Zotac has some pretty impressive motherboards out there. Combining the Intel Atom processors with just the right amount of graphics power to play high definition content is where Zotac seems to have seen the most success. Recently I was surfing the web looking at hardware, and came across a small platform that Zotac has put together. Logic Supply has the Zotac Mag HD-ND01 listed for $299, which, considering it has the cpu, motherboard, ram, 160gb hard drive, and case all in one package, makes this an attractive offering. With a little more searching, I found Newegg offering the same box for $279.99, plus some for shipping.

The draw for me is the really small form factor. I had built a second HTPC using the m350 case and another Zotac board that has a slot for Core 2 Duo processors, but this one looks better and uses less energy than what I could have built. You do have to be careful though. If you are looking to play back flash content, you may have to go with a different solution. The Atom processors do not have enough on their own to play back flash, and, while there are currently versions of Flash Player that do GPU acceleration, you may find that your mileage may vary. I really don’t do too much in the way of Flash, so I think this would fit well in my living room.

Just in the last two days, an announcement on Anandtech.com (catch it here shows an updated version of the small PC. Enter the Zbox HD-ID11. With lower power consumption than the already low HD-ND01, it promises to save money while performing nearly identically to the previous version thanks to an updated chipset. Now all I need is a bunch of cash to buy the new machine plus a TV capable to watch it on!

-B

I found a new case that I wanted to try out, the M350 Universal Mini-ITX enclosure. I paired it up with the Zotac 9300 wifi mini-itx board, and an intel E5200 pentium dual core processor. I want to hide away the media center, as now the wow factor has gone away, and smaller is easier to stash. The Zotac board has an e-sata port so I can put my 1TB drive in my e-sata enclosure and still have all the recording space.

Update:

After having tested it for a few months now, the only downside I can see is the fan noise from the stock intel processor. I have not looked into other cooling solutions yet, or somehow trying to slow the fan down with either a control that goes between the motherboard and fan, or control it with software. The package is small, which is good, I just can’t handle the fan noise. I know I am picky, and I can’t hear it when the music is up or a movie is playing. Silence is golden, though, and I enjoy it as much as my digital entertainment.

I finished moving my pair of HDHomerun TV Tuners to the main computing center, and left just one network line from the main center to the entertainment center. I realized that I had put the link from the entertainment center into the main router, which is not gigabit lan. I fixed that, and realized I should have made a diagram when I put it together the first time to show what went where. Now I will have another weekend project…

I also have reinstalled a licensed version of Windows 7 on the main HTPC. I backed up the scheduled shows, which did not get done last time I installed the OS again, and all of my scheduled seasons were there. I do have to watch the dates of what I have previously recorded and delete them when the new shows come, or I may run out of room. When you move the tv files, or install a new OS, they do not have ownership of the files and won’t delete them according to the rules you have set in your season preferences.

With that out of the way, I can now look into writing that scheduling app that I have wanted to write, and set up a media center recording server to do all the recording and serve up entertainment.

One thing I am VERY frustrated about is finding a way to schedule recordings on a “server” Windows media center PC from another windows media center pc. I realize that media extenders can do this, but I have heard so many problems with them that I have not wanted to sink the money into something that may not do what I want it to.

I am researching how to write a program that will give a similar Guide and search experience as in Media Center, yet from a different PC than the one used to record on.  It will have two parts: a backend to install on the server, and the front end that communicates with the backend. The recording magic happens through XML files stored on the recording computer, and I will send data to the server and the backend will append or write the data in the XML format that media center uses. I will keep you updated on the progress.

As the free trial period expires within two weeks on my two installations of Windows 7 Ultimate RTM, I have been starting to backup data that I want to keep that should not be wiped out when I re-install a full version of Windows 7. I have had problems in the past trying to stream hi-def content like a blu-ray ISO from my file server to my HTPC. My initial response was to change my switches out for two Gigabit switches, which would allow more bandwidth to be sent across my Cat5e compliant wiring. That did not pan out, and I ended up storing the hi-def content directly on the HTPC.
As I am now transferring that data back to the file server, I started getting really slow transfer speeds. I mean 11mb/s, which is more like 10/100 speeds (theoretical) instead of Gigabit speed (1000mb/s theoretical). Looking at the indicators on my HP Procurve switches, everything should be moving faster, like 40 – 50 mb/s, as all the lights show 1000 mb/s speeds possible, starting with the HTPC to the Procurve switch #1, Procurve switch #1 to Procurve switch #2, and finally from Procurve switch #2 to the file server. I do realize that portions of that bandwidth may have been eaten up with shows being recorded on the two HD Homeruns (each is a dual tuner that transmits its data over the network to the recording computer), but each HD Homerun is only 10/100 capable, and should therefore only take up a maximum of 20% of the bandwidth of a 1000 mb/s switch.
What I am now contemplating would not be very hard to implement. There are two routes to choose from:

1. Take out Procurve switch #1, run a second and third network cable from Procurve switch #2, where the main router is located along with file server, to the two HD Homeruns, and use the existing stub for the HTPC

Or

2. Run an antenna cable (RG6 or better) to the area where Procurve swtich #2 is located and relocate the HD Homeruns, eliminating the extra cost of Cat5e or Cat6 wire, and further simplifying my entertainment center wiring. The main computing area will pick up the extra mess, but I can probably hide it without too much trouble.

Maybe option #2 will work best, both from a cost standpoint and a labor standpoint. I will report my progress later. All this has to get scheduled in to my massive homework, midterms, and the task of re-installing Windows 7 on my HTPC before it starts shutting down every two hours! Wish me luck!

School is out until January, and I have a little more time to put towards my different projects. One that I have been spending the most time on is a website for a local group. Check out Layton Utah Music Workshop to see what I have been up to.

Some other projects I have before me are to paint the sitting room, make an educational plan to list out the classes I plan to take in the coming year, and clean the garage. (Not so coincidentally, these are also on my honey-do list.)

I have been playing with my mini htpc box, and it works quite well. I will post the specs, as I think it is a very viable solution for replacing the large box I currently have in the living room. The cost is not any less, unfortunately, as getting the same power in smaller packages comes at a small premium. The only thing I wish were different were better integration for blu-ray playback, as well as more control in setting up a default player for DVD’s and Blu-rays. More on that soon…

I have finished my first custom map for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, hoping to submit it for the Intel contest. You can find it here:http://rumblegate.com/files/ofdr/Intel_OFPDR_Mission.zip. I still have some alerts that I need to remove, and I have yet to actually play it with anyone else online, but playing through the mission by my lonesome with my AI team, everything seems to work. Let me know how it goes, if you try it. I would love to hear feedback!