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Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? (/showthread.php?tid=211925)

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RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - z31fanatic - 2015-02-27

Kodi in Windows works great. Don't let people talk you out of it if you want to stay on the Windows platform.
No additional drivers needed with this box. Kodi works out of the box with no issues. Even HD audio works out of the box. No hunting for the right driver.

And I second the above recommendation. Windows Defender and the free version of Malwarebytes is all you will need against viruses. Windows 8 is much more secure than previous Windows versions.


Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - browneye253 - 2015-02-27

What are you guys using for remotes on this box. I'm also running windows and Kodi just curious how everybody else's controlling it.


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - Bri1270 - 2015-02-27

(2015-02-27, 01:13)flhthemi Wrote: Yeah, Microsoft needs to do something with that update site. It took hours for mine to get them. There were large periods of time when nothing was coming down the pipe. Slow, slow, slow....

That's what mine was doing. I let it run while I took my daughters to their gymnastics class. Looks like they all downloaded and installed. I'm rebooting now. Then it's time to load Kodi and start the real fun.


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - flhthemi - 2015-02-27

(2015-02-27, 03:02)Bri1270 Wrote:
(2015-02-27, 01:13)flhthemi Wrote: Yeah, Microsoft needs to do something with that update site. It took hours for mine to get them. There were large periods of time when nothing was coming down the pipe. Slow, slow, slow....

That's what mine was doing. I let it run while I took my daughters to their gymnastics class. Looks like they all downloaded and installed. I'm rebooting now. Then it's time to load Kodi and start the real fun.

Might want to check updates again after the reboot, to make sure you got them all. Wink


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - viperlogic - 2015-02-27

(2015-02-27, 01:22)browneye253 Wrote: What are you guys using for remotes on this box. I'm also running windows and Kodi just curious how everybody else's controlling it.

I'm using the Rii wireless mini keyboard (RT-MWK01+) with great success. Supports S3 also.


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - viperlogic - 2015-02-27

(2015-02-27, 01:15)z31fanatic Wrote: No additional drivers needed with this box. Kodi works out of the box with no issues. Even HD audio works out of the box. No hunting for the right driver.

If you want 5.1 with NetFlix metro you will need to install audio driver 6.16.0.3154 or later


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - Bri1270 - 2015-02-27

(2015-02-27, 04:42)flhthemi Wrote:
(2015-02-27, 03:02)Bri1270 Wrote:
(2015-02-27, 01:13)flhthemi Wrote: Yeah, Microsoft needs to do something with that update site. It took hours for mine to get them. There were large periods of time when nothing was coming down the pipe. Slow, slow, slow....

That's what mine was doing. I let it run while I took my daughters to their gymnastics class. Looks like they all downloaded and installed. I'm rebooting now. Then it's time to load Kodi and start the real fun.

Might want to check updates again after the reboot, to make sure you got them all. Wink


Yes, I did have to do that a few times actually. What a pain!


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - flhthemi - 2015-02-27

(2015-02-27, 01:22)browneye253 Wrote: What are you guys using for remotes on this box. I'm also running windows and Kodi just curious how everybody else's controlling it.

I bought a Flirc (flirc.tv) and use, believe it or not, a WDTV Live Hub remote. Since it's from a media player it has all the media type buttons on it. I just use the Flirc setup in keyboard mode and program Kodi keyboard commands into the buttons on it. Works great!

The Flirc will let you use just about any IR remote and YOU program the keys on a PC with their software then plug the device into your USB port and viola! Remote control!


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - Bri1270 - 2015-02-27

(2015-02-27, 10:28)viperlogic Wrote:
(2015-02-27, 01:22)browneye253 Wrote: What are you guys using for remotes on this box. I'm also running windows and Kodi just curious how everybody else's controlling it.

I'm using the Rii wireless mini keyboard (RT-MWK01+) with great success. Supports S3 also.


How's the distance on that remote? I bought ipazz mini which looks Xboxish with a keypad, and it works great if I'm about 7 feet or closer. I need something with a little more range.


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - harvey21 - 2015-02-28

(2015-02-25, 00:46)harvey21 Wrote:
(2015-02-24, 23:29)Stereodude Wrote:
(2015-02-24, 14:44)harvey21 Wrote: I don't think there's anything in the BIOS for speed setting but I'll double check when I get home.
I double checked the BIOS and it doesn't let you change the RAM speed. It will show you what speed the RAM is running at on the first screen in the BIOS now. Memtest86+ will show you the memory speed and the RAM timings (also not BIOS adjustable).

Stereodude,
Thanks for the suggestions. I will run memtest and chkdsk (for the HDD) and everything is OK, I will reformat and try the Windows 7 installation again. If there are still crashes, I might try OE to see what happens. I will report back either way when I get back home (Friday).

I ran memtest and chkdsk, no errors. I tried again installing windows but it just hangs at the screen where you enter your passwords....I ended giving up and installing OE. So far, I'm pleasantly surprised. It's extremely fast and generally effortless to install, everything seems to work right away. I even hooked up an old IR receiver and it seems to work.


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - Bri1270 - 2015-03-03

(2015-02-27, 01:15)z31fanatic Wrote: Kodi in Windows works great. Don't let people talk you out of it if you want to stay on the Windows platform.
No additional drivers needed with this box. Kodi works out of the box with no issues. Even HD audio works out of the box. No hunting for the right driver.

And I second the above recommendation. Windows Defender and the free version of Malwarebytes is all you will need against viruses. Windows 8 is much more secure than previous Windows versions.

So far so good with Kodi in Windows. Boot up time is probably a few seconds slower than OE, but still blows away the old Micca player I was using before. I use Kodi as a shell so Windows boots right to it if and when I shut the system down. I haven't had any problems waking from sleep via the ipazz remote (which is now working great since fully charging the battery). Playback so far has been great.

Curious though because I don't know much about computers and processing, is it better to do the deinterlacing from the ZBox or would it be better to send a 1080i signal to my Marantz AV7702 and have that take the 1080i signal and make it 1080p/24Hz? I've tried both and I can't really tell a difference, but I would guess one has to work harder at it than the other.


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - Mindflyer - 2015-03-04

It may be worth noting that the DVI interface on the Zotac unit is DVI-D (digital video), NOT DVI-A or DVI-I. Therefore you will not be able to connect it directly to a monitor with only a VGA interface (I purchased a DVI-D to VGA adapter from Amazon that works beautifully ($20-usd).Confused


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - noggin - 2015-03-04

(2015-03-03, 15:53)Bri1270 Wrote: Curious though because I don't know much about computers and processing, is it better to do the deinterlacing from the ZBox or would it be better to send a 1080i signal to my Marantz AV7702 and have that take the 1080i signal and make it 1080p/24Hz? I've tried both and I can't really tell a difference, but I would guess one has to work harder at it than the other.

You can't really do this. 1080i content replayed in Kodi with 1080i video output will still be processed, so you can't guarantee there will be a 1:1 line/field matched output - so you end up de-interlacing to 1080p and then re-interlacing usually. So there is no real point re-interlacing unless your display doesn't support 1080p.

There were some builds that tried to do this a while back - but I think they lost momentum. I guess because so much 24p content is now distributed in 1080/24p.


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - Bri1270 - 2015-03-04

(2015-03-04, 12:07)noggin Wrote:
(2015-03-03, 15:53)Bri1270 Wrote: Curious though because I don't know much about computers and processing, is it better to do the deinterlacing from the ZBox or would it be better to send a 1080i signal to my Marantz AV7702 and have that take the 1080i signal and make it 1080p/24Hz? I've tried both and I can't really tell a difference, but I would guess one has to work harder at it than the other.

You can't really do this. 1080i content replayed in Kodi with 1080i video output will still be processed, so you can't guarantee there will be a 1:1 line/field matched output - so you end up de-interlacing to 1080p and then re-interlacing usually. So there is no real point re-interlacing unless your display doesn't support 1080p.

There were some builds that tried to do this a while back - but I think they lost momentum. I guess because so much 24p content is now distributed in 1080/24p.


Okay thanks, this is exactly why I was asking.


RE: Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true? - Stereodude - 2015-03-04

So I replaced the 64gB mSATA Forsee SSD in my 2nd BI320 with a 250gB mSATA Crucial MX200. I then cloned the Windows 8.1 install to the drive. Getting to the mSATA drive is a little tricky. First, you have to break the warranty void if broken seal and remove the 4 screws. One of the screws was also covered by the seal in mine. It's a little tricky to get the board out. You remove the plastic "plug" over the DVI connection and then push the board toward the front of the case so the SPDIF port will clear the rear plastic housing (with some flexing of the plastic housing) . You have to flex the plastic housing out some so the SPDIF port will clear. If you don't push the board forward the SPDIF port won't clear even when you flex the plastic housing.


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