[JaPo78]

Guys,

I am new here, and also new to Linux. I want to ask you some questions before I choose a device and setup. First of all I want to tell a little bit about my current situation. I have a Synology NAS 110j. Connected to my network by Powerline adaptor. At my TV a have a popcornhour a110 also connected by Powerline adaptor.

I use SABnzb on my PCH for downloading. Usually 1080p X264. It all works great but I miss a nice Jukebox function. Because there is no HDD in the PCH and I do not want to use my notebook every time to create the jukebox I am looking for a new setup.

I know am very interested in a Ion2 + XBMC setup.

Therefore I have made some comparison off different models and brands. I have narrowed it down to three devices, the Shuttle XS35, the Xtreamer Ultra and the Zotac ZBOX ID41.

- The Shuttle is a fanless but it has DDR2. It has a nice price.
- The Xtreamer is very new, has DDR3 and the faster Atom D525. Its pricey.
- The Zotac is the cheapest, DDR3 and USB3.0 and the fast D525.

I like a quiet setup so the Shuttle is the way to go. But my brothers Asus EEEbox has a fan and is very quiet. So maybe the Zotac is ok to and less expensive.

I want to use the Live USB (latest version) from XBMCFREAKS and have a drive-less system.

Some questions;

Is the Zotac quiet?
If I put the Live USB in, will the wireless network work?
If I put the Live USB in, will the audio over HDMI work?
Do I need to tweak the system?

I do not have any knowledge on Linux and I am not a IT professional and do not want to learn Linux preferably.

I just want a great, quiet and out of the box working system for the least Euros as possible…. I am Dutch and we are cheap

JaPo

[BoxFreak]

Guys,

Is the Zotac quit?

No it´s not quiet. And it runs quite hot. At least ID11 which is very much alike.

XS35GT and SSD IS silent.

[tboooe]

...and the Zotac ZBOX ID41.

Why not get the Zotac ND-22 which has a Celeron processor? Its plenty quiet for me as well.

[MidnightWatcher]

The ND22 is very good, it has a much better CPU than any of the Atom-based offerings. I have the fan set to 50% and it's plenty quiet for me. If you have bionic hearing you might not like it. I have it behind my HDTV.

[eskro]

+1 for the ND22

[JaPo78]

+1 for the ND22

I chose the ID41 because it is a ION system. And the XBMCFREAK Live CD is optimized for this setup. And my hope is this will work perfectly, out-of-box, so I do not have to tweak anything. Furthermore, I even do not want to see any Linux…

Are the XBMCFREAK live CD’s also compatible with the ND22?
Do I need the extra speed for XMBC only usage?
The ID41 is € 62,- cheaper then the ND22

JaPo

[nemek]

booth will work fine - so if u don't want spend extra 62$ - go for id41

[MidnightWatcher]

I chose the ID41 because it is a ION system. And the XBMCFREAK Live CD is optimized for this setup. And my hope is this will work perfectly, out-of-box, so I do not have to tweak anything. Furthermore, I even do not want to see any Linux…

Are the XBMCFREAK live CD’s also compatible with the ND22?
Do I need the extra speed for XBMC only usage?
The ID41 is € 62,- cheaper then the ND22

JaPo

The ND22 is an ION system as well, just more powerful than all of the Atom-based ION systems.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/19507/5

[SpIcEz]

I'm running a Shuttle XS35GT with a 16gb SSD HD, its worth, makes the whole system much snappier.

Cost, in Canada, 375$ for the whole setup (Shuttle, ram, SSD).

I dont really see how DDR3 would make much of a difference in an XBMC setup running the Live version.

My setup is really snappy, runs anything I through at it, even a 22GB version of Avatar in 1080P.

I can run pretty much all the skins.

One note, dont expect to use the WIFI. ITs not enough for HD content. Even with an external good WIFI bridge, it wasnt enough. Go for hardwire, even if it looks funky, you wont regret it.