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  • watzupken - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    I am not sure if it makes sense to pair a decent graphic solution with a Ultra low power CPU to begin with. I believe the constraint is with the cooling solution, but I think I can live with a slightly bigger chassis.
  • firewall597 - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    I dunno, it seems like a compelling 1080p solution to me. I'm sure they put plenty of thought into their choice, between the pairing of CPU+GPU in such a small package, while also trying to reach a certain price point.

    Owning a SP3 with a pretty comparable 4300u, it's pretty impressive what it can do all things considered. Being paired with a 970m and put into a tiny $800 package is actually pretty enticing as an HTPC/Steam box solution for the living room.
  • barleyguy - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Agreed. Most living room displays (TV/Projector) are 1080p, and this box performs very well at 1080p. It's small enough to put next to a TV, and should be very quiet as far as fan noise as well.

    I have an EN760 in my living room. It's an older version of this same box. It works great.

    My only complaint is that they raised the price from $500 to $800 (for the barebones) compared to previous generations. $500 was a more compelling price; $800 gets too close to laptop territory.
  • jameskatt - Thursday, October 1, 2015 - link

    Cheapness is why the PC market is dying.
  • SBD-3 - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    Portability is why PC's are dying. People want it all in the palm of their hands.
  • LoganPowell - Friday, November 27, 2015 - link

    This is one expensive gaming desktop and its not even on the top rank (see http://www.consumerrunner.com/top-10-best-desktops... for example...). Not my first choice as there are better with lesser price on the market.
  • liebezeit - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    HTPC for $800? My repurposed Asus Chromebox I bought used for $75 works great for me...
  • SirKnobsworth - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    You wouldn't try any serious gaming on a Chromebox. Similarly, you wouldn't buy this if you just wanted to watch Netflix.
  • firewall597 - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    BUT CAN IT PLAY CRYSIS?
    This can.
  • QinX - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Any reason as to why you didn't show the heatsink setup/MXM module?
    I'd be curious to see if you could squeeze in the new GTX980 MXM module in here, yes I know the 5200U is anemic for a GTX980.
  • BrokenCrayons - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Yeah, I'm kind of curious to see how the cooling is configured too and slightly worried about the 102 degree maximum CPU temp. Yes, I get that Intel says everything is awesome up to 105, but there's not much room to wiggle before the poor little processor has to back off which will probably happen as the computer ages and collects some dust in the HSF or if it operates in warmer ambient air. I'd be happy to see it get a good 5-10mm thicker for a cooler running processor with more tolerance for those naughty dust bunnies to build up a little.
  • QinX - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Addendum:
    Also please add the dimension of the device, I can't find them anywhere and although I can go an pixel measure it, having either physical measurements of manufacturer measurements is nice for visualizing size.
  • donthatethesun - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    I was curious about the dimensions too. Found them on ZOTAC's website:

    L 8.27" (210mm) x W 7.99" (203mm) x H 2.07" (52.5mm)
  • meacupla - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    2.23L, which makes it smaller and better equipped than Asus GR8/GR6 (2.5L).
  • Meaker10 - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    Look at the backplates for the heatsinks, it's soldered on like the CPU.

    A proper gaming mini PC would use an MXM slot.
  • milkod2001 - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    One could buy a laptop with the same specs and have extra portability or full desktop PC coming in small case ( mITX board, Full desktop Intel Quad Core and full 980 GTX all giving 3x better performance ) for $1000 easily. Why would anyone wanted to buy this crappy laptop with no screen or keyboard?

    I could understand the purpose of these machines as super cheap $200-350 office /streaming devices but at $1000 there is zero value in them.
  • firewall597 - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Seems like an amazing gaming solution for your living room to me...
  • testbug00 - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    huh? You need a 970m laptop starting at around 1300-1350 currently....
  • Calista - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    Having looked at machines both similar to this Zotac and gaming laptops I tend to agree. Mini PC:s when looking at a pure value perspective seem to have a hard time competing. Which is obviously why they are still a niche segment.

    The Magnus in my country is $1150, while the MSIGE72 is $1350. The extra $200 for the laptop will give me the same GPU but a much faster quad core i7, 16GB instead of 8GB or RAM and not only a 128GB SSD but also a 1000GB HDD. It will of course also be easily portable and can be used as a laptop. The only problem is the slightly larger size, but since it's flat it can fit in most places.

    And if dropping down to a GTX 960M it's actually $100 cheaper to buy a laptop with otherwise similar components as the Zotac, but with a slightly faster CPU.
  • Calista - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    What we need is a new standard for mini components. At the moment it's a huge delta between a mITX-build and these mini machines. We have in a nutshell a situation in where one size is fit for a system in the 50-100 watt range, another standard (mITX) which could deal with 500 watt of components without overheating or unbearable noise. At the same time a proper gaming system with few compromises seem to demand something in the 200 watt range, i.e. a quad core CPU and a GTX 960 or similar.
  • Winterblade - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    I have to agree with milkod2001, specially if you compare it with the base alienware alpha that cames with storage, OS and even a Xbox controller for half the price of the Magnus barebones.
    In order to make the Magnus compeling I would like a Quad-core CPU (even if it is a mobile part) and about $150 discount of the barebones price, then I would be all over it.
  • smorebuds - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    The Alpha that you're referring to that's half the cost has a 2 year old i3 cpu, 860M gpu, spinning hard drive, and 4 gb of ram. So yes, the Magnus is a more powerful, smaller device, and it costs more money. What's your point?
  • Winterblade - Sunday, October 4, 2015 - link

    That 2 year old CPU is a desktop part, should be about the same performance compared to the 5200U, and the GPU is a 860M OCed, so it will handle 1080 gaming just fine, also it has Windows already installed and even an xbox controller, it is ready to use out of the box and it is half the price, that's my point, 400-500 USD is the price these gaming mini PC's have to hit to truly compete with gaming laptops and DIY gaming PC.
  • Jauffins - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    The Alienware Alpha can be equipped with any size 2.5" SSD, up to 16GB RAM, and a 2.9 Ghz desktop Core i5 (or i7), all for less than the price of this barebones kit. And my 4590T runs at 65-70c full load, not 100+. The only downfall is the 860m, and I must say I've been very impressed with what it can do, and have yet to run into an issue. As long as you don't expect either of these systems to run The Witcher 3 on Ultra, you're good.
  • meacupla - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    FYI, mITX PC can get quite heavy, easily tipping past 7kg, and they are, at least, 4x as large.

    My RVZ01 build is 14L and around 8kg.
    Compared to a SFF that's 2.23L and probably not even 2kg fully equipped.
  • schizoide - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    FINALLY, a very small form factor gaming box with a GPU fast enough to handle all 1080p console ports for the current generation!

    Unfortunately, the price remains dramatically just way too high. If this came in around $500 like the Alienware Alpha, I would buy it instantly. Of course that would be an 80% discount so obviously Zotac isn't at all interested in fighting on price.

    That's what I really want-- an Alienware Alpha with a 970M GPU, as the 860M it comes with just isn't fast enough for solid 1080p gaming. Keep hoping the next-generation Alpha hits that performance level.
  • smorebuds - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Ok but the Magnus has much better parts than the Alpha so why would it be the same price? The Alpha with the "comparable" specs is about the same price as the Magnus. And by "comparable" I mean the Alpha has a shitty spinning hard drive and a 2 year old Haswell cpu and 860M gpu...
  • schizoide - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Nope. The CPU doesn't matter for gaming and the Alpha GPU is much slower.
  • smorebuds - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    What're you saying nope to? So what if zotac made an sku with an i3, 960M, 500gb HDD, and 4gb ram and sold it for $499 would you be happy? That's your alpha in 2015 except in a smaller package which is the whole damn point of this.
  • Jauffins - Saturday, October 17, 2015 - link

    I want to see the adoption of MXM. My Alpha is the perfect SFF system (2.9Ghz desktop i5, 16GB RAM, SSD) but in a few years, the 860m will start to show its age. Why nVidia isn't pushing this form factor, where I can spend maybe $200-250 to get an MXM form factor desktop 760 or 960, I don't understand.
  • Teknobug - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    How is the Alpha's i3 4130T slower than a mobile i5 5200U? i3 2.9Ghz vs i5 2.2-2.7GHz and i3 having a slighly faster IPC which matters for games.
  • meacupla - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    I think he said that the GTX 860M was slower than the GTX970M.
    For gaming purposes, GPU > CPU
  • smorebuds - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    I guess it depends on what you value more from your living room gaming device... i3-4130T is a bit faster, but also uses more than twice the power, meaning it'll need bigger/noisier fans and a bigger enclosure.
  • Teknobug - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    The CPU and GPU combination doesn't really make sense here.
  • barleyguy - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    For the thermal constraints it makes perfect sense. Zotac had an i7 ZBox, but it had the fan noise of a jet engine. For 1080p gaming in a small quiet box, the lower power i5 and GeForce 970m is a good choice IMO.
  • boe - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    I'd love to see something in this general design but optimized for home theater - no fans - big heat radiators if necessary, HDMI 2.0a well suited for 4K, DTS-X and Dobly Atmos. I'm not terribly concerned about gaming.
  • angrypatm - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Audio is always overlooked by manufacturers and reviewers. Power consumption, short of a high end gaming rig that sucks power like a refrigerator, seems irrelevant to me. Example; does anyone really take power consumption int account when buying a tv? "This one has a better picture but that one uses less power, so we'll take the more energy efficient model." --?!
  • boe - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Is there any way to get the writers to consider an article on HT PCs? I think building HT servers is pretty standard but building quiet HTPC to play the streamed media can be expensive as the cases I've found can run up to $1500. Technically the entire HTPC could probably be done for about $450 but I haven't found anything that really is SILENT, and has HDMI 2.0a, and supports high end audio. Doesn't mean they don't exist, I'm just not sure who makes them.
  • DanNeely - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Anandtech does review a lot of HTPCs. If you're looking for a DIY build guide, they seem to be very infrequent even for general use systems (vs sites like Arstechnica doing them yearly). A general build your own guide might be interesting; but I wonder if this wouldn't be a better subject for a future Build-a-Rig competition.

    http://www.anandtech.com/tag/htpc
  • SpartyOn - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    I built a Steam streaming PC/HTPC with this embedded solution which seems to fit your requirements: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/N3700-ITX/

    Just put it in a fanless chassis or a really good box with a silent fan and you're good to go. Doesn't meet your high-end audio requirement per se, but there is an open x1 slot for adding whatever audio solution is needed.

    I've been rocking this for the last month and a half and it's been a great game and video streamer (though I'm not doing 4K output - don't have a 4K TV).

    I think I paid $200 for the parts (board & CPU, 8GB ram, 64GB SSD, case w/ incl. PSU).
  • boe - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Thanks - I don't think that meets my 4K, HDMI 2.0a or audio requirements (pretty much my only requirements)
  • SpartyOn - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    It does output UHD 4K @ 30 fps which should satisfy most consumer TVs on the market (unless you're rich enough to afford a 4096 × 2160 panel), so why do you need HDMI 2.0a?

    Also, as I stated, there is an open PCIe x1 slot for adding a sound card that meets your requirements, all at this inexpensive price point.

    Jeesh, just trying to help here, bud.
  • boe - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    I'm putting in a new 85" TV with HDMI 2.0a and I'll want to be able to take advantage of high fps 4K 3d, DTS-X and Dolby Atmost
  • jbrizz - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    What is the high end audio you're talking about? You only need to stream 8 ch PCM over HDMI for movies or multichannel music, or if you're an audiophile you use an asynchronous USB DAC for music. Any PC can do this.
  • boe - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    DTS-X and Dolby Atmos
  • SpartyOn - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    Oh, and I'll also point out that if you can afford a Dolby Atmos sound system, you really shouldn't be worrying about what the cost is for the right HTPC to be hooking it up to...
  • Teknobug - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Most TV's smaller than 55" takes up around 35W. This particular PC (CPU is 15W) shouldn't take anymore than 25-30W. I care about power consumption and this isn't half bad considering that, I have an i3 4010U NUC and under full load it only takes 19W.
  • jbrizz - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    My 55 inch Samsung H6400 uses 60w with the backlight on 5 and 120w with the backlight on 15.
  • Teknobug - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    jeez 120W on max backlight? My Sony Bravia 55" uses 52W with max backlight (I think that's 10) and my Sony Bravia 48" uses 37W, I normally use 6 or 7 backlight because it's next to a window where the sun shines in the afternoon, but 10 is hard on the eyes.
  • meacupla - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Is this the same thing as Zotac's steambox SN970?

    If it is, this was the one that caught my eye as it really stoodout from the crowd.
  • krystyin - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    It is the exact same box - except you can get it one whole month early.
  • YukaKun - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    I love the idea and concept, but I think it's still far from perfect execution on 2 accounts:

    1.- They could compromise an inch or less for height and put a beefier CPU in there without sacrificing a lot of space, but giving a HUGE performance and life longevity boost.
    2.- Sound does not seem to be something they cares much about. For that price range and fighting for Living Room space, they need to show more sound options and connectivity. Good on the HDMI front, but I did not see an optical nor RCA SPDIF connector. Plus, no DP can be forgiven, but still hurts IMO.

    I think the price is also high, but if this delivers in acoustics and brute performance in such a nice small package, it justifies the price. Most great notebooks that come close to this are over 1K.

    Cheers!
  • wintermute000 - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    Also, for this price I'd want HDCP 2.2 and 4k/60fps hardware HEVC10.

    For this scenario you'd almost say a GTX960 based card would have been better for the HEVC10 and HDCP 2.2 (than a cut down GTX970) - even if you give up a few frames, I would not expect a 1k HTPC to lack ANY HTPC features
  • abhaxus - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Another article with a scrolling mobile ad. Closing after the first page. AT is fast losing any relevance it had before the loss of Anand and the buyout. Late coverage on important releases, less filler content, poor news section, embarrassing advertising. AT was the reason I uninstalled AdBlock years ago because I wanted to support the site and others like it. I remember when you offered instructions on the site for how to turn off the annoying word highlight ads on your help page. Now this. Just sad.
  • vortexmak - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    All the disadvantages of a laptop with none of the mobility
  • lmcd - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    Not true -- the mobility counts for frequent long-distant mobility. Really interesting as a college student on a budget.
  • HigherState - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    I cannot get past price/performance. A PC in a Silverstone mini-itx case (or equivalent) can get you the same performance for lower price. "Oh the box isn't as small as my appleTV :( "........please. Maybe I'm not the target audience.
  • meacupla - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    The story becomes different when you want to lug around a gaming PC in a suitcase, especially carry-on.
  • SpartyOn - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    These small gaming NUCs do not compute for me... Why pay the SFF premium to get essentially a laptop in a box - without the mobility? If you use Steam for your games, there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to buy a SFF PC anymore.

    Just buy/build whatever size computer you want - I use mITX because I actually do take my box to other people's houses, but any size box is fine - and leave it in one location in your home. Then just buy a compute stick or build a cheap NUC to stream games from the main rig to these inexpensive living room PCs.

    For $978 you could build a nice desktop GTX 970 system - immensely more powerful that the reviewed machine - and still have money left over for an inexpensive streaming solution. So not only do you get a better gaming computer, but you still have an HTPC to boot. Win-win.

    Maybe this serves LAN gamers who need an even smaller box than an mITX rig? I dunno, I have no trouble carting my mITX around with a full-size desktop card and if I did, I'd still just buy a laptop if I needed additional portability.

    10 years ago these things would have been awesome. Now their just a niche product for people who don't know any better.
  • jordanclock - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    These absolutely have a purpose. It's in the living room. SFF PCs fit the same niche as consoles. They're small, relatively quiet and perform fine at 1080p. They're not meant for mobility and you won't get the same feature set for a similar price in a full ATX PC, unless you want something much louder and harder to fit in an entertainment center.

    Just because these kinds of PCs aren't for you, isn't to say they have no reason to exist.
  • SpartyOn - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    Apparently you either don't know what I'm talking about or have never used Steam In-Home Streaming. I'm not saying don't have a PC in the living room - in fact, I'm saying just the opposite - but make it an inexpensive media streaming box rather than a full-blown gaming system.

    I have two SFF media PC's, one in my living room and one in my basement, so I understand the need that these boxes fill. All I'm saying is that with Steam In-Home Streaming, that HTPC doesn't need to be a full-fledged gaming machine and your money can be better appropriated elsewhere.
  • donthatethesun - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    I think this is more for people that don't necessarily want to have a desktop or multiple systems. It can function as their go to in the living room and for when they travel.
  • lmcd - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    Can't bring the desktop on a plane easily. There's your niche.
  • tarak73 - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    I am waiting for the same solution with DDR4 setup...
  • rtho782 - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    The 970m is a GM204 (desktop 970/980) with 1280 shaders instead of 1024 in the desktop 960 (gm206), 48 rops instead of 32, and, crucially, a 192bit memory bus instead of 128bit, so it should be a nice chunk faster than the desktop 960. The review seems to indicate that it being a 970m is a negative?
  • KateH - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    Yeah I was confused by that too. The only advantage I can see of the 960 vs 970m is that GM206 supports hardware decoding of some additional codecs that GM204 doesn't.
  • rhx123 - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    The lack of DisplayPort is a deal breaker. Very silly omission, with 4 HDMI Ports, it's not like space was at a premium.
  • lmcd - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    I likewise found this very disappointing. Particularly when none seem to be HDMI 2.0 (or am I wrong?).
  • KateH - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    All GM20x GPUs support HDMI 2.0 AFAIK, so I presume they are.
  • meacupla - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    Lack of DP is disappointing, but why is it a deal breaker?

    Did you want to use this with a G-sync monitor?
  • KateH - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    I would be very curious to hear more about the GPU rebranding situation... why would a 1280-shader GM204 on an MXM card be a 970m in a laptop but a 960 non-M in a SFF? Why would Nvidia/Zotac go to the trouble of editing the VGA BIOS and drivers to make this GM204 show up as a 960 when there are already loads of MXM 970m's that are functionally identical to this aside from re-badging? The OEM GPU re-branding situation is ridiculous; Zotac/Nvidia have created a doubly confusing situation where this card could be easily confused for either a significantly-slower GM107-based GTX 960m (that's itself a rebadged 860m) or a slightly-slower GM206 GTX 960 that has the potentially-important HEVC decode that's actually not present in this "960".
  • KateH - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    And while I'm on a rant, re-badging between generations is ridiculous too- but I know by now that's a losing battle that's only getting worse. FFS.
  • mapesdhs - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link

    A lot of that going on by all sides, but it's hard to discuss without enraging rival armies of haters and fanboys. We'd be a lot better off if nobody did it. What really bugs me is the massive performance overlap of newer lesser models vs. older models. The naming system allows one to infer that a newer card will have a particular level of basic performance, but the reality is often very different. I benchmarked a 650 Ti recently, was amazed to find it often failed to beat an old GTX 460.
  • lmcd - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    I mean the 650 Ti should be like 2/3 the power consumption at most, no?
  • KateH - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    Yeah, something like that. ~100-120W for a 650Ti vs ~150-170W for a 460. The 660 is in the same power envelope as the 460 and should outperform it by a fair margin
  • rtho782 - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    You're perfectly right. Having a separate mobile product stack made sense when mobile gpus were way behind desktop ones, now they use the same silicon, less so.

    I think we should have the same product names and tiers for both, perhaps use the "m" suffix in cases where the clockspeed is much lower in the laptop variant.
  • KateH - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    I kinda wonder if it's not time to do away with the "M" suffix for GPUs altogether and move towards segmentation based on power, like what Intel has done with their K/S/H/Y/U suffixes. Low-power MXM/onboard GPUs are by no means strictly in the realm of notebooks anymore- AIO and SFF computers are using them more and more. And looking at AMD/NV's product stacks, "desktop" GPUs cover ~15W-250W (with all but the top-end being under ~150W) and "mobile" GPUs cover ~15W-125W- that's a whole lot of overlap.
  • ruthan - Tuesday, September 29, 2015 - link

    Better than Macmin, but otherwise is better build own, even if MXM is not possible to use by us second category people..
  • adithyay328 - Thursday, October 1, 2015 - link

    Those specs actually almost give my mid tower desktop a run for it's money-almost.
  • aj654987 - Friday, October 2, 2015 - link

    Well, for the alienware alpha with the 860m and the T series processors (Haswell 35W), the CPU's are almost all GPU limited, even the i3's. So there is room for a higher powered GPU.

    With going broadwell, the lowest desktop CPU is 65 watts so far, which is probably too high for that small case, so their only choice is a 15 watt mobile chip.
  • aj654987 - Friday, October 2, 2015 - link

    It would perform better with a 35 or 45 watt haswell desktop processor but they probably went U series because it also takes up less space being soldered on the motherboard and significantly less heat at 15 watt. So its all a trade off.
  • Rick540 - Sunday, October 4, 2015 - link

    Why not just buy a decent laptop for that price and connect it to your TV? Then you'd have a laptop to carry around when you need it. Looks like all that is anyway is a laptop in a computer case.
  • Teknobug - Monday, October 5, 2015 - link

    Exactly, for nearly $1000 you can get a good laptop that can be used anywhere and still be hooked to the TV or monitor with keyboard/mouse as your main PC if you want, and most laptops around that pricetag has an i7 or high end i5 processor rather than the moderate performing U variant.
  • CknSalad - Monday, October 5, 2015 - link

    Hopefully zotac releases a 35/45w skylake cpu. I really don't like the i5-5200U cpu that comes with it. If it had a 35/45w skylake cpu, this would be a really good portable PC.
  • Wolfpup - Tuesday, October 6, 2015 - link

    Huh. HUH. So really this is sort of like Alienware's Alpha? But with a better GPU and worse CPU? And similarly has a user replaceable hard drive slot and RAM?

    This thing looks very very interesting as a possible notebook replacement for me in the future. Cheaper than the equivalent power in a notebook, I think. Hmm...
  • Wolfpup - Tuesday, October 6, 2015 - link

    I'd like a quad CPU though...stick a 45 watt CPU in something like this and we'd be in business...I mean make it bigger if need be, I don't care...
  • Haravikk - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link

    What's the idea behind the 4x HDMI ports on this? The article and specs don't mention any as being inputs (which would be handy for passthrough) so why so many outputs? I could understand two as it would give the option of having one for video and one for audio, or for two screens, but are there many people planning to run four screens off of a box like this?

    It seems decent enough, but still far too expensive for what you get IMO, even accounting for the small size.
  • mikato - Wednesday, October 28, 2015 - link

    This isn't quite what I'm going for but I do like seeing more of these mini PCs. Keeping them coming!

    Here's what I want:
    -Mini PC that normally sits by my TV for HTPC purposes, but is dead simple to bring to a friend's house
    -HDMI, DisplayPort
    -Integrated graphics on CPU - no discrete wanted since this will not be used for heavy gaming, only light gaming. AMD APUs fit the bill with stronger CPU than this for faster multipurpose usage and plenty strong graphics for any kind of video playing, streaming, light gaming. Also price is decent.
    -Big hard disk (I like SSDs better too, but I want to chuck all my media on this thing so I can bring it anywhere, and play it on anybody's TV. I probably won't bother trying to use a small SSD for OS like I do in my other machines.)
    -quiet (duh)
    -power efficient (duh)
    -midrange laptop price? I'm willing to build my own if there is a nice mini PC case around.
    -Not required- Bluray/DVD - Like this Zotac box, I decided to not require this since support on computers is bad. Windows removed it (I think). OS X didn't have it. You can't make HD Blurays of your own videos that actually play (basically). So I'll just stick with media files and streaming... and I do have a Bluray player anyway. It would be sweet to include it and consolidate one more living room item, but no biggie.

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