Zotac Announces 3 New PC’s
Written by Alan Thursday, 12 January 2012 12:00
The market for home theater PC’s has largely been driven by user-built devices, with a few very pricey OEM boxes from hardware makers like Vidabox and Moneual. The home theater PC, generally referred to as an HTPC, usually runs Windows with Media Center enabled upon start-up and comes as a non-tower case which is designed to fit in a cabinet in your living room. Lately though, there has been a small but growing number of small form-factor boxes being used in living rooms.
Zotac is one of those small boxes that has been making inroads with the Media Center user base. Today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Zotac announced three new models of their Zbox mini PC’s. The Zbox ID80, ID81 and AD04 were all unveiled and all will likely prove to be popular with the HTPC enthusiasts. All three feature an external Wi-Fi antenna, integrated Bluetooth 3.0, and a bundled media remote with a USB IR receiver for Windows Media Center. These are all second-generation computers that are based, according to Zotac, on user-submitted feedback.
All three of the new Zotac boxes pack the same 2 GB of DDR3 RAM, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports, S/PDIF audio out, Gigabit ethernet, and 6-in-1 card reader, and a 320 GB HDD, but vary in processor speed and graphics. All three boxes also come in a bare-bones model that allows the user to add their own RAM and HDD, and (if the previous model holds true) an OS.
Prices and availability dates aren’t yet know. However, Zotac devices usually range in the $200-400 area but, as of this writing we don’t have dates for the new boxes. You can visit them at ZotacUSA.
Related posts:
- Zotac Announces a New Mini PC, We’re Thinking Zbox Media Center
- XBMC OpenELEC Hits Version 1, Lures HTPC Users
- Hillcrest Labs Announces the Scoop Pointer Air Mouse
- XBMC Coming To Sigma Chips
- Windows Media Center For Set-top Boxes
