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(More customer reviews)UPDATE 2-18-11: Now runs 720p YouTube full screen perfectly. Still has some trouble with Hulu (what doesn't?). The difference over my former review is that Flash 10.2 and an update of the AMD/ATI Catalyst driver were both released in the past week, and VASTLY improve video performance. I am now using this as my primary desktop computer and it is excellent.
Original review from December, except as noted:
This does not come with Windows; this does not come with a hard drive or RAM; it is what is known as a "barebones" system.
It appealed to me because I have several hard disks lying around from upgrading netbooks, some 1gb memory modules, and an unused copy of Win XP.
Took a whopping 7 minutes to unscrew the case (with thumb screws, no screwdriver required) and install the hardware.
Use my netbook external CD Rom to install Windows.
Used the included drivers disk to complete installation.
Works fine. Nice ports layout. Nice desk stand.
ONLY ISSUE is the fan comes on when just web browsing. Disappointing. Will give to my wife to use for watching DOO TV (foreign TV stream). (I could understand the fan coming on for higher intensity use - but web browsing? The noise level will be an issue for home theater pc users.) [UPDATE ON FAN: I downloaded some additional drivers from Zotac and the fan is no longer an issue, it runs slow and quiet even with heavy tasks like burning DVD's, but the fan DOES still come on loud and hard if it wakes up from "sleep" mode - don't know why, but my solution is just to turn it off instead of putting it to sleep. For all I know this may only be a problem under Win XP, I am also running a Linux partition and no problem in sleep mode there.] [January ADDITIONAL PROBLEM NOTED: I don't think WinXP is best for this motherboard/chipset/BIOS. When burning a DVD disk or transferring files to an external hard drive, I can't switch browser tabs (yes, I am browsing while transferring data!) very quickly, the replacement tab "appears" very slowly, although task manage indicates there is plenty of RAM (I have 2k installed) the computer is using a page file - writing RAM to the hard drive - hence any activity that is also using the hard drive intensely means the page file gets SLOW. I recommend considering using 4 gb of RAM in this unit and Win7 Premium instead. I have come to appreciate this unit more for its size, low power use, quiet fan, and efficiency since using it more.] In December 2010, I couldn't get get full screen Hulu even at 360p resolution without stuttering, and in fact I got "artifacts" in the video even with "in the browser" sizing at 360p. Those problems were when I was running Flash 10.1, which was all that was available then.
In mid-February 2011, Adobe released Flash 10.2 which utilizes the video processor much better, and concurrently AMD/ATI also released new video drivers to work better with Flash 10.2. The result is as I noted in my new opening paragraph. Great video, except for Hulu, which is watchable but not great full screen at 360p. YouTube can run 270p full screen however. And I get good Netflix. Still, for the best Netflix, a sub-100 dollar Apple TV or Roku player are MUCH better, crystal clear, stutter free, 720p (and some 1080p on Apple) video.
This nettop is now satisfactory for light home theater and most desktop chores short of game playing.
Please note that at the January 2011 CES (Consumer Electronics Show), AMD released a new set of ultra low power chips with a significantly improved GPU (graphics processing unit) that will probably use less power than this Neo nettop and even better graphics. I would therefore recommend waiting, if you can, until end of first quarter, mid 2011 and get an AMD E-350 powered nettop.box. Goggle AMD E-350 reviews for more information.
Click Here to see more reviews about: ZOTAC Athlon Neo X2 1.5GHz/A&V&GbE/Mini ITX Barebone System ZBOXHD-AD01
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