Zotac's ZBOX HD-ID11 starts shipping for $250
By Darren Murph 
posted May 10th 2010 8:57AM
posted May 10th 2010 8:57AM
posted May 10th 2010 8:57AM
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Wow that looks awesome... i wish i knew what it was xD
@painfull2006 The first sentence of the post should answer that.
OT: March 13 2004...Would that be the day Engadget launched?
@aubreyq
No.
@painfull2006 Reading the article helps
My living room screams for it
@Bublik25 My biggest concern is the WiFi. On previous iterations, people were very disappointed with its range and very, very angry with Zotac about the way they insisted that it was entirely reasonable for the wireless to be unusable outside of 10 feet from you router.
@Realityism
Correction, the biggest concern is Flash playback as in the Anandtech review it couldn't do it. It's Intel's fault for pushing a crappy chipset (or nVidia's for not wanting to license DMI), but hopefully nVidia can provide a driver update soon enough. I know I won't be buying one until its fixed.
It's also the same price in CAD! Dollar parity FTW!
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173005
March 13, 2004 ???
Its unfortunate they didn't incorporate USB 3.0 - which for me is now an absolute requirement...
@smarchan Why? It would add $100 to the price there are hardly any drives that use 3.0.
@smarchan I agree. USB 3.0 is of little use to me in this form factor and price-range. Esp. if I use it as a media box.
Other than the form factor why is this machine any good?
It's spendy with no RAM or hard-drive/optical drive.
Go to Frys and build a PC (albeit a larger form factor) for $249 with everything. (I got a Core i3-530 w/motherboard with HDMI out, 2GB ram, 160GB HD, wireless N-stick, case/power-supply, keyboard/mouse, Ubuntu for $260 after tax two weeks ago.)
@tomhayes
Form factor, power consumption, noise and most importantly already assembled and ready to go.
The build-your-own doesn't factor in labor or the skills required. Hell, I could build a house for 1/10th the cost of buying one built by a professional but I wouldn't want to live in it lol.
@tomhayes Smaller form factor, quieter, lower power consumption all make for a much better box that is meant to go in a living room or area where noise/size/heat are important considerations.
@tomhayes
DO IT Tom!
@tomhayes
Right, good for you. You just built yourself a PC...now slot it inder your TV...better still, attach it to the back of the TV so it's out of the way.
Ah...THATS what this is for!
I plan to build my own htpc this summer and my budget is around $600. Anyone care to recommend me all the specs? I know there're several articles that has been posted regarding mobos but it'll be nice to get a more detailed list like so:
Mobo name ---- $
CPU --- $ (core i3/i5)
Fan -- $
Case -- $
PSU ---- $
HDD -- $
Video card -- $
It'll be much appreciate -- for about $600.
@xirsteon
Zotac ZBOX-HD ID11. $30 for a 1gb SODIMM and $40 for a 120gb laptop drive. $300 for some new speakers if you feel you *must* spend all that money ;)
@xirsteon
Dell's 560s and 580s have a nice form factor and should be a good starting point for a HTPC.
Newegg is already sold out. Engadget becomes the slashdot of warehouse stock.
@cicada
http://www.logicsupply.com/products/zbox_hd_id11
Hold up, Engadget should make a comparison article on VIA's ARTiGO A1100 vs this Zotac. What are the pros and cons? And why is this Zotac getting such a big splash over the ARTiGO when the latter can be upgraded?
@excgadget
"why is this Zotac getting such a big splash..."
Its really only about the NG-ION and the Intel Pinetrail, not necessarily the Zotac brand itself. They just happen to be the first to incorporate the new ION into a nettop.
@excgadget: Looks like the Artigo is about ~$100 more
Not a bad price, but I still don't see the appeal over a Dell Zino HD. Better processor/graphics for a similar price, similar power draw, similar form factor, and just as quiet.
Jacked up the price for a second time. $209 --> $239 --> $259. Greedy. And 2gb SODIMMs are half a Ben these days minimum, so after the hard drive and SODIMM (not even counting the cost of an OS), the truth behind this ZBOX is that it's around $400. Boo.
like it
How does one attach a hard-drive to this?
If it is over e-Sata or USB, then does the BIOS support booting over that?
How does one install an OS on this?
I am very keen on buying this, as soon as I can answer these questions.
Thanks much.
@iceice
To answer your questions.
1: Attach a (1) 2.5" SATA HDD/SDD to the internal connector under the case...
2: I would assume that the BIOS would support booting via the eSATA and USB ports.
3: You can install an OS via a USB Pen drive, or a USB external CD/DVD ROM/ Writer..
As for some other "perks" it can support up to 4 GB of DDR2-800 memory, has the dedicated GPU memory, and comes with 2 stands.. one for a table, one the back of a LCD TV/ Panel...
Now in stock at LogicSupply.com.
Regarding comparisons to the ARTiGO, driver/codec support for the VX800/VX855 has been severely lacking. A better comparison would be the Broadcom CrystalHD decoder.
Is someone going to answer what the March 13, 2004 reference is to?