Asus Eee Box w/HDMI

[iBog]

I've been waiting for a slimline Intel Atom PC. Now with HDMI!

http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/03/asus-eee-box-b204-b206-grows-an-hdmi-port-handles-high-def-ma/

1.6GHz Intel Atom N270
256MB ATI Radeon HD 3400 GPU
1GB of RAM
160GB SATA II hard drive
multicard reader
802.11n WiFi
Bluetooth
gigabit ethernet, 4x USB 2.0, DVI, HDMI
Windows XP Home
Builtin battery in case of power failure


PLUS it can handle 720p video. 1080p is a just a bit choppy. (http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/15/asus-eee-box-b202-detailed-and-tested-on-video/)

I'm cool with no DVD drive because I like the reduced cost, power and noise.

[marcel]

nice and compact and the cost???:)

[iBog]

J&R sold the non-HDMI model for $350. I've also seen non-HDMI models at Target.

[giyad]

a little pricey, but i might do that if it can do MKV... 1080p according to all the HD guides I've read is only noticeable on extremely large screens. If I can't get the full advantage of 1080p on my 46" Samsung, 720p/1080i is good enough for now

[iBog]

I think the price is great for what you get.

I can personally guarantee you that it will play AVI, MKV, M4V and any other container format supported by Boxee.

It's about whether the CPU can handle decoding without hardware acceleration. The resolution and bitrate are the most relevant factors (and probably the codec profile used)... not the container.

Do you want 1080p @ 12 Mbps? or 1 MBps? 0.5 MBps?

The confusion is that many MKVs downloaded from the Internet are 5 MBps and higher and won't play on Boxee. However, MKVs at lower bitrates do play.

I have a 1080p video at 12 Mbps that I want to transcode to 720p at various bit rates and container formats to demonstrate this fundamental concept.

[Fizzypop]

I am very interested in this new eee box. Waiting to see the price is whats currently stopping me from building a new htpc.

[mightysween]

I think the price is great for what you get.

I can personally guarantee you that it will play AVI, MKV, M4V and any other container format supported by Boxee.

It's about whether the CPU can handle decoding without hardware acceleration. The resolution and bitrate are the most relevant factors (and probably the codec profile used)... not the container.

Do you want 1080p @ 12 Mbps? or 1 MBps? 0.5 MBps?

The confusion is that many MKVs downloaded from the Internet are 5 MBps and higher and won't play on Boxee. However, MKVs at lower bitrates do play.

I have a 1080p video at 12 Mbps that I want to transcode to 720p at various bit rates and container formats to demonstrate this fundamental concept.

You hit the nail on the head. I think this is the most misunderstood/misapplied concept in the video player realm. Codecs and bitrates are really the only things that matter...here is an example:

I have a 12 megapixel digital camera that also takes 720p HD video. When I tried to play back the videos on my AMD dual core system, it was choppy. Most people just assume that the CPU/GPU cannot handle the playback, but that is NOT the case, and here is the proof:

My little digital camera, with its tiny processor, has NO trouble playing back these videos in native 720p -- even via HDMI connected to my 27" LCD. If this tiny little camera can play HD video, how is it possible that a dual core CPU cannot?!

The answer is, of course, codecs. Once I updated the codecs on my Athlon system, it plays back fine. I also play 720p HD videos on my Dell Mini 9 netbook which is based on the Intel Atom processor.

Unfortunately, some online video sources haven't mastered this concept and are streaming their video in Flash-based formats that simply try to muscle the video onto your system by taxing your CPU and memory resources. Hulu.com is probably the best example...a great concept, but their videos are mashed into a cumbersome flash player that effectively removes your computer from the equation of video decoding. Ergo, even their standard definition videos demand an ABSURD amount of system resources...and leave the user with no options for controlling buffering, bitrate, etc.

Just think back to that little digital camera...again, there is no way that computers should struggle to keep up with streaming video from sites like Hulu. But until those sites start streaming actual video, even monster CPUs will feel the burn.

[motang]

I've been waiting for a slimline Intel Atom PC. Now with HDMI!

http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/03/asus-eee-box-b204-b206-grows-an-hdmi-port-handles-high-def-ma/

1.6GHz Intel Atom N270
256MB ATI Radeon HD 3400 GPU
1GB of RAM
160GB SATA II hard drive
multicard reader
802.11n WiFi
Bluetooth
gigabit ethernet, 4x USB 2.0, DVI, HDMI
Windows XP Home
Builtin battery in case of power failure


PLUS it can handle 720p video. 1080p is a just a bit choppy. (http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/15/asus-eee-box-b202-detailed-and-tested-on-video/)

I'm cool with no DVD drive because I like the reduced cost, power and noise.
It's cool that Asus brought this one out, but I am bit ticked off as I bought the original version over the summer. Oh well, such is life in computer industry.

[sdnick484]

Which OS are people running on their eee Boxen? The moment I saw the Eee Box I wanted to throw either XBMC or Boxee on there, but I'm a Linux guy and will be throwing on Gentoo on there.