Asus Eee Box

[jeangot]

Check this out:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/08/review-asuss-mi.html

According to Andrew, the Atom 1.6 Ghz CPU may support up to 720p high def, and this box seems to have a SPDIF out and DVI port according to what I read on another forum (not verified through). It is not fanless, and one forum post claimed that the fan is noisy.

Haven't tried it yet, they can be found around $350 on Ebay right now... Hopefully the price should come down a bit soon.

Jean

[jeangot]

Dave,

according to this there is SPDIF out:
http://gizmodo.com/394563/asus-eee-box-b202-our-first-look-plus-official-specs-only-300

And yes it is not the ultimate solution for HD but it could be anough for 720p which for me is enough in most rooms of my house. That's assuming the price would drop to around $200 :-)

If I get my hand on one, I'll update you...

Jean

[jondecker76]

I'm very interested in the eeeBoxes as well. Looking forward to hearing some experiences with them.

I have some 720p stuff, but most of my media is just SD so it looks like it might fit my bill just fine.

Too bad they don't offer it diskless to take more cost off the top.

[totallymaxed]

Jean,

 I do not think they are there yet. I read the review on Anand-tech and he states in his review that there is no digital output at least on the model he tested and they use about 90% of the cpu with a 720p video file. There is absolutely zero hardware acceleration and it all has to be handled via the CPU (Atom). I do not have a link I just google Eee Box and found the Anand-Tech review.

 In closing he states that this will not make a good htpc at this point. I would save some money and wait for another model.

 regards,

 Dave

Hmmm... well based on our test of the Intel ATOM i945 based motherboard which uses the same chipset and importantly for video perfoamnce the same GMA950 GPU I can say that we dont see anything more than 15-20% cpu usage when playing a ripped DVD at 720p.

Overall performance is really very good indeed and i would not have any reservations about overall performance of ATOM 1.6Ghz based units.

All the best

Andrew

[freymann]

Here in Ontario, Canada, one of the eBay stores I deal with has them for sale at $389 CDN + Shipping + Taxes

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ASUS-EEE-BOX-B202-WHITE-INTEL-ATOM-1-6GHZ-1G-DDR2-80_W0QQitemZ280256283653QQihZ018QQcategoryZ177QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262

Very tempting! I just might be in a position to afford one in a couple weeks. Would mount beautifully on the new Acer 22" wide screen monitor arriving later this week! ;-)

[Techstyle]

Jean,

 I do not think they are there yet. I read the review on Anand-tech and he states in his review that there is no digital output at least on the model he tested and they use about 90% of the cpu with a 720p video file. There is absolutely zero hardware acceleration and it all has to be handled via the CPU (Atom). I do not have a link I just google Eee Box and found the Anand-Tech review.

 In closing he states that this will not make a good htpc at this point. I would save some money and wait for another model.

 regards,

 Dave

Hmmm... well based on our test of the Intel ATOM i945 based motherboard which uses the same chipset and importantly for video perfoamnce the same GMA950 GPU I can say that we dont see anything more than 15-20% cpu usage when playing a ripped DVD at 720p.

Overall performance is really very good indeed and i would not have any reservations about overall performance of ATOM 1.6Ghz based units.

All the best

Andrew

Andrew,

How plug and play is the Intel Atom i945 you tried?

Did you have to do anything special to get the video to work or was it recognised?

Jason

[totallymaxed]

Jean,

 I do not think they are there yet. I read the review on Anand-tech and he states in his review that there is no digital output at least on the model he tested and they use about 90% of the cpu with a 720p video file. There is absolutely zero hardware acceleration and it all has to be handled via the CPU (Atom). I do not have a link I just google Eee Box and found the Anand-Tech review.

 In closing he states that this will not make a good htpc at this point. I would save some money and wait for another model.

 regards,

 Dave

Hmmm... well based on our test of the Intel ATOM i945 based motherboard which uses the same chipset and importantly for video perfoamnce the same GMA950 GPU I can say that we dont see anything more than 15-20% cpu usage when playing a ripped DVD at 720p.

Overall performance is really very good indeed and i would not have any reservations about overall performance of ATOM 1.6Ghz based units.

All the best

Andrew

Andrew,

How plug and play is the Intel Atom i945 you tried?

Did you have to do anything special to get the video to work or was it recognised?

Jason

Well its plug-n-play with an updated AVwizard... this will be in the svn early next week I would guess.

Andrew

[marrandy]

From the various reviews I have read, the Atom performs like a 1.2GHz Pentium M (Dothan).

I'm ordering one to test and evaluate.

When will update 1 for 0710 be out so the   'Updated AVizard '  is added ?

What's the procedure for manually getting it recognized and working correctly ?

Regards..Martin

[totallymaxed]

From the various reviews I have read, the Atom performs like a 1.2GHz Pentium M (Dothan).

I'm ordering one to test and evaluate.

When will update 1 for 0710 be out so the   'Updated AVizard '  is added ?

What's the procedure for manually getting it recognized and working correctly ?

Regards..Martin

From our tests we would say that it performs similarly to a 1.8Ghz i945 based motherbaord... hard to separate them in performance terms.

I cant say when Update 1 for 710 will be out I'm afraid.

Once our AVwizard revision is in the svn you will need to grab a copy and build it... then copy the new binary into /usr/pluto/bin and reboot and force the AVwizard to run by holding the 'shift' key down until you hear the additional 'beeps' after the normal 'rising beeps' during boot....then just use the AVwizard a normal to set the options you need.

Andrew

[jeangot]

Hi,

just a little update. Newegg has them now in USA for $350 US (which is now more in CAD :-) but not sure if they ship to Canada: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220002

They also have a new barebone from MSI based on the Atom chip for $139:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856167032

Difference to the eee seems to be no DVI (just VGA, which totallymaxed said he can run 720p out of), and no wireless (which we don't need anyway). I'll probably order one of these in a week or two.

Jean

[Techstyle]

That looks pretty good, stick a gig or 2 of RAM in it and you have a good looking MD for $170!! a bit more if you want a DVD player - I only ever use the one in my core to rip to the Core.

Let me know your experiences with it

[freymann]

I can get you one for $370 CDN as I said or less if we get two and I am sure it would not cost 30$ to ship it to you. We just have to wait for the keyboard and mouse.

 Hi Dave.

 $400 is cheaper than the eBay store, if you can do it for that, I would take one anytime.

 IM me if you feel like making the deal.

[slapshot]

If you want to see an interesting article of what people have already done with the Asus EEE PC, check this out:

http://beta.ivancover.com/wiki/index.php/Eee_PC_Internal_Upgrades

I am almost inspired to purchase one after reading this, but I would never make the mistake of installing windows on it.

~John

[marrandy]

Hi,

just a little update. Newegg has them now in USA for $350 US (which is now more in CAD :-) but not sure if they ship to Canada: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220002

They also have a new barebone from MSI based on the Atom chip for $139:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856167032

Difference to the eee seems to be no DVI (just VGA, which totallymaxed said he can run 720p out of), and no wireless (which we don't need anyway). I'll probably order one of these in a week or two.

Jean

You sure about that ?

Two of the pictures (image viewer) show a DVI port

OK - the second link only has VGA

[totallymaxed]

Jean,

 I do not think they are there yet. I read the review on Anand-tech and he states in his review that there is no digital output at least on the model he tested and they use about 90% of the cpu with a 720p video file. There is absolutely zero hardware acceleration and it all has to be handled via the CPU (Atom). I do not have a link I just google Eee Box and found the Anand-Tech review.

 In closing he states that this will not make a good htpc at this point. I would save some money and wait for another model.

 regards,

 Dave

Hmmm... well based on our test of the Intel ATOM i945 based motherboard which uses the same chipset and importantly for video perfoamnce the same GMA950 GPU I can say that we dont see anything more than 15-20% cpu usage when playing a ripped DVD at 720p.

Overall performance is really very good indeed and i would not have any reservations about overall performance of ATOM 1.6Ghz based units.

All the best

Andrew

Andrew,

How plug and play is the Intel Atom i945 you tried?

Did you have to do anything special to get the video to work or was it recognised?

Jason

Just a quick update...

We're seeing some X lockups on the ATOM due to some issues with the Intel graphics drivers. These are intermittant and seem to be triggered by some of the Orbiter code. We're working on this now... trying to test the ATOM using the 2.6.24 kernel from 8.04... no firm new on that yet though.

Andrew