ASRock ION 3D - A Next Generation ION HTPC
by Cameron Butterfield on January 14, 2011 3:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- ION
- ASRock
- Media Streamer
- HTPC
Conclusion: Wait and See
So where does this leave us? Although it's not perfect and is missing some bitstreaming capabilities that you would expect an HTPC to have in 2011, the ION 3D has proved itself to be an adept machine when playing the role of HTPC. It's a functional and feature packed unit; however, while I feel like this device ends up being a good product, its value is diminished from the range of devices above it and below it. Let me explain.
The ION 3D model that includes the Blu-ray optical drive can be had for roughly $480. Meanwhile, the core 100HT can be had for $540, and a typical media streamer like the WD TV Live Plus can be found for around $100. As we can see from this pricing lineup, in terms of a media streaming device, you can get 80-90 percent of the functionality of the ION 3D from a $99 device.
The major advantage in this scenario is that the ION 3D, in addition to being a media streaming device, can also be utilized as a fully featured PC and has Blu-ray capabilities. For some prospective consumers, this is definitely worth the cost; however, by spending only $60-100 more, you can go with the Core 100HT which will get you a much faster processing platform and full bit-streaming support.
This product only makes sense if you are in a scenario where you can only spend up to $500 and not a penny more, and want the smallest and most power efficient device available. In that case I could recommend the ION 3D over the likes of ASRock's other MINI PC devices. But even with that particular use case, we need to consider other options.
For close to $500 you could build your own more powerful HTPC, but if the small form factor and aesthetics are your priorities, it would be hard to build your own device at this size with the same neat integrated design and smooth aesthetics. Our bigger concern is the recent launch of Intel's Sandy Bridge and the upcoming AMD Brazos platforms. Sandy Bridge improves performance, reduces power requirements, and also boosts their integrated graphics performance by over 100%. An updated 100HT using such a CPU would be even more attractive than the current offerings. On the other end of the scale, AMD's Brazos packs a much more capable GPU with performance that should beat Atom by a fair amount—all that and it should also come priced lower than Atom + NG-ION.
Unless you're in a hurry to get something right now, we have to recommend a "wait and see" approach. There are a lot of new products coming out in the next few months that could easily eclipse the current offerings.
Pros
- Great Build Quality
- Small Form Factor
- Essentially Silent Operation
- Good media compatibility
- Quick iPhone Charging
- Has a wide range of video outputs (HDMI, DVI, VGA)
Cons
- USB 3.0 devices may not be needed by the target users of this device, and do not operated at full speed
- No Bitstreaming support may be a deal-breaker for some users
- The processing platform is "quick enough" for playback of media content, but can be slow at skipping, and navigation
- Performance / Price can be greatly enhanced by opting for a slightly higher model such as the Core 100HT
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jabber - Friday, January 14, 2011 - link
Pretty much, just a refresh really.icrf - Friday, January 14, 2011 - link
It seems one of the most recommended boxes from the XBMC community is from the Acer Aspire Revo family. It sounds like $350 gets you something similar, the biggest loss is BD, but it is over $100 cheaper.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Any plans on one of these finding their way into your testing labs?
vol7ron - Friday, January 14, 2011 - link
It says it has Component A/V, but I don't see any; but I do see DVI.About the USB3 Comment:
They probably included it for marketing, even knowing it isn't full USB3. The more people you can mislead, the better your sales.
krumme - Friday, January 14, 2011 - link
"And indeed, the Brazos platform decimates Atom in single-threaded apps, still manages to beat it decisively in more parallelized programs, and embarrasses it in anything having to do with graphics"All for less money. How obvious can it be.
As stated before go to:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asrock-e350m1-...
What was this review about anyway?
silverblue - Friday, January 14, 2011 - link
Until Cedar Trail, Atom isn't a viable platform. I'm interested in seeing how Cedar Trail performs, though, especially if it performs as rumoured.pirspilane - Friday, January 14, 2011 - link
I have a Core 100HT, and it has proved problematic. When I turn off the TV, the HDMI audio stops and a reboot is required to bring it back. Playing a Sony PS3 through the same setup, I don't have this problem.I don't want to run my 600w plasma just to listen to iTunes. It defeats the purpose of having a low power HTPC.
The problem I suspect is with the HDCP handshake. While the PS3 recovers its sound after the TV is switched off, the ASRock's Intel chipset/drivers can't.
A workaround is using the Toslink output. But even then, the ASRock sometimes hangs when the TV is switched on again. Today, I had to power it down with the front panel button. But when I restarted it, the Bluetooth transceiver didn't come on and I had to get a USB keyboard to get the thing working again. So it took me about 15 minutes to get a youtube video to play.
thewhat - Saturday, January 15, 2011 - link
"USB 3.0 devices may not be needed by the target users of this device"Huh?
I was under the impression that you can copy files to/from this device. How is a fast transfer speed not needed?
I'm personally hesitant to get anything that stores data without USB 3 nowadays.
Spacecomber - Saturday, January 15, 2011 - link
I skimmed through this article, but I didn't really see what I was looking for, which is some idea of how well this would work for handling live streams of video of off the internet. Just playing around with different computer set ups that I have in the house, I've been surprised at how much processing power this kind of content seems to use. For example, I'd have thought that Pentium 4 @ 3.4 GHz or an Athlon XP at 2.3 GHz would do a better job. I'm getting the impression that a dual core is needed for these online flash video streams.Any thoughts on what the minimum amount of processing power is that would be needed for this kind of work (leaving aside GPU acceleration, since I find that rather iffy and perhaps best not counted on at this point)?
Jello1o - Sunday, January 16, 2011 - link
I have an older Atom dual-core (the 510) server running and while it is capable of playing back standard-def flash, there will be a bit of choppiness in the video. Without GPU acceleration I would not recommend any Atoms for flash playback at the moment. Even my Core 2 Duo(technically Pentium) E5200 desktop is usually at %60 with flash video and sometimes up to %80 with the high quality flash video.I'm using my Atom D510M0 based system as a web/email and DLNA server. It seems to be adequate for those uses.
schlos - Sunday, February 19, 2012 - link
hi,i just wanted to check and confirm that, you can still send TrueHD and other DTS variations via the SPDIF optical out, and an AV receiver can decode it instead, correct?