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The ZOTAC ZBOX Bluray AD03 arrives in a colourful box with a high resolution image of the product on the front.
Inside there is a power supply, converter cable, and detailed literature on the product as well as a software disc with all the necessary drivers for Windows. PowerDVD is a nice extra bundled in the package. There is also a stand for mounting the unit in a vertical position.
The ZBOX is a great looking product, finished in a very attractive silver with glass side panel. This lights up with a blue circle when powered on. There are also several small lights at the front to indicate system activity, such as for the hard drive.
The slimline front features a Bluray drive with a little eject button residing to the right. Underneath the drive is a multi card reader supporting various formats. At the right is a single USB 2.0 port, next to a single USB 3.0 port. A microphone and headset port are positioned next to the power button.
The rear of the unit (from left): USB 3.0 port, Lan 10/100/1000, USB 2.0/eSata hybrid port, dual link DVI connector, HDMI, optical out port. A power connector is positioned to the far right.
Underneath are several cooling vents. This panel is easily removed to reveal the internal hardware.
ZOTAC's ZBOX ships with 2GB of DDR3 memory, in SODIMM format. This can be easily upgraded, up to 8GB. A blower fan is positioned optimally to force air across all the components. A 2.5 inch 250GB hard drive is installed, which can also be replaced. The motherboard supports SATA 6GBps products, so a Crucial RealSSD could be added for a massive performance boost, if funds permit. The product also ships with onboard WiFi 802.11n/g/b support.
I always liked this design but never dug the atom inside. this is finally one I would buy. might even cause some damage to my credit card.
I dont think you could build something nicer looking yourself, not often I say that.
Personally I think the 2GB of memory is a bit tight. 4GB would have cost them very very little and would have helped performance noticeably
Yeah im afraid I would need to budget more memory for this. 2GB is quite poor decision making IMO. nothing should ship with 2GB anymore. memory is so damn cheap.
otherwise great look media system, very attractive. good to hear noise levels are low.
I really like the design, very nicely finished.
Its cool looking, but id want a core i3 version, those low powered machine are slow as molasses normally