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ZOTAC International is one of the few PC component companies that is not afraid to produce what some would consider niche items. Products built with a very specific customer in mind. One of the items I personally love from ZOTAC is their ZBOX mini-PCs, built to be an HTPC for those who rather not built one themselves.

This year ZOTAC is refreshing the ZBOX lineup with updates to the internal hardware based on customer feedback. While these updates are minor in the grand scheme, it is a major deal for a company to plan an update to an entire product line based on what their customers say.

The new ZBOX ID80, ID81, and AD04 will now include external wireless antenna for improved wireless reception, integrated Bluetooth 3.0, and will be bundled with a Media Remote and USB IR receiver. These will be well received updates to say the least. The Trio also get CPU upgrades with the ID80 going for a Intel Atom D2700, ID81 with the Intel Celeron 857 Sandy Bridge, and the AD04 upgrading to the AMD E-450 APU which are all power efficient dual-core CPUs. The AMD APU and Intel Celeron based on Sandy Bridge achitecture both depend on their integrated graphic solutions while the ZBOX ID80 with have a Nvidia GeForce GT 520M.

As with all ZOTAC ZBOX mini-PCs, each of these great HTPC builds will come with the base unit which does not have RAM or a hard drive. These are left to you to tailor your ZBOX to your specific needs. They will also be available in “Plus” models which will come with 2 GB of DDR3 RAM (1333 MHz for the ID81 and AD04, 1066 MHz for the ID80) and a 320 GB 5400 RPM HDD.

I still love these ZBOXs and would like to get my hands on the new ones to see how performance varies; however, I am sure you would be happy with any of the three for your HTPC needs. More details, specs, and pictures below.

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ZOTAC® Kicks Off CES 2012 with a Trio of New ZBOX mini-PCs

 

New trio of 2nd-Generation ZOTAC ZBOX mini-PCs deliver outstanding energy-efficiency and stunning high-definition video playback

ZOTAC International, a leading innovator and a channel manufacturer, today kicks off the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show with a trio of versatile 2nd-Generation ZBOX mini-PCs for all your computing needs. The new ZOTAC ZBOX ID81, ID80 and AD04 series deliver outstanding energy-efficiency and stunning high-definition video playback in a compact form factor.

2nd-Generation ZBOX platform enhancements debuting with the ZBOX ID81, ID80 and AD04 series include an external WiFi antenna for superior wireless reception, integrated Bluetooth 3.0 technology and a bundled Media Remote with USB IR receiver for use with Microsoft® Windows® Media Center, XBMC and other popular media player applications.

“The original ZOTAC® ZBOX series mini-PCs have been a major success since we debuted the line up nearly 2 years ago. We take feedback from our users and customers seriously,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC® International. “The new enhancements we’re introducing with the ZOTAC® ZBOX ID81, ID80, AD04 series and the 2nd Generation ZBOX platform are the result of the feedback we received.”

ZOTAC ZBOX ID81 series mini-PCs pack the Intel® Celeron® Processor 857 powered by the Intel® Sandy Bridge architecture for dual high-performance processor cores and dual-display capable Intel® HD Graphics. The ZOTAC ZBOX ID80 series combine the latest energy-sipping Intel® Atom™ D2700 CedarTrail processor paired with NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 520M graphics processing to form the ultimate energy-efficient home theater PC combination capable of stunning high-definition video playback.

The ZOTAC ZBOX AD04 series packs the latest AMD E-450 APU that combines dual-core CPU processing and AMD Radeon HD 6320 graphics processing that provide snappy system performance and responsiveness for everyday computing needs.

“No matter what your computing needs or platform preferences are – Intel®, NVIDIA® or AMD, ZOTAC has a versatile ZBOX mini-PC for you,” said Mr. Berger.

The ZOTAC® ZBOX ID81, ID80 and AD04 ship as an easily customizable barebones system – simply add memory and hard drive, while the ZBOX ID81 Plus, ID80 Plus and AD04 Plus ship with 2GB of DDR3 memory and a 320GB hard drive preinstalled – add an operating system such as Microsoft Windows® 7 or the free OpenELEC media center OS for an unmatched digital media experience.

It’s time to play with the new ZOTAC ZBOX ID81, ID80 and AD04 mini-PC series.

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