Zotac ZBOX-AD02-PLUS-U AMD E-350 APU 1.6 GHz Dual Core AMD Hudson M1 w/ 2GB RAM, 250G HD All-in-One Mini PC

Pros: I have been looking for a Mini PC to go behind a TV for streaming and surfing the web. I chose this unit for this purpose and I had no problems installing WIN 7 from a USB DVD player that I purchased for my Netbook after I changed the BIOS to look for this device. I am very pleased with the performance (3.5) and the WiFi is OK but my USB Rosewill N device bumped up the transfer of data so I am using that instead of the built in device. I like everything about this PC and it does everything I was looking for. This is not a gamer PC, however it streams beautifully and it even sends the sound out through the HDMI cable or Optic output for a seperate amplifier if you want that. It is very quiet and efficient too.

Cons: I have not found any Cons. It does exactly as advertised and it is slightly better than I expected.

Overall Review: For those who might want it, maybe they should make another one with a built in optic drive. I did not need it but many complain about this. For those that complain that it will not boot from a USB CD/DVD, you have to change that in the BIOS after you connect your USB device. Mine saw my DVD player and listed the device in the BIOS so all I did was to configure the BIOS to boot that first, and the hard drive second. Mine worked great. I sure wish people would not give this unit a lower rating if it does not have something else they wanted that is not listed on the specs. Don't remove one star if you wanted a DVD player and it does not list one in the specs. Remove stars only if it does not comply to the specs please.

Pros: Took a chance on this since I built a HTPC based on the same chipset and specs. I was not disappointed! I use this as a Plex client running Windows 7 32-bit. Downloaded all the latest drivers from the Zotac website, including the BIOS update, loaded Windows from my flash drive, installed the driver packages and updated the BIOS. Absolutely rock solid and good performance from such a small and light computer. Plays .MKV's at 1080p flawlessly over the wifi connection. Cooling is absolutely silent and temps are nominal.

Cons: If I really must nitpick, 4GB memory and optical out would've been icing on the cake. I really can't complain with HDMI handling the sound duties quite well.

Overall Review: Make sure you do the BIOS update and get the latest drivers from the Zotac site. Also, don't try to use the USB 3.0 ports on the back till you install the driver! This is a rock-solid system and perfect for what I wanted it for. If you're looking for an HTPC client or a basic desktop computer, this will fit the job perfectly. I'll be getting another one for my Media Room!

Pros: Runs cool and quiet. Hardware is all compatible with Ubuntu 11.10. Good performance, much faster than Atom. Form factor is nice, VESA bracket is included.

Cons: Onboard wifi is terrible. It works, but it is so so slow. I have one in the same room as my router and I can't break 1 meg/sec on local transfers. I have another upstairs in the bedroom and it won't break about 350k/s. I plugged in a TP-LINK TL-WN721N usb wifi adapter and it went from 350k to almost 3mb/s up there. If you plan to use wifi to stream video content, spend the $13 and get the usb wifi adapter!

Overall Review: I have 3 of these units and am quite happy other than the wifi issue. One us running Ubuntu 11.10 perfectly (My girlfriend's workstation), one is running Windows 7 x64 (Hooked up to our TV), and the last is running Endian Firewall at a customer's site (The USB3 ports do not work in Endian 2.4.1). I will probably buy a 4th unit to use on my other TV.

Pros: The HDD is a Seagate ST92503010AS This is a 5400RPM, 8MB, 7mm thin drive that at maximum uses 1.78 watts. It is a SATA 2.0 drive, which is dissappointing because this is a SATA 3.0 system. 4 USB 2.0 (2 in back, 1 on front and 1 on side) and 2 rear USB 3.0 ports. Got mine for less than $240 with promo code. Comes with VESA mounting bracket to attach to monitor or wall. SO QUIET! and power efficent Seems snappier than Atom 525/ION2 machine it's replacing.

Cons: I knew this going in, but WIFI is not strong...there is no external antenna option. I use a Rosewill USB stick instead for better performance. No optical drive

Overall Review: I bought this "PLUS" system, because hard drives are expensive right now and costed little more than the bare system. I installed Win 7 Pro x64 via external DVD drive using USB 2.0 port. Make sure to enter the BIOS and switch it from "NATIVE IDE" to "AHCI" mode for better HDD performance.

Pros: Easy setup. Installed Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. The only hitch was that I plugged my mouse and keyboard into the USB3 ports on the back of the unit. Those parts didn't start working until after win 7 had completed its installation This lead to a few tense moments thinking that the unit was defective.

Cons: As others have pointed out, the wireless n is sub-par. When placed in the same room as the router it maintains a solid connection, but across the house it can barely connect. As a point of comparison, my laptop claims to have a solid 5 bar connection when placed on the same shelf.

Overall Review: Using it with a Hauppauge USB TV tuner and Windows Media Center. Since my TV does not allow the user to turn off overscan, I had to set the resolution on the HDMI port to either 640p or 1000i. It took some digging through the ATI Catalyst Control Center to find the right settings to change.

Pros: Installed CentOS 5.6 (64-bit). The system works just fine (don't need, nor use the wireless, so can't comment on that). I've currently got it running two virtual machines (yes, the AMD cpu supports SVM) both serving web and email to the internet. Measured 10 watts (at the plug) idle and 18watts under load.

Cons: Haven't been able to get it to boot the MS-DOS USB stick to update the BIOS. AMD errata show an unfixed (but extremely rare) issue with branch prediction.

Overall Review: I like the fact that it has USB3 , 6Gb Sata and Gig-E.

Pros: A great little mini PC, with stylish design and remarkable performance. I immediately opened mine up and upgraded the RAM to 8GB, and replaced the HDD with an OCZ SSD. Ran almost perfectly silent and performed very nicely; while not a gaming PC by any means, it handily plays some commercial games, like League of Legends and World of Warcraft; also capably handles the very-demanding Champions Online, albeit at moderate settings.

Cons: I was experiencing some disk corruption, and noting that the BIOS update notes mention problems with certain SATA disks, I flashed the BIOS. I've done this many times before on other machines; everything proceeded normally, the update said it was successful; nothing happened to indicate anything was amiss. Tried to reboot, and no POST. Contacted "Andrew" at ZOTAC support about this; apparently, since I opened the machine, my warranty is out. So, be forewarned; if you buy this, you cannot open it to install your own RAM or hard drive!

Overall Review: Purchased this as a PC for my kid; now she's back to using my pathetic Atom-based netbook. Thanks, ZOTAC USA. In the process of trying to get someone at ZOTAC to answer me so I can attempt to -purchase- a new, pre-flashed CMOS ROM from them. In the end, a great product, but ZOTAC's support is completely terrible, so be careful with this little thing.

Pros: I just needed something quick an easy to put a copy of Win 7 on. This was it. Just as others are saying - perfect for daily computing. I didn't have a machine with 64 bit version of windows so I had to use my thumb drive to load Win7 32bit. No biggie there is no need to upgrade this machine to high levels of memory - it will do everything you need (It even runs CS:Source decently)

Cons: It doesn't have a CD drive....? But is that really a con? Think about the last time you really needed an install CD.

Overall Review: This is the perfect machine for daily computing. Will handle anything with ease. Make sure you install it on the back of your monitor and wrap your cables around it. Looks GREAT!!!! You can't go wrong here.