Nvidia Ion: Home Theater PC Ready?
Friday, October 16th, 2009 running time 06:15
Nvidia's Ion promises to be HTPC platform that home theater buffs have been waiting for, but does it deliver?
Lots of folks have been asking about Nvidia's Ion, essentially a GPU for the Intel's low power Atom CPU. The folks over at Puget Systems were kind enough to loan us one of their Echo I HTPC boxes with a Blu-ray drive inside⦠watch the video to find out it did with 1080p video!
Highlights
windows operating system: 4:12, 4:30operating system: 4:14, 4:52
home theater pcs: 0:14, 5:32
Automatically Generated Transcript
May not be 100% accurate" War."
" We have a lot of interest in home theater PCs get ideas to build -- which we use which people use at home what do we used do we like home theater PCs. And a lot of folks and asked about Nvidia's ion it's essentially GPU for the woefully graphics challenge Intel atom processor I love the atom processor on netbooks. But you know they just won't deal -- 720. 1080. So the added CPU can actually run. Blu-ray good deal people to work. I certainly don't. It got to that it needs a little help the good the counting of high resolution video like the race. There it is actually that's an atom processor without the IR graphics playing Iron Man which rocks which approach in the long ago before the cervix being. What is the I think it is housed in this wonderful little black box we have here on the table okay the folks that and pretty custom system for kind of -- one -- one home theater PC boxes basic urges -- about 500 bucks that you look at it right here laxity of the virtual memory here. Is about 800 bucks 830 box with a windows seven. And the fabulous Silverstone slim SATA Blu-ray combo drives it's basically like readable right it will dvd possibly ray drive in there. The heart of it though is those tax -- a unity ITX motherboard this thing is ridiculously well equipped the aren't graphics essentially shoves -- GeForce 9400 M. Which means it supports pure immediately to. Blu-ray acceleration are actually see each sat 264 acceleration that song at the moment. Yes it's a good thing five don't want audio support its triple headed PGA dvi HQ my Gigabit ethernet setup it's actually got Wi-Fi out the back which is nice. Six USB ports on the back. He said if I remember correctly -- Both the both an optical and a come they've basically bring you there are composites that if output on that well it's really they're really thinking about this as a home theater. Motherboard. Consumes almost no power -- fans -- neither one of us have been able to hear the fans during the time we've been running this or why it even when playing Blu-ray right like the fans are spinning the pair of eighty millimeter fans they seem to be. Probably thermal controls of the running rather -- not that we're not on top speed inaudible I mean it's effectively silent I -- I -- I don't think the people it it really doesn't system recommend this but I suspect you could disable the fans having too much problem. I don't -- you be able to hear anything like that void the warranty. Have for the warned him anyway there -- sick cases there you're looking actually financing case here it's the highest case 365. It's steel. It's wonderful except for one thing it's got I think it works -- built -- home theater case because it's small it's definitely. So belts but it's definitely missing two things that like to see which is. Basically some sort of receiver. You you're you're gonna have to play it like USB adapter for windows media center controlled gotcha which are too bad -- off the front of this. But the the -- cover on this actually latches which drives me nuts whole. I'm kind of got -- subject before stand up across the room and if I forget to you unless the doors the and -- draft drive -- doesn't have enough room to pop it out we have that precedent in so it'll go out. That's a minor complaint. -- let's ran out west Digital's scorpio black -- 200 -- is the -- notebook drive. It works extremely well as a media center box nice it -- every game every basically network option I could wants is available on it it has. You know HDMI. In dvi. In -- outputs on there. The audio options are pretty solid I'm still played around with five dollar one so I need -- later I was back partially it's it's the receiver -- when -- home but. It's writing audio -- mind should we should be able to run by don't want you like regular going digital for that no problem -- allocated to pick the other box is what some other box we've looked every."
" Like this -- two -- C 200 from popcorn hour. That box compared to this is like you actually have the full windows operating system and all of the features of the operating system including things like. Media center support for pictures and music files and things like that of course CC 200 that as well but. Just having an operating system you might already be familiar with -- immediately use that in in home theater PC setting."
" Yeah and if you want to you could -- that you could run they not windows operating system I don't know how well Linux is an XX PMC which means. Excuse he is working -- lines some of the Blu-ray acceleration stuff that you need in place which means Boxee will eventually absolutely re acceleration -- Brazil but it's it's it's I gotta say Nvidia do it becomes a I was shocked at how well does a pretty much all the media. That's another thing too with other operating system platforms to you might. Lose that each of pure video HD support in the Nvidia driver package if that driver packages and available that particular operating system. Then you would have decreased decoding performance which would give you start playback or things like things you wanna avoid. I -- horses were what I did for music single frame needs to play back at one friend to friend but that -- rhetorically at 1080. The difficulty -- it's in the deep seated problem at all but pixel and would thank the folks it because assistance -- the box we can finally get look at Nvidia ion hopefully let us hold on to for a couple weeks because I have every single Blu-ray playback software like -- fine. Either in house or on its ways we can start getting serious about home theater PC's its windows media center. In windows seven. Which basically all versions of windows seven except for literally cheesy low cost version. Are coming with media center built like this box let's -- the first slim PC drive -- into as far as Blu-ray dvd drives. They've been around the justice they've really much notebook as elated I'm really expensive notebooks and financing went in a PC -- and I like that idea. Slam convenient."
" War."
" We have a lot of interest in home theater PCs get ideas to build -- which we use which people use at home what do we used do we like home theater PCs. And a lot of folks and asked about Nvidia's ion it's essentially GPU for the woefully graphics challenge Intel atom processor I love the atom processor on netbooks. But you know they just won't deal -- 720. 1080. So the added CPU can actually run. Blu-ray good deal people to work. I certainly don't. It got to that it needs a little help the good the counting of high resolution video like the race. There it is actually that's an atom processor without the IR graphics playing Iron Man which rocks which approach in the long ago before the cervix being. What is the I think it is housed in this wonderful little black box we have here on the table okay the folks that and pretty custom system for kind of -- one -- one home theater PC boxes basic urges -- about 500 bucks that you look at it right here laxity of the virtual memory here. Is about 800 bucks 830 box with a windows seven. And the fabulous Silverstone slim SATA Blu-ray combo drives it's basically like readable right it will dvd possibly ray drive in there. The heart of it though is those tax -- a unity ITX motherboard this thing is ridiculously well equipped the aren't graphics essentially shoves -- GeForce 9400 M. Which means it supports pure immediately to. Blu-ray acceleration are actually see each sat 264 acceleration that song at the moment. Yes it's a good thing five don't want audio support its triple headed PGA dvi HQ my Gigabit ethernet setup it's actually got Wi-Fi out the back which is nice. Six USB ports on the back. He said if I remember correctly -- Both the both an optical and a come they've basically bring you there are composites that if output on that well it's really they're really thinking about this as a home theater. Motherboard. Consumes almost no power -- fans -- neither one of us have been able to hear the fans during the time we've been running this or why it even when playing Blu-ray right like the fans are spinning the pair of eighty millimeter fans they seem to be. Probably thermal controls of the running rather -- not that we're not on top speed inaudible I mean it's effectively silent I -- I -- I don't think the people it it really doesn't system recommend this but I suspect you could disable the fans having too much problem. I don't -- you be able to hear anything like that void the warranty. Have for the warned him anyway there -- sick cases there you're looking actually financing case here it's the highest case 365. It's steel. It's wonderful except for one thing it's got I think it works -- built -- home theater case because it's small it's definitely. So belts but it's definitely missing two things that like to see which is. Basically some sort of receiver. You you're you're gonna have to play it like USB adapter for windows media center controlled gotcha which are too bad -- off the front of this. But the the -- cover on this actually latches which drives me nuts whole. I'm kind of got -- subject before stand up across the room and if I forget to you unless the doors the and -- draft drive -- doesn't have enough room to pop it out we have that precedent in so it'll go out. That's a minor complaint. -- let's ran out west Digital's scorpio black -- 200 -- is the -- notebook drive. It works extremely well as a media center box nice it -- every game every basically network option I could wants is available on it it has. You know HDMI. In dvi. In -- outputs on there. The audio options are pretty solid I'm still played around with five dollar one so I need -- later I was back partially it's it's the receiver -- when -- home but. It's writing audio -- mind should we should be able to run by don't want you like regular going digital for that no problem -- allocated to pick the other box is what some other box we've looked every."
" Like this -- two -- C 200 from popcorn hour. That box compared to this is like you actually have the full windows operating system and all of the features of the operating system including things like. Media center support for pictures and music files and things like that of course CC 200 that as well but. Just having an operating system you might already be familiar with -- immediately use that in in home theater PC setting."
" Yeah and if you want to you could -- that you could run they not windows operating system I don't know how well Linux is an XX PMC which means. Excuse he is working -- lines some of the Blu-ray acceleration stuff that you need in place which means Boxee will eventually absolutely re acceleration -- Brazil but it's it's it's I gotta say Nvidia do it becomes a I was shocked at how well does a pretty much all the media. That's another thing too with other operating system platforms to you might. Lose that each of pure video HD support in the Nvidia driver package if that driver packages and available that particular operating system. Then you would have decreased decoding performance which would give you start playback or things like things you wanna avoid. I -- horses were what I did for music single frame needs to play back at one friend to friend but that -- rhetorically at 1080. The difficulty -- it's in the deep seated problem at all but pixel and would thank the folks it because assistance -- the box we can finally get look at Nvidia ion hopefully let us hold on to for a couple weeks because I have every single Blu-ray playback software like -- fine. Either in house or on its ways we can start getting serious about home theater PC's its windows media center. In windows seven. Which basically all versions of windows seven except for literally cheesy low cost version. Are coming with media center built like this box let's -- the first slim PC drive -- into as far as Blu-ray dvd drives. They've been around the justice they've really much notebook as elated I'm really expensive notebooks and financing went in a PC -- and I like that idea. Slam convenient."






