Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #4540 in Consumer Electronics
- Brand: Zotac
- Model: ZBOXHD-ID34BR
- Original language:
English - Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 1.50" h x
7.36" w x
11.02" l,
2.00 pounds
- CPU: Atom D525 1.6 GHz
- Memory: 2GB Unknown
- Hard Disk: 250GB
- Processors: 1
Features
- Intel Atom D525 Processor 1.6GHz
- 2GB DDR2 RAM
- 250GB Hard Drive
- NVIDIA ION
Zotac ZBOXHD-ID34BR Intel Atom D525 1.8 GHz Dual Core with Blu-ray All-in-One Mini-PC
Product Description
Experience stunning high-definition Blu-ray video playback in glorious 1080p with the Zotac ZBOXHD-ID34BR Mini-PC powered by Next-Generation NVIDIA ION technology with 512MB of DDR3 video memory. NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology enables the Zotac ZBOXHD-ID34BR Mini-PC to deliver perfect Blu-ray video playback using the integrated slot-load Blu-ray drive with native 1080p video output to let users experience the movie the way directors intended. The Zotac ZBOXHD-ID34BR Mini-PC is the ideal minature solution for any room in your home.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
75 of 79 people found the following review helpful.
By James A. Suddarth
Pros:-Bluray. Woohoo!-Very thin/light/quiet/small. And I mean quiet!!-Attractive, has options in BIOS to turn off the blue light which is great!-I created a bootable SD card using Windows7-USB-DVD-tool.exe ... if you want to create a bootable SD/USB flash card from a DVD ISO, this is the best way to do it!! Worked like a charm on this unit.-Reasonable speeds... one of the best nettops out there, this is new hardware folks.Cons:-Only one legacy usb port, for some reason my legacy usb devices and thumb drives don't work in the newer high speed usb ports on this, needed to buy a usb hub to be safe.-250GB HD? You do realize people are dishing out $500 for this thing, and using it almost entirely as a livingroom media solution, most likely to rip DVD's, etc... I would expect 500GB at the VERY LEAST.-Would have been happier with more than 2GB RAM, especially at this price point, but that will suffice for most applications of this box. This is not as big of a deal to me.-If you use NetFlix streaming to a TV like I do, be prepared that HD encoding will slow down majorly on this box at times. I turn off HD feature on NetFlix streaming entirely to avoid this. These units are hardware equipped for Flash acceleration, unfortunately NetFlix uses MS Silverlight. This is not Zodac's fault and does not count against them in this review, just pointing that out because I know other people will be trying the same stuff.Overall, you can't get a much sexier nettop than this, but I have to give honest criticism where it is due. Don't cheat your customers on basic necessities. You should have had one less USB 3.0 port, and one more legacy port. This isn't 2015 yet. And you went cheap with the 250GB HD, IMO. I would have gladly spent a few extra bucks for 500GB.But again, gosh this thing looks sexy in my living room next to my TV. Love showing it off.Come to think of it, haven't tried overclocking yet... can't comment on the overclockability of this unit.EDIT: my CPU overclocks stable at 206MHz (base speed) without any changes in fan speed/voltageAND, buy this HD Decoder card that fits perfectly on this Motherboard in the extra mini-pcie slot, it makes a huge difference in your ability to watch streaming HD video without lag/choppiness: (search google for "logicsupply" which is where I got mine, and get the Broadcom Hardware Decoder BCM970015 - PCIe Mini Card (BCM970015))It was on sale for $35 from this same website when I bought it a couple weeks ago... now it's at $50. Still well worth it.
51 of 55 people found the following review helpful.
By Douglas B. Moran
Overall, this is a very nice design, both in the tradeoffs and the layout, especially the connectors (some quibbles below). My admiration as an engineer for how well they packed so much into a small package gives it one star of "extra credit" that offset the deduction of one star for the collection of minor problems.This review does not summarize the readily available specs, but adds details that I expect are useful to an "enthusiast", which in turn I hope will help you decide whether this is the system for you.NOT JUST HTPC: Although the Blu-ray drive causes this system to be considered a HTPC (Home Theater PC), it and similar "nettop" models from Zotac and competing manufacturers (ASUS, Acer, Lenovo,...) could be suitable in a range of other uses. If I was still Corporate, I would experiment using it in conference rooms and sending out with sales reps for presentations: uses where it will be connected to a projector/big screen and controlled with a wireless keyboard and pointing device. Laptops are currently used for this, but the convenience of having an integrated display and keyboard has been diminished by much of that usage shifting to smart phones, and that convenience is often offset by "bad behavior", such as preemption (reallocation) of the laptop and the loading of unrelated software that introduces conflicts and other problems. For offsite use, the portability of this system compares favorably to corresponding laptops. Similarly, the form factor is likely to be well liked by the SysAdmin/assistant who needs to load/refresh a presentation and give it to the presenter for practice and verification.Another situation where a nettop is a possible replacement is where a laptop is used as a space saver rather than because it is actually mobile--hanging a nettop on the back of a monitor could be even more efficient.----Basic Details----Be aware that various summaries/reviews on the Web can be misleading about the available connectors because the ZBOX has some combined connectors, most notably an eSATA/USB2.0. Sometimes the summaries fail to highlight the either-or; sometimes they double count, for example omitting the "combo" designation on one or both of the table entries.Performance: Roughly what I expected from the specs. The standard benchmarks can be found in various reviews on the Web. For a quick first assessment, the Windows Experience Index is: Processor=3.5, Memory=4.5, Graphics=4.8, Gaming=5.6, Disk=5.9. Notice that the processor has the lowest rating--this may be a surprise to those unfamiliar with the Atom's intentional tradeoffs. But also recognize that the Graphics/Gaming scores show the ability of the ION graphics chip to offload computations that might otherwise bog down the Atom CPU, that is, for a range of tasks, the _system_ performs much better than the CPU stats might lead you to expect. But for tasks that make demands on the CPU, this system is likely to be sluggish (The web has a range of comparisons between various models of the Atom and mainline Intel processors. The rough guideline for roughly comparable Atom and mainline Intel CPUs is that the Atom needs to have a 50% higher clock rate).Ports: As I thought through the various combinations of devices I would be connecting, I was impressed with the layout and the combo ports (also on other nettops). That said, the box would benefit if there was room for one additional USB 2.0 port on the back because a keyboard connected to a USB 3.0 port is not recognized during booting. The USB 2.0 port on the back is combined with the eSATA port, which may make it undesirable for the keyboard. Although the need to have the keyboard input during booting is infrequent, that also means that if you have it connected to the USB 3.0 port, it may take you some time to remember why the keyboard isn't being seen, with the accompanying frustration. Remember that once the system is up and running, the keyboard can be hot-swapped to another port.Main memory: The system is advertised as having DDR2-800 memory (PC2-6400), but mine reports DDR2-667 (PC2-5300 although some versions of the specs do specify 800/667). My system's memory has a SPD for 800, but the default data rate is 667, with timings of 6.0-6-6-18-24 and 5.0-5-5-15-20 respectively. The fault is partially Samsung's: Its model number uses the higher data rate ("2Rx8 PC2-6400S-666-12-E4" with chip ids of "M470T5663EH3-CF7"), but the 5.0-5-5 timing are _often_ regarded as corresponding to the normal/default data rate (but with plenty of exceptions). When I switched the data rate to DDR2-800 (in the BIOS, from "Auto"), my Windows Experience Index for memory increased from 4.5 to 4.9, and the reported timings had a CL (CAS Latency) set at 5.0 (instead of the 6.0 in the SPD, but corresponding to the "566" in the chip's id). I am currently using this setting. If you have a laptop that is to be handed down and it has faster memory, you might consider swapping. Similarly if it has a now-unneeded SO-DIMM, you might move it to the empty slot.Note: Stats via a combination of CPU-Z and the BIOS.Note: Even when memory is _capable_ of being used at the higher data rate, it sometimes may be better to run it at the lower one: Way back when I did (modest) overclocking, some architectures benefited from higher data rates (Intel?) while others gave better results from tightening the timings (AMD?) and certain classes of applications benefited from different choices. Normally one finds this info in the discussions of overclocking, but since the Atom allows only trivial overclocking... Before worrying _too_ much about this, consider whether the overall system would benefit. My _guess_ is that any gains aren't worth the effort. Aside: A web search for other Atom D525 systems returned many that were using DDR2-667.Note: Competing models also come with only 2GB of main memory. My ZBOX came with 2GB in one slot and one slot free. At least one competing model has 2x1GB -- a memory upgrade requires replacement rather than addition.Note: DDR3: There is a sibling model that offers DDR3 memory, but from what I found on the Web, DDR2 may well be preferable for this class of processors. And when I looked at current competing systems, most were using DDR2. Recognize there are complicated tradeoffs: That for DDR3 to be better than DDR2, it needs to have a data rate enough higher to offset its higher latencies, plus the processor needs to be able to take advantage of that higher data rate. DDR3 has the advantage of using less power = producing less heat, but I don't know how relevant that is to this type of system.Disk: My system came with a Samsung "HM251HI". Other reviews complain about its relatively small capacity (250GB), but that is not an problem for me--my personal preference is to have smaller disks on systems such as this and have most of the disk storage on my primary home computer which also serves as my file server. While one might guess that the small capacity is to reduce noise or heat, the larger capacity disks in this product line have the same or better stats. Consequently, there doesn't seem to be a barrier to upgrading to a larger capacity disk, if desired. The disk is readily accessible and seems trivial to replace. Reports on the Web rate this disk highly, but there are warnings that this series is "overly vulnerable to power surges and overheating" (SalvageData), so make sure to take what should be normal precautions. This disk is one "sub-generation" back (suffix "J" is current), but I couldn't find what the differences were (probably insignificant). It has Samsung's SilentSeek and NoiseGuard features, and Advanced Format Technology (larger sectors for efficiency and better error correction).Note: Replacement disks are limited to 9.5mm thick.Blu-ray drive: It is slot-loaded and worked as expected as a reader, but is painfully slow writing discs. It seems to take almost an hour to write a DVD+R from a 4.3GB ISO image. The drive's interface is USB 2.0. It smoothly handled 8-cm mini-discs (contained software for additional USB peripherals). If you should need to replace this drive, it appears to require first removing the motherboard, and this appears to be something that the manufacturer wanted to discourage you from doing. Not only are there no instructions for either, the first set of screws that you would need to remove are under the glued-on feet for the case.Video: The "Next Generation ION" (aka ION-2) is superior to what you probably expect from onboard graphics. Start with the dedicated 512MB of GDDR3 memory (vs 128MB of _optional_ sideport memory on various desksides). The choice of connectors allows you to have a broad range of monitor combinations via adapters: The HDMI and DVI connectors are convertible to the other (without audio), and a DVI-to-VGA adapter is provided with the system. As a test, I connected two widescreen monitors and simultaneously played a Blu-ray movie on one and streamed a TV show (from Hulu at 480p) to the other and didn't see any problems with either image.Note: when using two (widescreen) monitors under Windows 7 with Aero, I get the message "The color scheme has been changed to Windows Basic - The current color scheme has exceeded its allowed memory..." even with only a single window open (nothing on the second monitor). I suspect that this is just Aero being a pig. I couldn't find if it was possible to share main memory with the graphics processor (although I did encounter others on the Web asking this question). If you are running two monitors and need Aero, I expect there is a setting somewhere that will raise the relevant resource limits.Note: Earlier reviews here reported problems with video quality. Their tests may have better stressed the system or they may have better eyes than me. Or the intervening patches (drivers, Flash, Windows) may have dealt with those problems.Audio: The ZBOX spec claims 7.1 audio, but this needs to be qualified. The ION GPU supports 8 channels over HDMI, but you need software that uses this capability, such as the included PowerDVD Blu-ray playback. Be aware that the Windows 7 audio drivers support only two channels: the NVIDIA and Realtek drivers for HDMI and the S/PDIF connector, respectively. Other reviewers reported being unable to play audio files with more than 2 channels with the normal Windows software.Motherboard: DMI info is "Zotac". The specs omit that there are two mini-PCI-Express slots, one free and one occupied by the WiFi card. With a hard drive installed, the second slot is difficult, but not entirely impossible, to access (my WiFi card was in that second slot, leaving the more accessible one open).----Split personality product----The advertised all-in-one nature of this hardware targets it for people who don't want the hassle/fun of assembling a system, but the terse instructions assume that you have experience with system building or leading-edge systems. For working with the hardware--for example adding/removing cards--the system is simple, straight-forward and immediately obvious if you have worked with other systems, or are mechanically inclined. And if you don't have that experience, the instructions are clear and provide adequate detail.The deficiencies come when installing an OS and potential customizations of the devices. Because the system doesn't include an OS, Zotac has slighted those instructions. The primary gotcha I spotted is for loading Windows: The instructions do not tell you to plug your keyboard and mouse into a USB 2.0 port because the USB 3.0 ports are inactive until you load the drivers from the provided CD (system builders are aware that new/unusual hardware doesn't have drivers in the Windows distribution).----OS----I loaded Windows 7 Home Premium because it seemed simpler to get operational quickly and because that configuration would be easier to compare to my other computers. I am considering switching to XBMC at some point.Be aware when reading early reviews (here and elsewhere): XBMC "Dharma" was in Beta until Dec 2010, so some of the reported problems with XBMC (HDMI audio, Blu-ray support) may have been resolved.Windows Driver Updates: I was surprised that several of the updated drivers were not handled by Windows Update but had to be downloaded from the Zotac website (Realtek HD Audio, USB 3.0, WiFi). The descriptions of the updates were little more than the device and OS, when I would like at least a quick summary of changes that are often provided.----Included Software----As to be expected, the included Blu-ray software is dated but functional. PowerDVD versions have a history of being released annually in the spring. Version 8, of Spring 2008, is the one included.----Cooling/Noise----Cooling: The CPU, GPU and nearby components are cooled by a ducted fan that draws from the bottom and exhausts to the right side. The remainder of the system is passively cooled, with a large vent on the bottom and vents on the two sides. During active use, the fan exhaust peaked at 45 degrees F/25C over ambient (112F/44C in a room at 67F/19C with the CPU reporting 125F/52C degrees). The air at the vent on the other side ranged from 1-5 degrees F above ambient, which may be side-effect of heat from the other side.Ventilation: The instructions have the usual statement from consumer electronics products about providing adequate clearances. The small size of the box may mislead people into providing too little (for example, treating it like a Blu-ray player). You should provide both clearance and air flow especially on the right so that the hot air isn't being sucked back in."Noise" is subjective, but let me try to quantify: I estimate the noise from the fan to be about two-thirds that of the Blu-ray drive when it is operating (although masked when the drive is running). Consequently, the fan noise is noticeable in a _quiet_ room at close distances, and being a small fan, it has the predictable higher frequency noise. The fan has the expected smart (temperature) control, but I haven't _heard_ any decrease when I am not using the system (short of going to sleep). Typical fan speed seems to be around 2500 rpm.If this is an issue, some of the fan noise exits via the intake vent and you may be able to reduce it by putting a less reflective surface underneath the device, for example a thin rubber mat, felt, or other cloth. Important: Don't use something thick that the feet will sink into--reducing the clearance not only impedes airflow to both sides of the system, but will likely make the fan work harder and thus be noisier.----WiFi----WiFi hardware: There may be differences in the hardware you receive. Some of the reviews written at the time of the product announcement stated that the ZBOX had _onboard_ WiFi. Mine came with a mini-PCI-Express WiFi card, the AzureWave AW-NE766 (Ralink 2700-series chipset). I found Web posting on this card back to 2007 (ASUS Eee), but it is no longer listed on the manufacturer's web site, and I didn't see it listed for sale except as used. This card supports both the 2.4 and 5.0Ghz bands.Note: IEEE 802.11h support--which provides DFS and TPC--is disabled by default, but is required to be enabled in many countries when using various channels in the 5.0Ghz band (configurable by Windows Device Manager, under the device's "Advanced" tab).These cards may be multi-sourced: The Installation CD has three subdirectories under WiFi--Atheros, Ralink, Realtek--suggesting that you could get different WiFi capabilities, plus the envelope of my Installation CD had a sticker telling me which of the drivers from the Setup menu that I should install.For performance measures, I didn't have a different card so I can't separate the capabilities of the card from the built-in antennas.WiFi, my experience: The performance was adequate at short distances, but very poor at medium distances. WiFi performance is always very much YMMV because it can be significantly affected by minor details of the environment in which it operates, both how easily it can pass through obstructions and how well it bypasses obstructions by reflecting off other surfaces. Setup: For comparison, I used a cheap USB mini-dongle (body 1.5 inches long) built on the Realtek RTL8191SU (WiFi-N, 300Mbps) and several older WiFi-G adapters. I used WirelessNetView to monitor signal strength (reception) which is a good first approximation of performance and has the advantage of being easy to monitor.1. In the same or "next room" to the router/access point (AP), performance was the same or slightly better than the dongles. Its position in the "next room" was 29 feet from the AP with an always-open doorway that was about 5 feet off line-of-sight, thereby providing an easy path for reflections.2. Because of the absence of external antennas, the ZBOX needs to be able to operate in various orientations relative to the AP. I tried various orientations--horizontal, vertical and various angles of both relative to the AP--and saw negligible difference in signal strength at _my_ location (same range of variation that occurred with the box just sitting there). In contrast, the various dongles registered roughly 25% changes in signal strength going through similar orientations.3. I then moved the ZBOX to the room just beyond the "next room", about 40 feet from the AP, but without an easy path for reflected signal around that interior wall. The ZBOX was intermittently able to establish a connection, but unable to maintain it for long enough to do even modest data transfers (such as POP'ing recent emails). In contrast, the dongles provided usable connections, providing signal strength readings 30-50% higher. I put a 15dB directional antenna on my AP and pointed it towards the ZBOX and got a tolerable connection. At the dongle's worst orientation--horizontal with top pointed at the AP--it still had slightly better signal strength than the ZBOX.4. As a _proxy_ for testing the relative range of a WiFi adapter, I use the SSID broadcasts from my neighbors' APs (all WiFi-G). The dongles pick up 7-10 stations reliably and quickly. My adapter with a good antenna sees 10-15 quickly and picks up another 5-20 intermittently. The ZBOX never got more than 3, including never detecting a next door neighbor. This implies that its capabilities fall off very quickly with distance.5. With an adequate signal strength, I didn't see any dropped connections, pauses or other glitches. First was the download of the Windows updates (lightly monitored). I also did a 10GB of file transfers that I monitored (10GB because my typical _weekly_ downloading from the Internet is 10-20GB). However, because of limitations of my setup, my speed tests were very limited. For cross-the-room WiFi-G/N (2.4Ghz, 20Mhz wide channel, AES, WPA-PSK/WPA2), I got slightly better than 30 Mbps _data_ transfers which is effectively the maximum one could expect in my environment.My first reaction to the WiFi performance problem was "Why didn't the system have provision for external antennas?". Then I remembered my experience helping a range of people with WiFi problems: I would suggest upgrading the antennas (and had loaners) but they were remarkably resistant to that, preferring to buy a new device at considerably greater expense and with no guarantee that it would provide any improvement. Consequently, the designers' apparent assumption about how customers would improve WiFi performance--using a USB adapter rather than antennas--appears to be well-founded.----Mounting----The package includes a mounting plate that can be used to mount it on a wall (or other vertical surface) or on the back of a monitor. The plate has both 100x100mm and 75x75mm VESA-D patterns. Here are additional measurements because some monitor designs don't anticipate the VESA mount being used in conjunction with the stand: The plate extends 3/8 inch beyond the 100mm holes and the bottom of the case extends 1/4 inch beyond the plate, but the box can swing out on the mounting hooks so that the case is almost 1.5 inches away from the back of the monitor.Note: On various monitors the VESA mount is used to attach the stand to the panel, in which case it is unavailable for mounting the ZBOX. This configuration seems very common on smaller monitors (22-inches and less).----Power Supply----Although I don't like power adapters ("bricks"), this is the right choice for this system: It keeps its heat away from the system box. The adapter itself appears to be one commonly used with laptops (19V, 4.74A, 90W) which should simplify replacement should it be misplaced or fail.----BIOS----WARNING: The window for getting into the BIOS is _very_ small: I was unable to catch it pressing the DEL key 1-2 times per second, and got it only pressing the key very rapidly (and not always then). I rarely see the Logo/BIOS screen--even on Restart'ing, the monitor stays black until the "Starting Windows" screen appears (well into the boot sequence). If you want to lengthen this window, turn off the BIOS's default setting of abbreviated POST (Power On Start-up Tests).----Case----The bottom half of the case is 1/32-inch steel and it provides a strong, rigid frame for the case. Good rubber feet combined with the inertia from the overall weight of the system keep the case in place when there are minor forces on the cables.----Status Light----The large circular blue light on the top of the case is very bright. If you find it annoying, you can turn it off in the BIOS: The small Power On/Off Indicator next to it provides the same info (in sleep/standby mode, this indicator flashes slowly). If you have the case mounted on the back of a monitor, the large light is bright enough that the status info is visible without you having to peak behind.-- Douglas B. Moran
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
By Mr Orange
So I'm one of those early adopters that you read about, generally trying out some of the latest and greatest gadgets and always looking for products that can do a few things for me all in one, so when I came across the Zotac with Blu-Ray for my HTPC, I was sold!Let's start off with the good:Very well built, solid little piece of hardware, and all of the integrated components zip along well. I installed Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit and the install went smoothlyBuilt in video card and Blu-Ray perform admirably together, not sure that I'm fully in love with the Cyber DVD suite that it comes with though, it's a pretty heavy program that tends to bog the system, so I'm using VLC instead which does greatNetflix on demand does pretty well, Silverlight streaming seems to perform acceptably, but be very aware of your connectivityLooks like a piece of electronics that belongs in your stereo rack, unit is quiet and HDMI performance is greatThe newer 1.8 GHz Atom keeps up with web browsing and light load really well.USB 3.0!! Nice!Ok, now the bad:It's a little spendy, especially since it doesn't ship with an OS or wireless keyboard/mouse package- this is a common complaint for this company, but you know what you get up front.For a dual core 1.8 GHz, I should be able to stream full screen flash videos without a glitch, unfortunately even working with support I'm unable to do so, making Hulu and other sites like them unusable on my system (Even tried a variety of workarounds, but looks like some flash is unable to utilize the video card for rendering, making the videos a bit choppy)The embedded wifi adapter is junk- I'm running the highest end Netgear, and it was barely picking up enough signal to stream. Adding an external usb stick fixes the problem, but would like to see a place to just screw in an antenna, I'm sure that the source of the problem is the material the PC is built out of with a limited length on the antennaBe aware that if you're using the USB ports, 3.0 is not recognized during the install of the OS- made for a confusing few minutes when initially trying to install the OS- they include a standard USB which is recognized just fine- an OS issue really, but something to be aware ofWould I buy it again? Probably. Being the geek that I am, it does way more than a regular DVD player, and it's quiet enough for the living room, when a normal PC would be too big and loud, and building a HTPC with components to be quiet enough would cost a bit more to do it right, so it's a nice compromise, and hopefully they will get the video drivers fixed to give me full screen Hulu at some point.
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