Search found 309 matches

by dougz
Wed Mar 04, 2009 2:25 pm
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: new macs!
Replies: 109
Views: 125469

YANSTB - ZillionTV

Looks like we are in another Beta<-->VHS, HD<-->BluRay battle. FWIW, I'd really like to be able to purchase an STB (preferably with buffering for those of us with 1.5 Mb/s DSL), that worked with all streaming TV providers. Doesn't look like its going to happen any time soon. At least, this explains ...
by dougz
Wed Mar 04, 2009 2:14 pm
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: new macs!
Replies: 109
Views: 125469

Matija wrote:OK, it's bigger; so...?
For a media center, that is a reasonably important issue. YMMV.
by dougz
Wed Mar 04, 2009 2:12 pm
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: new macs!
Replies: 109
Views: 125469

Matija wrote:He did include Vista ($100)
Sigh... Can't get good help. You're right! ;-)

Sorry about that. OTOH, Vista Home Basic is probaly inferior to OS X 10.5.6 + iLife...
by dougz
Wed Mar 04, 2009 1:38 pm
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: new macs!
Replies: 109
Views: 125469

I just put together a price sheet for what I would consider the closest you can get to a Mac Mini as far as specifications/size/price. My only criticism is that you didn't include an OS in the spreadsheet. OS X Leopard 10.5.6 plus the Applications add value. Even a FOSS/Linux guy like me sees the v...
by dougz
Wed Mar 04, 2009 4:53 am
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: new macs!
Replies: 109
Views: 125469

New Mac Mini unboxed and dissected

Pretty decent article from some folks who have built a business around colocating Mac Mini servers. Good pictures. http://www.macminicolo.net/macmini2009.html I also use many OSes every day (for fun, primarily) and every single one has its advantages and disadvantages. Not worth fighting over it. Ju...
by dougz
Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:05 pm
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: new macs!
Replies: 109
Views: 125469

dougz wrote:Old Minis hold excellent resale value.
http://lowendmac.com/deals/best-mac-mini-prices.html
by dougz
Tue Mar 03, 2009 3:50 pm
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: new macs!
Replies: 109
Views: 125469

Question - how easy would it be to upgrade the internal components (for owners of older Mac Minis)? I don't imagine that Apple really likes users to do this, what with charging $175 to upgrade the HDD to one that costs ~$45 to consumers. It would be better/cheaper to sell your current box and buy a...
by dougz
Tue Mar 03, 2009 3:45 pm
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: new macs!
Replies: 109
Views: 125469

Thanks for clearing that up. :) So my point ($599 < €599) still stands. For small values of "stands." :-) If I went to the local Richmond, Virginia Apple store I would pay US$599 list price + 5% tax. (Great store, sales droids are suspect, genius bar is excellent.) I believe that California has t...
by dougz
Tue Mar 03, 2009 3:14 pm
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: new macs!
Replies: 109
Views: 125469

Yep, 19% VAT is included. It was when I bought my last one from the German Apple Store. Hmm, if I add VAT to €477 I'm at €567. So is it really true that $599 is excluding US VAT? There is no national/federal (VAT/sales) tax in the U.S. Individual states have State Sales Taxes. Localities may ad...
by dougz
Tue Mar 03, 2009 2:57 pm
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: new macs!
Replies: 109
Views: 125469

E.g. US price: $599, EU price: €599. Using current course, $599 = €477. I'd be much happier if the entry-level mini were ~€499. VAT included? US Sales Taxes are extra. Possibly avoidable ;-) 599 Euro<-->5148 Yuan vs. 599 USD<--> 4098.05 Yuan. (Disregarding engineering, this is really a Chines...
by dougz
Tue Mar 03, 2009 2:24 pm
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: new macs!
Replies: 109
Views: 125469

jessekopelman wrote:
dougz wrote: Dumb question: Is the lack of HDMI a DRM issue?
No, the DVI output supports HDCP. You just need to use a a DVI-to-HDMI cable or adapter.
Thank you!
by dougz
Tue Mar 03, 2009 1:30 pm
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: new macs!
Replies: 109
Views: 125469

One thing that struck me about the release is that it wasn't on the Nvidia Ion platform (i.e., with Intel Atom and not C2D) but still had the 9400. Did Apple decide that it didn't perform up to par, maybe? Strikes me as an advantage. I'd much rather pay for a C2D, particularly because it supports v...
by dougz
Tue Mar 03, 2009 3:59 am
Forum: Quiet Prebuilt, SFF and Barebones Systems
Topic: el Reg: "Asus confirms Eee Box 206"
Replies: 0
Views: 3112

el Reg: "Asus confirms Eee Box 206"

Asus has now confirmed that the 223 x 178 x 16mm machine is based on Intel’s 1.6GHz N270 Atom processor and 945GSE chipset. An AMD ATI Radeon HD 3450 GPU is also included to feed the HDMI port.

A bundled remote control
only consume around 20W of power.

“Tranquiller Technologyâ€
by dougz
Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:23 am
Forum: Newcomers Briefing Room
Topic: What places to buy online?
Replies: 8
Views: 4846

I'm a big fan of newegg. Their prices are good, specs are accurate, customer reviews are invaluable, and their business practices are impeccable. I hear they handle RMAs well, but I've never needed to return anything. My first choice. Amazon (when Amazon itself is the seller) is also excellent. Amaz...
by dougz
Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:27 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech - "NVIDIA's Ion Platform: Performance Preview
Replies: 34
Views: 14831

Ars: "NVIDIA Ion certified for Vista Home Premium"

...On Wednesday, February 11, the company tucked another feather behind its cap with the announcement that Ion is now certified for Windows Vista. When Ion launches, it'll have WHQL-certified driver support, as well as targeted price points as low as $299. NVIDIA is spinning this as a major win for...
by dougz
Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:16 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech - "NVIDIA's Ion Platform: Performance Preview
Replies: 34
Views: 14831

But the appeal of a very tiny, all-in-one-board solution is pretty strong, for me anyway. Besides, Nvidia seem to have thrown a lot of effort into getting this VDPAU driver out there, and it really only makes sense if they have a market in mind for their hardware (i.e. Linux-based set-top boxes, or...
by dougz
Tue Feb 03, 2009 1:31 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech - "NVIDIA's Ion Platform: Performance Preview
Replies: 34
Views: 14831

How about a Sempron + 740G/SB700 system <$150? Runs quite cool even overclocked to 2.8GHz. I guess some OEM could put those together to fit in a small box, but I'm fine with MicroATX. Agree completely, but lots of folks would prefer a ready-made, less obtrusive system, even if it costs more. Media ...
by dougz
Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:23 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech - "NVIDIA's Ion Platform: Performance Preview
Replies: 34
Views: 14831

All of those features are available with US15W or GN40 at much lower power draw. Shipping systems are scarce as hens teeth. Remember that there is a price premium for these chips, too. OTOH, an ION version of the ASUS EEEBox, MSI Wind nettop, Apple TV or comparable small system would make a great m...
by dougz
Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:46 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech - "NVIDIA's Ion Platform: Performance Preview
Replies: 34
Views: 14831

Laptop Magazine - "Nvidia Ion Reference PC"

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/nvidia-ion-reference-pc.aspx Verdict Since their inception, netbooks have been touted as secondary PCs that one uses to jump onto the Web to check e-mail and visit favorite sites, mainly due to their low-powered components. Now that we’ve gotten our hands o...
by dougz
Tue Feb 03, 2009 8:17 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech - "NVIDIA's Ion Platform: Performance Preview
Replies: 34
Views: 14831

Anandtech - "NVIDIA's Ion Platform: Performance Preview

Anand's usual thorough work with lots of pictures & graphs on 6 pages. http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3509 Final Words It’d be silly to dislike Ion. Compared to the Atom/945G combo Ion is faster, you can play 3D games on it and you can actually watch Blu-ray movies on it. If the pri...
by dougz
Tue Jan 20, 2009 11:15 am
Forum: Deals, Vendors and Classifieds
Topic: Acer Aspire ONE Atom N270 1.6GHz, 1GB DDR2 533 SDRAM, 160GB
Replies: 0
Views: 1529

Acer Aspire ONE Atom N270 1.6GHz, 1GB DDR2 533 SDRAM, 160GB

Since a number of forum users have purchased netbooks, I thought I'd post this deal -- Acer Aspire ONE 150-1382 Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz Netbook - Sapphire Blue --- $268.99 w/ free shipping. Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz, 1GB DDR2 533 SDRAM, 160GB HD , 512KB L2, 8.9" WSVGA (1024 x 600), Acer CrystalBrite Tec...
by dougz
Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:25 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech: NVIDIA's Ion Platform (Atom+GeForce 9400M)
Replies: 47
Views: 32984

VLC Media Player To Receive VDPAU Support

VLC Media Player To Receive VDPAU Support Posted by Michael Larabel on December 23, 2008 Back when NVIDIA introduced VDPAU they had provided a set of patches that implemented this video API within the MPlayer and FFmpeg projects. Since the introduction of the Video Decode and Presentation API for U...
by dougz
Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:53 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech: NVIDIA's Ion Platform (Atom+GeForce 9400M)
Replies: 47
Views: 32984

NVIDIA tech to add $50 max to retail price

If you are able to hang tight for a couple of months, do so. If you missed the news about nVidia's Ion platform-based netbooks, affordable machines as tiny as the Aspire One capable of playing 3D games and encoding video could be just over the horizon. The technology may add a little more to the pr...
by dougz
Sun Dec 21, 2008 11:47 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech: NVIDIA's Ion Platform (Atom+GeForce 9400M)
Replies: 47
Views: 32984

Re: Ars: "3D gaming, HD video coming to netbooks in 200

|Romeo| wrote:18W?!? That is going to be really toasty. And also sadly makes it completely useless to me :(
I think it all depends on the intended usage. ION is clearly not targeted for low power Mobile Internet Devices.

OTOH, HD TV at 18 watts (plus storage devices) is pretty good!
by dougz
Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:59 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech: NVIDIA's Ion Platform (Atom+GeForce 9400M)
Replies: 47
Views: 32984

Ars: "3D gaming, HD video coming to netbooks in 2009&qu

Jon Stokes compares ION to AMD's Yukon & mobile Radeon, as well as VIA's Trinity platform. Claims ION should draw about 18 watts.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20 ... -2009.html
by dougz
Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:32 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech: NVIDIA's Ion Platform (Atom+GeForce 9400M)
Replies: 47
Views: 32984

What front end are you guys planning on using with this little box? Early days. XBMC and Boxee aren't using VDPAU yet. Here's mplayer using an Atom 330 and Sparkle 8400GS PCI (fanless): I was looking for a thread to latch on to to say SUCCESS! I got my Atom 330 board coupled with the 512MB Sparkle ...
by dougz
Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:56 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech: NVIDIA's Ion Platform (Atom+GeForce 9400M)
Replies: 47
Views: 32984

NVIDIA MCP79 (AKA 9400M) in new iMac and MacMinis

Configuration files buried within some versions of Mac OS X show evidence that the next iMac and Mac Mini will indeed be based on the NVIDIA MCP79 chipset.... Amongst other benefits, the new notebooks have much improved graphics card capabilities, which make them more suitable to take advantage of ...
by dougz
Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:06 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech: NVIDIA's Ion Platform (Atom+GeForce 9400M)
Replies: 47
Views: 32984

Xine to support VDPAU

Looks like NVIDIA is ahead, for now, with Pure Video-like hardware acceleration for Linux users. When NVIDIA had introduced VDPAU they did supply patches that added support for this API to the MPlayer and ffmpeg projects. The open-source community came along and provided VDPAU support for MythTV lat...
by dougz
Wed Dec 17, 2008 3:47 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech: NVIDIA's Ion Platform (Atom+GeForce 9400M)
Replies: 47
Views: 32984

Even more interesting would be Atom 330 + 9400M combination with GigE, 2-4 SATA ports, 2 SODIMM slots and a PCIe x1 slot. It could be a WHS system or a media center or an email / web browser system. No room on a Pico-ITX. No point for a reference board. Make production version a Mini-ITX or Micro-A...
by dougz
Wed Dec 17, 2008 1:03 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Anandtech: NVIDIA's Ion Platform (Atom+GeForce 9400M)
Replies: 47
Views: 32984

Re: Anandtech: NVIDIA's Ion Platform (Atom+GeForce 9400M)

For those who think this is for HD video I guess I'm having trouble understanding why this should be the case. From the second page of the AnandTech piece: That's 27% CPU utilization on an Intel Atom processor when playing back a 18Mbps 1080p H.264 scene Note that this is the very same 9400M thatâ€...