Zotac Mini Roundup
I know we don’t do a lot of review roundups here at Missing Remote, but every so often you get just the right collection of hardware reviews coming in from all over the place. Zotac has been making the rounds to get their HTPC-centric hardware in the spotlight. First up we have a review of the AMD E-350 powered Zotac ZBOX Nano AD10. For whatever reason the E-350 APU launches have not gotten me as excited as the initial E-300 launch, even though it sounds like AMD has put together a decent upgrade for Zotac to work into their little boxes.
Today we have the ZBOX Nano AD10, which has to be one of the best-looking and smallest mini pc’s we have looked at. I know you are going to say it so we will say it now, it looks like a Mac Mini only smaller! Inside this small design you have an AMD E350 CPU, AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics, 2GB of DDR3 and a 320GB hard drive.
Zotac has also made a name for itself with HTPC-centric mini-ITX motherboards. Continuing on with the AMD focus is a review of the Zotac A75-ITX WiFi motherboard. AMD’s recent Bulldozer processor launch may have fizzled a bit, but the Llano processors have proven to be good solid chips and Zotac does a good job of bringing the features to their boards.
Overall, the Zotac A75-ITX WiFi was an excellent little motherboard. With its tiny form factor, built-in WiFi and bluetooth, and FM1 socket, it is obviously aiming square at the HTPC market and hitting its mark. But with its support of USB 3.0, SATA 6.0 Gb/s, and a discreet x16 graphics card, Zotac proves that features don’t have to be sacrificed to reach its HTPC goal.
Finally, a review of the Zotac Z68 ITX WiFi Supreme representing the Intel option. Sandy Bridge’s GPU has proven to be a capable HTPC chip, but this is definitely a board to pay attention to with its integrated Nvidia GT 430 GPU.
Zotac is well known to the DIY and enthusiast community for its mastery of the mini ITX form factor with its full array of miniature sized offerings. Zotac has been manufacturing these offerings for over 5 years now and by the looks of the Z68 lineup, they are going a step forward with features and functionality with these newest offerings.