Zotac IONITX-A-U Atom N330 Dual Core 90-Watt PSU WiFi ITX Intel Motherboard Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been waiting for this motherboard for a long time; finally a MythTV frontend which can quietly play high definition video and sip electricity while doing so. And one with so many ports on the back: HDMI, DVI and VGA for video; TOSLink Coax, SPDIF optical, HDMI and analog for audio. Gigabit Ethernet. Plenty of USB ports and one eSATA port. A feast of port flexibility.

While people have been talking about the Wake on USB function of recent revisions of this board; I find the Wake on LAN BIOS option more interesting. You can get an iPhone or other smartphone app which can wake the device via WiFi, making it easy to keep the computer in a low power state and only pulling Watts when needed.

My setup:
I've installed the 64-bit version of Mythbuntu 9.10 on a 60 GB Seagate Momentus laptop drive I had lying around.
2GB of PNY brand RAM allow me to allocate half a GB to the video card (BIOS setting); recommended for maximum video performance.
And a small Mini-ITX case complete the very simple hardware assembly.
I also installed XBMC, and that seems responsive and beautiful.
I first usedthe VGA connector for video, and the coax port for digital audio, but in the end, I ended up using an HDMI switch and getting both audio and video over that port which worked well.

I removed the included WiFi card, as I will be using hard wired Ethernet and would prefer to not include whatever minor Wattage the little card draws in standby.

I would not run this board fanless. I played a 1080i MPEG2 over the air video on it without a case and my infrared thermometer read the GPU temperature at 60

Zotac Atom N330 Dual Core WiFi ITX Intel Motherboard IONITX-F-E Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this after reselling my similar Zotac IONITX D-E (a.k.a. IONITX A-U, only no PSU included), as it simply didn't do it for me as an HTPC. The main issue with the D-E/A-U was that there were no PCI-E slots for a TV card of my choice.

That all changed with the F-E, which was released just a few months later. It's got the PCI-E slot that makes all the difference.

TV CARD:
If you have digital cable, you could technically just use the HDHomeRun (analog cable/NTSC not supported): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010Y414Q?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8

We, on the other hand, only have analog cable. Therefore, it needed to work with my current TV card, which is an analog/digital hybrid: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E2T6Y4?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8CASE
I use my board with this APEX case, which works quite well: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WCQYU6?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8MEMORY
The best memory to grab for any of these Zotac boards is Crucial's XMS sticks.

Go for the 2GB (2 x 1GB) if you don't intend to ever watch Blu-Ray movies:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CDLCGG?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8

Go for the 4GB (2 x 2GB) if you DO intent to watch Blu-Ray movies:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TPXULC?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8

Hope this helps! :)

Click Here to see more reviews about: Zotac Atom N330 Dual Core WiFi ITX Intel Motherboard IONITX-F-E

Product Description:
Experience fluid and vivid high-definition video playback with the ultra-compact ZOTAC ION platform. The mini-ITX form factor ZOTAC ION combines a high-performance NVIDIA ION graphics processor with a power-efficient Intel Atom processor for the ultimate eco-friendly platform that has no troubles handling regular web browsing, e-mail, & productivity and HD video playback tasks.

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Zotac Atom N330 Dual Core WiFi ITX Intel Motherboard IONITX-F-E Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this after reselling my similar Zotac IONITX D-E (a.k.a. IONITX A-U, only no PSU included), as it simply didn't do it for me as an HTPC. The main issue with the D-E/A-U was that there were no PCI-E slots for a TV card of my choice.

That all changed with the F-E, which was released just a few months later. It's got the PCI-E slot that makes all the difference.

TV CARD:
If you have digital cable, you could technically just use the HDHomeRun (analog cable/NTSC not supported): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010Y414Q?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8

We, on the other hand, only have analog cable. Therefore, it needed to work with my current TV card, which is an analog/digital hybrid: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E2T6Y4?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8CASE
I use my board with this APEX case, which works quite well: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WCQYU6?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8MEMORY
The best memory to grab for any of these Zotac boards is Crucial's XMS sticks.

Go for the 2GB (2 x 1GB) if you don't intend to ever watch Blu-Ray movies:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CDLCGG?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8

Go for the 4GB (2 x 2GB) if you DO intent to watch Blu-Ray movies:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TPXULC?tag=a52-20&ie=UTF8

Hope this helps! :)

Click Here to see more reviews about: Zotac Atom N330 Dual Core WiFi ITX Intel Motherboard IONITX-F-E

Product Description:
Experience fluid and vivid high-definition video playback with the ultra-compact ZOTAC ION platform. The mini-ITX form factor ZOTAC ION combines a high-performance NVIDIA ION graphics processor with a power-efficient Intel Atom processor for the ultimate eco-friendly platform that has no troubles handling regular web browsing, e-mail, & productivity and HD video playback tasks.

Get 11% OFF

Want to read more honest consumer review about Zotac Atom N330 Dual Core WiFi ITX Intel Motherboard IONITX-F-E now ?

Intel D945GCLF Essential Series Mini-ITX DDR2 667 Intel Graphics Integrated Atom Processor Desktop Board - Retail Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The Intel D945GCLF motherboard is a great product. This is a super way to start building a computer without the time-consuming complexity of buying many compatible components and assembling them into a working system. So far, I've bought two of these boards and expect to buy more in the future as Intel continues to improve this chip / board product line.

You'll need to add a hard drive, ram memory, a case/power supply, external speakers, keyboard, mouse, monitor, and operating system. But that's all stuff you can pretty easily plug together. You may already have some of these key parts lying around as spares from existing or antiquated computers.

I installed several different versions of operating systems, settling on a copy of Ubuntu for daily use. It's fast, fun, and free.

I have shown this board to a number of very knowledgeable, computer savvy friends who were impressed enough to quickly buy one for their own use. It's cost effective and ruggedly reliable. (I wouldn't recommend a drop-test, but I did drop it off the back of a van and it kept working.)

I've found the processor performance to be quite acceptable for web browsing and basic administrative tasks. The system boots surprisingly quickly. The outstanding energy efficiency is appealing, ideal for any systems that are left on for extended periods of time (e.g. in home servers, security systems, or environmental control devices.)

This product is an exceptional value for a low-cost desktop system. You could also use it as a component in an embedded PC-compatible systems. If nothing else, it's a fun, inexpensive, and powerful way to explore and experiment with new computing technologies.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Intel D945GCLF Essential Series Mini-ITX DDR2 667 Intel Graphics Integrated Atom Processor Desktop Board - Retail

Product Description:
Essential Series. Single pack mini ITX / uATX compatible form factor desktop board with soldered down IntelAtom Processor 230. The IntelDesktop Board D945GCLF with 945GC + ICH7 chipset supports 533 MHz System Bus DDR2 667 MHz SDRAM Memory Integrated10/100 Network Connection PCI connector up to 6 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports (4 back ports) 2+2 channel HD Audio PATA and two SATA ports.

Want to read more honest consumer review about Intel D945GCLF Essential Series Mini-ITX DDR2 667 Intel Graphics Integrated Atom Processor Desktop Board - Retail now ?