Zotac ZBOX Blu-Ray HD-ID34 Review
by Alan Lueke on October 19, 2010 2:15 AM EST- Posted in
- HTPC
- ION
- Atom
- Home Theater
- Media Streamer
- Gadgets
The Zotac ZBOX HD-ID34 is an elegant HTPC capable of playing back DVDs and Blu-Ray discs straight from the optical media. It can be wall mounted next to your display and connected with a single HDMI cable. Most users, however, will want to run a RJ-45 cable to a wall outlet for HD streaming as the Wireless-N connections, in general, do not deliver enough bandwidth (heavily dependent on the home setup). Numerous connectivity options allow this system to also host your media connection with eSATA and USB 3.0 connections. Since the unit ships devoid of an OS you can even install Windows Home Server if you so choose.
The low power usage, heat, and elegant styling make this a perfect media playback device in any room where full HD audio isn’t a requirement. In the main home theater setting, the limitations of the hardware as far as HD codecs are concerned as well as the four channel imitation of the software may be reasons to look elsewhere.
As I mentioned before, there are two separate versions of this box, the HD-ID33 and the HD-ID34. The only difference being that the HD-ID34 comes preloaded with 2 GB of memory and a traditional 250 GB HDD. The HD-ID33 will set you back $399, while the loaded unit costs $499. Those looking to bring their own HDD or an SSD to the party to speed up the system may want to save the $100 and go with the HD-ID33. For those who just want to load an OS and start streaming, the HD-ID34 will perform admirably.
Honestly, I think this is a real win for Zotac from the industrial design viewpoint, and it is possibly the best looking Atom/ION2 Blu-Ray system that can be bought currently. I have been looking for a stylish system to hang in the bedroom next to a wall mounted LCD, and this system really looks amazing. The blue circular LED power light is somewhat annoying, but it can be disabled in the systems BIOS. Couple that with low noise, decent power consumption, a styling that the significant other doesn’t hate hanging in the open, and you have a winner in your hands!
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ajlueke - Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - link
It really was a good experience using the system. Of course, my main dual purpose machine runs a Phenom II 965 @ 3.8 GHz with an Intel X25-M 160Gb boot drive, so things will of course not measure up to that. But standard web browsing was responsive as was loading into PowerDVD or Media Center. I haven't tried gaming on this machine, so I am unsure how it would fair there.tukkas - Tuesday, October 19, 2010 - link
can this be resolved via a future firmware update or is it wired into the chip. if so, which one? thank y ouiMumrik - Tuesday, October 19, 2010 - link
"Most users need DTS-HD MA and Dobly TrueHD bitstreaming from their primary HTPC for their AV receiver to decode. "That's just a hilarious quote :-D
numberoneoppa - Tuesday, October 19, 2010 - link
I suppose it is. :Pblarfmarfle - Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - link
I bought one of these to use as an HTPC in my living room. I needed a tiny computer that could play back all my kids' ripped DVDs through Media Center + My Movies, and this fit the bill. I swapped out the HD with a Vertex 60GB SSD so it would sleep/wake quickly, which it does (~2sec). It is near silent, and it is slim enough to tuck away on top of the XBox in my entertainment center. Playback for both Netflix HD and ripped DVDs is good, and the few MP4 files I have tried playing (720p from my Flip HD) look great. Bluray playback is acceptable, although I generally use my PS3 for Bluray. Build quality seems pretty high, and it is easy to open and work inside.The complaints about a missing remote are valid- I bought an IR receiver so I could use my Harmony remote. I can't really comment on the HD audio codec problem, since I'm running this into a Samsung Soundbar with simulated 5.1 which is nothing to scream about.
All told, for my limited requirements, this is a neat little computer that works well.
ET - Thursday, October 21, 2010 - link
The second sentence on page 3 is "I also can the system through our media streaming test suite." I assume it should be "ran" and not "can".As for the Zotac, first of all I like it that it's possible to get a PC with Blu-ray for $500. That's a lot less than I remember such devices costing. I like the device of the Zotac, and since I use the TV's speakers it would have been enough for me. However, I'm not really sold on an HTPC as a media solution. I tend to get along better with devices geared for the task. Now if I could get a PC that could also do gaming on the TV that might be good, but then it couldn't have such a streamlined design.
ajlueke - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - link
No, building dual purpose media/gaming systems tend to require larger less stylish case as some hi end video cards are nearly as big and heavy as this entire PC. I myself use a larger machine as a gaming/media system, that also has enough room for harddrives to store all my media and serve it to the rest of the house. But using this unit to stream media to another TV where less gaming is goign on works quite well.Milleman - Monday, October 25, 2010 - link
As I use XBMC myself, I would like to know if this product is able run XBMC as well.ajlueke - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - link
I did install XBMC on the Zotac Zbox, cand in ran acceptably, without much slowdown at all. I think you'll be pleased with the XBMC performance on the Zbox. I know I was, given the performance of past Atom systems.angelor - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
I have hdmi cable passing both video and audio can that the reason that I do not get any HD to play properly on my system? I also have set as 1080 screen rate of 60. I will check display to 720p. I am using Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit and have installed shark codecs on it. Aero is currently disabled on my system.