welcome to my unboxing and first look at the Zotac ZBOX plus id80 this is a
creatively color scheme see the blue ring for the Intel Atom Processor inside
versus the green ring on the ad04 which
is over there which has an AMD Apu
inside so this is a an atom as well as
GeForce ion solution which is very similar otherwise to the other Mini PC
so what we're going to do is on my NCI ncio ncixcom Channel we're going to take
these guys head-to-head and find out which one performs the best but for now
I still have to do the unboxing of this so there's a bunch of stuff on the
outside of the box which we're basically not going to concern ourselves with too much other than the specs so it uses an
Intel atom d2700 so this is a new generation dual core at 2.13 GHz with an
Intel nm10 Express chipset so that means this is an older class GPU a gt520 with
512 Megs of dedicated DDR3 memory it's
using 2 gigs of RAM and a 320 gig hard drive although all Z boxes are available
as a completed PC so that is one with memory and with a drive or as a
barebones so you can buy it as a barebones put an SSD in there you know
throw a bunch of RAM in there it's I think it's got two slots so you should
be able to put up to 8 gigs of memory yes so you can do up to 8 gigs of memory
in here it includes gigabit Lan
802.11 802.11n Wi-Fi see I'm I'm just
off today Bluetooth 3.0 SD card reader
on board 8 channel digital audio with stereo analog audio out and the rest of
this is stuff that we will pretty much cover when we open it up so inside we
find some manuals and accessories and Driver discs and warranty terms which is
two years in one year in the Americas
two years in the EU I believe that's by law driver installation DVD which you're
going to want to not use and download the latest off the Zotac or other
manufacturer website there's a users manual with an
addendum for best compatibility please use only the eat or USB 2.0 ports as the
OS installation Source they are right USB this is not a unique issue with
Zotac but it's very difficult to install an OS directly off of a bootable USB
drive on a USB 3 Port because a lot of them don't have the drivers built in
already quick start guide moving along we have a power
adapter with the other piece of said power adapter there's the DC converter
go ahead and throw that guy back in there on the other side we find a pretty
wicked media
remote that is taped in pretty good and then sealed in pretty good and then
takes batteries that look like that comes with the batteries by the way guys
don't worry don't be afraid of the scary batteries that nobody has lying around
okay we've also got a DVI to VGA
adapter a who's it or a what's
it I don't know what this is oh okay there's our IR receiver for the buil or
the built-in for the included remote next we have a Wi-Fi antenna whoops
there it is whatever okay uh four screws
and I'll more on that later batteries and finally a little plastic
mounting piece that you can use to prop up your ZBOX very
fashionably next we have the ZBOX unit
itself and it's going to look kind of weird I can tell you that guys
now that is your new Mini
PC yeah that does look weird I'll explain why that is in just a moment so
let's peel off some plastic first one piece of
plastic uh one switch to open it up uh
and then we've got another piece of foam to keep it from getting all scratched so
it looks all nice slick when you get
it okay and that is what the PC actually
looks like so this piece you use those four included screws and you can
actually V amount your ZBOX onto the
back of a compatible TV or monitor so it includes a couple of different spacings
you just go ahead and you see this piece right here you line that up with this
right here just like that
you Clipper in and you're done hopefully you've
already screwed the uh the mounting clip to the back of the TV otherwise you're
going to have no way to screw it in you're going to take your hand off and the whole thing's going to fall down but
uh as long as you do that first and then clip it in then you should be okay let's
have a look at what we've got in terms of IO so we've got our power button as
well as activity LEDs for wireless Len as well as the drive front USB 2 front
SD card reader front microphone as well as front headphones on the top we have
another USB 2.0 Port that's a handy place for that we have an exhaust vent
right here at the top of the unit remember guys heat does typically rise
so that is a good place for that as well and intakes on the bottom once again
heat rises Etc and that is a good place for those as well one of the things
you'll probably notice as I show you if you don't notice while I show you then
you're not doing very well here um is we can go ahead and clip this in just like
that it sticks and your ZBOX sits like that all Ely mounting wise you can use
these rubber feet right there to go ahead and take that and put it like
right there just like that and that is the other way of mounting of mounting
the ZBOX all right so the bottom we're done
oh yeah here's the screws so here's to take it apart so you can take it apart
even if you buy one that comes with a drive and comes with RAM you can take it apart and change them if you see fit
remember ZB boxes do not come with an OS so you will have to procure an OS
whether it's one you already have or whether you buy one at a place like say for example NC and you can install it
yourself or you could pay a technician to do it but I would recommend
installing yourself it's not that hard and I'm going to try and put this Wi-Fi
antenna on here I'm trying here there we go
bam and there we go we've also got two
USB 3.0 super speed ports on the back two more USB 2.0 ports so that is a
total of six USB ports 1 GB Ethernet DVI
HDMI optical audio and Power in so that
is a pretty full complement
of oh okay cooling fan so there is the
cooling fan for the actual uh where the bulk of the processing is going on
inside so you've got your intake here you've got an intake here and then the
exhaust is going to be predominantly up here so I think that pretty much covers
it guys stay tuned and don't forget to subscribe to my ncixcom channel as well
so you can see our round up our shootout our ultimate battle royale of the
somewhat less than Titans the mini PCS