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Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true?
(2015-02-24, 21:15)Stereodude Wrote:
(2015-02-24, 19:33)flhthemi Wrote: Well, new TV, new problems.

Seems this Hitachi doesn't like talking to the Zbox on HDMI. I have to switch back and forth between HDMI1 and HDMI2 several times to get it (Box on HDMI2) to see/show the Zbox on screen. Sometimes I have to power the TV off/on to get it to show up.

Anyone know of any settings in BIOS to that might improve this situation?

I have all the sleep modes turned off
I have tried no less than 5 different HDMI cables (one was a megabuck Monster cable I borrowed)
Windows is set to screen on all the time, no sleep or hibernate
You could try a DVI to HDMI cable. I didn't have any issues with my first BI320 driving either of my Samsung HDTVs directly or through a receiver from the HDMI port. I haven't taken the 2nd out of the box yet.

What is your power sequence? Is the TV on before the BI320 or are you turning it on after?

TV is on as the AT&T Uverse remote turns it all on at once. It has to be done this way for a happy wife! I'm going to try DVI to HDMI. I have an adapter but hadn't thought of that! Might be the ticket.

EDIT

Shoot no luck there either. I'll just have to keep switching inputs till it displays I guess....
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(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).
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I ended up ordering a Windows version, Bi320 from Amazon along with 2GB of Ram and a 2TB HDD. I didn't get the awesome deal that some of you got unfortunately, and I don't have the patience to wait for Newegg to have them for that price again. Of course with my luck it will be next week. I was on the fence about possibly getting another black box media player or going with one of these. In the end, the out of pocket was about the same and if this little adventure doesn't work out I can re-purpose this machine. At least this will give me something to do until spring...if spring ever gets here. i Have some reservations regarding the remote control operation. I bought a Flirc and a remote control keyboard/touchpad.

I think I'll give Kodi over Windows a try and see how that goes. There's a youtube review of an Alienware Alpha being used in this way and it seems okay. Of course I can't tell what the audio/video performance is from youtube, but we'll see. If it's clunky then I'll just dual boot per Stereodude's earlier post. I kind of like the idea of having the option of Windows. My nuclear option is to wipe the drive and go OE only.

Looks like everything should arrive Thursday.

ETA: Well that didn't take long. Newegg has them for $159.99 already. Good grief!
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Does anyone know of a wall mount that will work with these? I have a TV mounted on a swing arm, so would like to either mount this to the VESA mount on the TV, or to the wall behind the TV. I don't see anything from zotac and my searching has not found anything either.
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Back in stock... at double the price. Sad

At NewEgg.
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(2015-02-26, 05:05)jweaks Wrote: Back in stock... at double the price. Sad

At NewEgg.

They were $159.99 this morning, Newegg must have sold out of them at that price.
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(2015-02-26, 06:21)Bri1270 Wrote:
(2015-02-26, 05:05)jweaks Wrote: Back in stock... at double the price. Sad

At NewEgg.

They were $159.99 this morning, Newegg must have sold out of them at that price.

Yep, just changed status to sold out. I must get one next time they pop up.
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(2015-02-25, 03:27)Bri1270 Wrote: I ended up ordering a Windows version, Bi320 from Amazon along with 2GB of Ram and a 2TB HDD. I didn't get the awesome deal that some of you got unfortunately, and I don't have the patience to wait for Newegg to have them for that price again. Of course with my luck it will be next week. I was on the fence about possibly getting another black box media player or going with one of these. In the end, the out of pocket was about the same and if this little adventure doesn't work out I can re-purpose this machine. At least this will give me something to do until spring...if spring ever gets here. i Have some reservations regarding the remote control operation. I bought a Flirc and a remote control keyboard/touchpad.

I think I'll give Kodi over Windows a try and see how that goes. There's a youtube review of an Alienware Alpha being used in this way and it seems okay. Of course I can't tell what the audio/video performance is from youtube, but we'll see. If it's clunky then I'll just dual boot per Stereodude's earlier post. I kind of like the idea of having the option of Windows. My nuclear option is to wipe the drive and go OE only.

Looks like everything should arrive Thursday.

ETA: Well that didn't take long. Newegg has them for $159.99 already. Good grief!

I think you will like the Windows version. I haven't noticed it being clunky or sluggish. Then again, I haven't ever used OE so I can't compare on the speed difference. I like having windows as my backbone because I can install other programs such as slingfront and various emulators for old school games.
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[/quote]
I think you will like the Windows version. I haven't noticed it being clunky or sluggish. Then again, I haven't ever used OE so I can't compare on the speed difference. I like having windows as my backbone because I can install other programs such as slingfront and various emulators for old school games.
[/quote]

Thanks, that's good information to have. I've never used OE either. It seems easy enough to install though, so I was just keeping my options open. If Windows performance is good, I'll likely just use it like that...or dual boot. I'd like to keep Windows so my other possibility is to put Windows on the HDD and relegate the ssd to OE. My concern was mostly for the machine running both, not necessarily Windows in and of itself.
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If you want the most out of you box id install openelec, this box is essential a chromebox. It`ll be fast, really fast. But id say that i`ve slow grown to the point that i dont like windows anymore,Linux all the way.
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(2015-02-26, 22:20)stuCONNERS Wrote: If you want the most out of you box id install openelec, this box is essential a chromebox. It`ll be fast, really fast. But id say that i`ve slow grown to the point that i dont like windows anymore,Linux all the way.

I'm not a huge Windows fan either, but I'm not very familiar with anything else. This will mostly, or virtually exclusively be for Kodi, so it might not hurt to go OE only.

I do have a couple of questions though, what about Security software? Do you guys run anything on your boxes? Also, would it make sense to update the drivers from Windows before installing OE?
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(2015-02-26, 22:48)Bri1270 Wrote:
(2015-02-26, 22:20)stuCONNERS Wrote: If you want the most out of you box id install openelec, this box is essential a chromebox. It`ll be fast, really fast. But id say that i`ve slow grown to the point that i dont like windows anymore,Linux all the way.

I'm not a huge Windows fan either, but I'm not very familiar with anything else. This will mostly, or virtually exclusively be for Kodi, so it might not hurt to go OE only.

I do have a couple of questions though, what about Security software? Do you guys run anything on your boxes? Also, would it make sense to update the drivers from Windows before installing OE?

Not sure about the OE guys but since I am running Windows, I just use the built in Windows Defender that comes with the 8.1. I ran windows update right away and have it set for auto updates.
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(2015-02-26, 23:07)Peja Wrote:
(2015-02-26, 22:48)Bri1270 Wrote:
(2015-02-26, 22:20)stuCONNERS Wrote: If you want the most out of you box id install openelec, this box is essential a chromebox. It`ll be fast, really fast. But id say that i`ve slow grown to the point that i dont like windows anymore,Linux all the way.

I'm not a huge Windows fan either, but I'm not very familiar with anything else. This will mostly, or virtually exclusively be for Kodi, so it might not hurt to go OE only.

I do have a couple of questions though, what about Security software? Do you guys run anything on your boxes? Also, would it make sense to update the drivers from Windows before installing OE?

Not sure about the OE guys but since I am running Windows, I just use the built in Windows Defender that comes with the 8.1. I ran windows update right away and have it set for auto updates.


I'm running updates right now. Failed to install on the first try. Normally I wouldn't mind, but it takes forever!
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Windows Defender should be all you really need since its basically Microsoft Security Essentials from earlier windows. As a backup I would install the free version of Malwarebytes and run it if the box is starting to act strangely or you start getting random popups or apps installed.
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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....
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Zotac ZBOX BI320 *Opinion please* Too good to be true?1