october 20 2010 review by anandtech

The Zotac ZBOX HD-ID34 is an good looking HTPC capable of playing back DVDs and Blu-Ray discs straight from the optical media. It can be wall mounted and connected with a single HDMI cable.

Zotac has released two versions of this box, the HD-ID33BR-U and the HD-ID34BR-U. The units are identical in terms of the system platform and specifications although the HD-ID34BR-U comes with a few extras.

There is an internal SATA2 connector as well for an internal HDD or SSD, as well as two DIMM slots that support up to 4 GB of DDR2-800MHz memory. The unit also includes built in Wi-Fi as well as a GbE port. The 802.11n card inside the unit uses dual stream technology to achieve 300 Mbps data rate

The Zotac ZBOX obtained 308 out of a maximum possible 358 points (86%) in the reviewers media streaming test suite. Most of the points were lost in files containing a bitstreaming test for an HD audio codec, which the Zotac Zbox is simply incapable of doing due to the limitations of the hardware.

Fan Noise

Fan noise is hardly appreciable, the reviewer had to hold his ear to the unit to hear the fan noise in my testing room.