]

I am also reading about barebone pc's at the moment because I like to set up a media center for a friend. Dougie Fresh tested the Celeron CPU on his systems and he seems to like it very much.

Therefore I am leaning to a Zotac ZBOX nano ID61 at the moment, because it ships with a remote control, which a Intel NUC DCCP847DYE is missing.

What I am trying to find out at the moment is if Celeron can handle downmixing from 5.1 to 2.0 (friend has no receiver at the moment) . Because of this I also canceled out Raspberry Pi :-(

[slowpoke115]

Quick heads up, the zotac I purchased stopped working today (purchased 14th June), reading through forums I've gotta say - it doesn't look like this is an uncommon occurrence, so I'd urge people to avoid the ID42. Other than that, the box was great - however 6 weeks is utterly crap.