The Underestimated Atom

As HTPC's go the only real need that you have to provide is the ability to stream HD video. And contrary to popular belief it does not take an all-powerful piece of hardware... after all, you are concentrating on doing only one thing well, not four or five.

I started out putting together my HTPC by re-purposing my (at the time newer P4 cedarmill) IBM Thinkcentre for the task. I was all ready running Ubuntu and with that choice this machine was a screamer. I repartitioned the drive and installed what I perceived as a good system at the time, Element. It was a stripped out version of XUbuntu running XBMC. It boasted a 10' interface which I thought was a good idea. I soon realized that a regular install of Ubuntu then installing XBMC was easier to deal with.

 

Storage was now rapidly becoming an issue as I started ripping my DVD's onto the HDDs. I had all ready played around with an NAS device so I threw in a couple of old HDDs and got it up and running. After getting it setup I soon found out that there were loads of issues with the device and my OS of choice, I soon opted for a different route that I still use today. At this point my setup was taking up what seemed like a lot of room on the entertainment center with no real place to set a keyboard and mouse... much less a chair during the times you need to be sitting next to it. I started re-designing.

My first purchase was a GOOD wireless keyboard. I knew range was key in choosing the keyboard so I poured through reviews looking for the ones that had the best range. I bought a Microsoft set... wireless keyboard and mouse... only to learn that the setup had issues working with systems other than Windows (go figure Microsoft). I stumbled upon some really great reviews of a Logitech Pro2000 unit (which was actually quite a bit cheaper) so I purchased it and have had no regrets since. 

 

I was still in need of a mouse and figured I would stick with Logitech at this point. I had been finding out in the mean time that a laser or ball type mouse was really not very friendly to mujltiple types of surfaces (such as a couch cushion or armrest) so I opted for the wireless trackball M570... it was an awesome choice and I would recommend no other.

The range abilities of these allow me to go anywhere in the living room and even into the dining room at more than 15 feet from the PC. For both of these the batteries lasted well over a year before needing to be replaced... a more than acceptable time I figure.

I next turned my attention to gaining back some of the space in my entertainment center. Even though the Thinkcentre was a Small-form-factor PC it was still a monster in the small confines of the center. I had purchased myself a Netbook that Christmas that after having dumped Windows XP and loading Ubuntu Netbook Remix became a real pleasure to use... I was quite impressed with the new Intel Atom Processor that was in it, especially because it had hyper-threading. I soon dove into the reviews of the new Nettop PC's, the possibilities looked great.

I had made a decision based on the latest available Atom and the available Nvidia Ion graphics, The Zotac Mini-Mag. It had HDMI output and Optical Link for audio.

I soon added an external DVD drive to add DVD playback capability.

I knew I needed the ability to add storage as I needed it and since NAS was problematic due to the proprietary nature of the beast, I opted for a USB alternative and found the perfect fit with Rosewill USB units which would hold 2 SATA drives each up to 1TB in size. I actually bought 2 of them as the price was right. 

 

Now at this point... I had all the Key hardware I would end up with in place as far as the actual HTPC was concerned.

HDMI input capable HDTV

Digital surround capable receiver with Optical input

Zotac MAGHD-ND01-U MAG Mini-PC - Intel ATOM 330 Dual Core 1.60GHz, 2GB DDR2, 160GB HDD, Gigabit LAN, Card Reader, HDMI, 802.11n, Next Gen Nvidia Ion graphics

Rosewill R2-JBOD Aluminum 3.5" USB 2.0 DUAL-BAY External Enclosure

Logitech Pro2000 wireless keyboard

Logitech M570 wireless trackman trackball mouse.

Asus SDRW-08D2S-U DVD-RAM writer

The Zotac is really quite diverse as you can boot from any attached device, even the SD card which is nice as you can install the OS on that and save all the HDD space for the Home Directory... this is extremely useful when it comes time to Upgrade from one distribution to the next, or change the OS all together, there is absolutely no loss of data whatsoever. The dual core Atom 330 also has Hyper-threading which in effect gives it 4 cores, two actual and two virtual. Even at 1.66Ghz this machine while running Linux is no slouch, and is perfectly capable of streaming 1080P with no problem what-so-ever.

NOTE: I would NOT recommend mounting this PC to the vesa mount on the back of the TV as the TV will only serve to make the PC run warmer than it all ready does. It is best to keep it away from other heat sources. The vesa mount that comes with the Zotac can just as easily allow you to mount it anywhere you like... even on the wall.

USB 2.0 is more than effective to connect storage devices to the PC, but the Zotac Mini-Mag does offer a +1... it does have an ESata connector. Which could be used to connect an ESata drive enclosure if you so wish. While connecting the USB peripherals is a no-brainer, I did find that using a 7-port USB 2.0 hub to bring the ports to the front of my entertainment center to be a worthwhile investment as I mounted this little PC on the back of the Entertainment center. 

 

XBMC allows a fully customizable experience and with add-ons from their repositories it is a very able choice for a Media Center, Streaming Movies, TV, and even Radio from on-line sources.

Ubuntu12.04 LTS under the hood gives you a Safe, Stable, and Secure system free of the worry of virus's and malware, that will have updates and support until 2017.

Additions and tweaks since the initial set-up have been:

Bluetooth dongle and Bluetooth stereo headset for nighttime use.

Installation of Subsonic, for the option to connect to my Media over the internet.

I run Rhythmbox 24-7 as DAAP server to be able to play my entire music collection on any pc or DAAP client on my LAN.