Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Update: After reading other reviews below and trying all the steps mentioned, I am still unable to achieve watchable frame rates in Hulu under Chrome, IE or Hulu Desktop. I have Flash 10.1, July 2010 Nvidia drivers, Aero off, all unneeded programs uninstalled, and haven't installed any software on this box but xbmc. Full screen Hulu video (I've been using Burn Notice to test) is unwatchable. Some other reviewers claim it's fine, though, so maybe your experience will be better than mine. That said, I am still very happy with this box as I never intended to watch flash on it anyway.
Update Sept 1: I've bumped this up to five stars. I broke down and picked up the AverTv Volar USB tuner, and this box is capable of recording and playing back 1080i content via clearQAM in WMC.
First of all, the item definitely does not weigh anywhere near 9lbs. I think that was a mistake in the original press release.
I've had this for two days and so far it's been what I expected for my first nettop. The bloatware wasn't too bad and setup was fast and easy. Keep in mind the wireless mouse needs a USB receiver (included) so you're losing one of those USB ports right off the bat. The hdmi port is also in a pretty bad spot.
I am using this to stream up to 720p (so far) over wireless g/n and xbmc is working great under the original windows install. Boxee, however, dropped frames occasionally in 720p / matroska. 720p was also fine in Windows Media Center, so part of the blame does lie in boxee's internal codec.
If you're looking to stream Hulu on this box, I wouldn't recommend it. I tried with both older versions of Flash and the latest version, and made various tweaks (increased frame buffer in BIOS, aero on/off, etc), and it was not really watchable in any browser I tried. I don't really use Hulu or flash, though, it was just a test; others more knowledgeable may get it to work.
I am using the box with a 42" samsung and a surround sound setup via the optical audio. So far it's fulfilling the needs I had for it, and it runs quiet and fairly cool. Seems like a decent box for the price, and it replaced a hulking old HTPC that was heating up my living room for no good reason. I've given up on tuner cards, but I bet you could get a USB tuner working on this without much trouble.
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Product Description:
eMachines ER1402-05 Desktop comes with these specs: AMD Athlon II Neo Processor K125, Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), NVIDIA nForce 9200 Chipset, 2GB DDR3 Memory, NVIDIA GeForce 9200 Integrated Graphics, 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive, Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader, High-Definition Audio Support, 4 - USB 2.0, VGA and HDMI Ports, Wireless Keyboard and Mouse, 9.0 lbs. | 4.08 kg (system unit only), 1 Year Parts and Labor Limited Warranty, AC Power Adapter, AC Power Cord, Registration/ Limited Warranty Card, Norton Internet Security 2010 Trial
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