Jetway Mini-Top Atom Dual-Core 525 NVIDIA ION2 with WiFi /Remote Control Mini Barebone

Pros: Good processor nice format, size

Cons: Noisy fan (even behind the tv, used for htpc)

Other Thoughts: Computer died 18 months after purchase. Won't boot beyond trying to recognize USB ports. Contacted Jetway tech support and tried everything they suggested nthey were quite responsive. Then, they told me to contact a different department for an RMA (return authorization for fixing/replacing). Their reply? Only machines bought directly from them are covered with warranty. If you buy from this company or anyone else you are on your own. I replie requesting an explanation of what I consider improper policy. They have not replied anymore. I have found that my boot issue has been experienced by others. At least one person reported a good experience. Perhaps mine is the exception. I already bought a zotag. Much, much better. I have two now.

Pros: Great little htpc. Mine is set up with a kingston SSD, 2gb RAM, Stardock dual hard drive dock, and IOgear keyboard.

Cons: Fan used to be loud until.

Other Thoughts: I ended up denting the case when I dropped it, so I drilled some holes in it to improve cooling. It didn't make a huge difference, so I just decided to leave the cover off and now the fan rarely makes any noise. So, if you don't mind the aesthetics, it is an effective way to cool the unit.

Pros: Small and powerful enough, decently priced. The remote funtionality is surprisingly good.

Cons: Noisy when the fan spins up. The buttons on the remote like to stick a lot, especially the mouse directional pad.

Other Thoughts: While I'm sure speed could be helped by maxxing out the RAM and adding an SSD, in stock form, the slowness is acceptable. I play 720p mkvs over the network (wired) without issue. I don't have any issues streaming netflix or hulu HD. I do have it hooked up via D-sub and separate audio cable as opposed to HDMI, as I could never get the proper resolution to set right on the TV itself, a 42" Vizio. I will echo a previous reviewer's comments as to disappointment that the audio jack is on the front. I do like the combined audio/optical jack, and am looking for a set of 5.1s with an optical in. This in combination with an external blu-ray drive will let me minimize the number of components in my TV setup.

I'm also contemplating drilling ventilation and attaching a USB 120 or 140mm fan to see if that can prevent the onboard fan from spinning up so much.

Pros: - The unit was small and relatively attractive.

- It played 1080p x264 encodes perfectly. It could even stream them via wireless N from my server located in the basement two floors down without issue.

- Easily ran Windows 7 and XMBC.

Cons: - The case uses a proprietary fan which is next to impossible to replace, which is unfortunate because it is VERY loud. Quite distracting when watching a movie. The fan also spins to full speed rather frequently, such as when browsing through my XBMC library, and at the BIOS screen during each boot for some reason. I solved this by changing the temperature settings at which the fan runs at full speed in BIOS, but it still ran at full speed during boot.

- This unit supports S3 sleep function, but the USB ports are NOT powered during S3 sleep, so you MUST hit the power button on the device to turn it back on--your USB keyboard/mouse/remote will not work to resume the computer from S3 sleep.

- USB resume/wake will work with S1 sleep, but the fan stays on during S1 sleep! Since the fan is very loud, this is an issue.

- Computer uses 20w during S1 sleep! Should be a few watts, not that many, since it only uses about 25-30w when it's actually running. Unacceptable for a "green" comp

Other Thoughts: I really wanted to like this computer but am returning it due to the cons listed above.

Pros: Well, first of all: Very compact, low power, inexpensive, low power, fairly quiet, low power, can drive full 1080p video, and did I mention low power? Runs Windows 7 64-bit quite nicely, runs everything we've thrown at it so far, and consumes scarcely more power than the Asus LED-backlit monitor it's connected to. It's targeted at the set-top-box market, but makes a nice little low-power general-use computer that can quite comfortably handle full-screen video and manages low-to-midrange 3D game rendering adequately well, with a Windows 3D graphics "experience" score around 5.0. It breezes through Wizard 101 with video options set to highest quality, for example, and would probably handle, say, Rift or World of Warcraft with low settings. Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium installation was basically painless, aside from the pain associated directly with bludgeoning Windows 7 itself into submission and an approximation of obedience.

Cons: This machine isn't as quiet as advertised. The fan can, actually, be quite noisy when it spins up, as it will whenever the machine is working hard. Build quality seems spotty, though. I bought two of these for my kids, and while one has worked fine with only occasional crashes (which is to be expected from Windows; thank you, Microsoft), the other has been crash, crash, crash, bluescreen, bluescreen, bluescreen since we first installed it three months ago.

I'm TRYING to return the second under RMA in the hope of getting it fixed, but Jetway's RMA process is opaque, clumsy and confusing. (Come on, people, a downloaded .XLS spreadsheet as an RMA form? Get with the program.)

Other Thoughts: Realtek wired ethernet is disappointing although par for the course, but the Atheros 802.11n wireless adapter works nicely, even though it doesn't support wireless-N at 5GHz or support the maximum available 11n bandwidth. Opening the case is a little fiddly; RAM sockets are nicely accessible, but the hard disk rails take a little figuring out.

The VESA bracket works OK, although it has some minor fit issues, and forget about using the VESA bracket *and* using any kind of VESA mount for your TV or monitor. It's still the best mounting option, though, if you can use it. The freestanding stand is almost useless; it fits well, and technically works, but bends if anyone in the room breathes hard.

The included remote/"mouse"? Uh ... well, to be honest, we've yet to find a use for it. Maybe if you're using it as the set-top box this unit is apparently intended to be used as, you might.

Pros: Very fast, it easily plays 1080p HD.
Super quiet. Cannot hear it at all other than at the fan's start-up testing.
The ports are mostly well-selected and well-located.
eSATA port.. Add an eSATA hard-drive or Blu-Ray drive!
Passes 5.1 Dolby & DTS over the HDMI flawlessly if you have an HDMI receiver.
802.11n built-in, with an upgradeable external antenna.

Cons: No built-in Bluetooth. It really should have it already, Jetway..
Case cover is hard to remove.
There is no plain-jane stereo output.
SPDIF on the front? Whaa?

Other Thoughts: If you're wanting a Mediacenter PC (MPC), this is what you should get. I've had one of these for a while now (probably a year, not sure it was this exact model), and bought this latest one a few months ago.

Tips:
Get an SSD drive. Makes it astoundingly fast. I host all of my videos on a file share on a system with a large drive, so the drive in this can be tiny.
If you're going to go wireless, you should use 802.11n for HD.
If you are planning on using this in a cabinet, either go with wired ethernet or get a WiFi external antenna with an extender cable.
For extreme usefulness, get a Logitech DiNovo Mini Bluetooth keyboard/mousepad. They're tiny, the keys and track pad are backlit so you can use it in the dark, and it can go weeks without charging.
For the case cover, watch the video on the manufacturer's website (as hysterical as it is) for a better idea, but basically you press the plastic and push towards the back. It's much sturdier plastic than it feels like.

Pros: Great price, works with Slingbox, good little unit

Cons: Crash for the first time after five months of usage! The blue screen of death.

95% of the time, I use it to stream TV using my slingbox! CPU usage is fairly high.

Hoping it doesn't crash again~

Pros: The system was cheap when I got it, consumes only a bit of power, and is fast enough to run Windows 7 x64 pretty quickly if you use AHCI in the BIOS. The wireless N connection is very stable, and the Ethernet card is fast. The USB and eSATA ports make it great for adding external storage. It's very small and the power adapter is small as well.

Cons: The system is completely unusable for an HTPC. It does not handle Flash, Hulu, or Netflix well. High definition causes stuttering. If you play the video over HDMI using Win 7, you will get occasional audio stuttering and a hard system freeze that requires a shut off and reboot.

Other Thoughts: You can get it as a cheap PC but don't expect it to perform well as a HTPC.

Pros: Great little device, bought SSD, can hear the fan when it boots, but after that cant hear any noise. Running mythtv had to very little in the way of getting everything working. Decided to buy a second one for my bedroom TV.

Cons: Havent found any yet.

Pros: Pretty quick little box for the price. 4G memory support.

Cons: Video still a little chunky under Linux. Audible fan constantly on.

Other Thoughts: My initial complaints about Ubuntu lockups turned out to be a defective unit. I'm guessing a problem with the temperature sensing -- where the previous one was silent most of the time, the present working one has the fan cranked continuously.