[mythtv-users] Best latest Ion Boards?

[Tom Lichti]

On Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 3:34 PM, Brad Fuller <bradallenfuller at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sat, Nov 28, 2009 at 10:35 AM, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:
>> On Saturday 28 November 2009 11:19:15 am John Drescher wrote:
>>
>>> > Is ION still the best?
>>
>>>
>>
>>> To me I have not totally been sold on this. I mean a near bottom of
>>> the line dual core2 or AM3 system would be faster than the ION for
>>> about the same price but use around 10W more than the ION at idle. But
>>> then when you are looking for a box that can sit in the living room
>>> good looking HTPC cases cost more than the rest of the system. To me
>>> this is a big frustration since the $30 walmart special DVD player
>>> includes a remote and LCD and has a descent enough looking case to be
>>> able to sit in the living room.
>>
>> It's not a case of "faster", the ION allows you to use the hardware decoding
>> of VDPAU, and, not counting decoding, a frontend does not need significant
>> CPU horsepower. ION is not a CPU, it's a chipset that includes HD-capable
>> graphics. The Atom CPUs usually paired with the ION chipset are slower than
>> low-end C2Ds or AMD units, but who cares?
>
> Right, it seems to be an idle combo. Just wondered if there were any
> recent ideas for a living room FE.
> I'm surprised that there are not more that have chimed in, yea or nay,
> regarding the IONs.
>
> Let me ask a more focused question: Which ION board (the mfr, that is)
> are people happy with that fits their HD needs?

I haven't really heard anyone complain about their ION based
frontends. I have one, and just ordered another. The only mfr. that I
am aware of that sells a bare board is Zotac, at least in volume.

Tom