Hardware Bargains

[Fox1]

Used to clean PC's

And consoles

 

[ahf]

Hi Guys

Should I go for this deal or not, thanks.

 

[Yuu]

That is an Ex vat price surely? looks like a PM advert to me

Definitely a good price, go for it and give us feedback on performance

Hi Guys

Should I go for this deal or not, thanks.

SNIP

 

[ahf]

Yes ex vat and available from sonicinformed

 

[Yuu]

Def go for it, just a quick question though. Can the general public buy direct from them at that price? Am sure many would like to know as that is a good deal

Yes ex vat and available from sonicinformed

 

[lucifir]

I would not mind one of those ... too bad I am not a dealer ... do let us know how we can get one

 

[PostmanPot]

Yes ex vat and available from sonicinformed

Depends on specs, GUI, ability to play different files...

I would personally stick to the WD TV Live, or one of the smaller Mede8er of Playon HD's.

Tried, tested, trusted...

 

[JustinB]

Depends on specs, GUI, ability to play different files...

I would personally stick to the WD TV Live, or one of the smaller Mede8er of Playon HD's.

Tried, tested, trusted...

I second that. I've found my xtreamer to be pretty good. Also realtek based like the mede8er

Sent from my GT-P1000 using MyBroadband Android App

 

[Yotch]

I think that the Sonic Informed A3HD media player is manufactured by a Chinese company called Measy.
http://www.measy.com.cn/product/showproduct29_en.htm

From the look of the menus it appears to use a Boxchip F10 processor which is based on a SoChip SC9800 core. It's delivers a good performance for the price but a new Realtek 1055 player like the Asus O!Play Mini (~R550 from Rebeltech) or the AC Ryan PlayOn!HD Essential (often on special at Esquire) might be a better choice as they can play back more formats including BluRay iso files which the Boxchip cannot do. IkonicIT sell the A3HD without HDD for R413. SonicInformed also used to supply the MP-113 (previous Measy A1HD model ~R360) using the HD-986 (another SoChip design) which is far less capable than the F10 but the new version also uses the F10 (search on the Measy site) so I'm not sure whether SI are planning to import this at some stage. There is a Boxchip F10 based player selling on Dealextreme at the moment for ~R200 and that price includes shipping charges to South Africa if that's of any interest. Take a look at the reviews and video links below for more information.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mini-1080p-full-hd-media-player-with-av-yprpb-hdmi-usb-sd-mmc-55119

Screenshots (browse all pages) ...
http://www.3dnews.ru/digital/ASUS-O-Play-MINI/
These menus look nicest IMHO (see pics on second page) ...
http://www.playonhd.com/essential/preview/

 

[K3NS31]

Very nice Media player:
http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php?products_id=1165

Doesn't say so on the site, but the flyer they sent me seems to show it preinstalled with XBMC. NICE.
R 2850 excluding HDD.
Includes remote etc. see below. The included wifi keyboard / mouse combo will be very useful too. I had to put my media player together bit-by-bit to get this functionality. And it's in a much bigger case [mine, that is]

- Xtreamer Ultra (HDD not included)
- MCE Remote Control with 2 "AAA" batteries
- 4 GB DDR 3 RAM
- 8 GB USB Stick with Linux Pre-configured Boot OS
- Li-ION Mini Wireless Keyboard with mouse pad
- HDMI Cable 1.4a (1.5m)
- AC Adapter
- VGA 2 DVI adpater
- Quick start guide
- Audio & Video Cables

 

[JustinB]

Very nice Media player:
http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php?products_id=1165

Doesn't say so on the site, but the flyer they sent me seems to show it preinstalled with XBMC. NICE.
R 2850 excluding HDD.
Includes remote etc. see below. The included wifi keyboard / mouse combo will be very useful too. I had to put my media player together bit-by-bit to get this functionality. And it's in a much bigger case [mine, that is]

- Xtreamer Ultra (HDD not included)
- MCE Remote Control with 2 "AAA" batteries
- 4 GB DDR 3 RAM
- 8 GB USB Stick with Linux Pre-configured Boot OS
- Li-ION Mini Wireless Keyboard with mouse pad
- HDMI Cable 1.4a (1.5m)
- AC Adapter
- VGA 2 DVI adpater
- Quick start guide
- Audio & Video Cables

Agreed. I think the Linux bootable USB is their Ultra OS, which is Ubuntu based, running XBMC with a few customisations. Looking at their site it looks very slick... I'm curious as to whether this image would work on any PC or its only for ion2 hardware...

 

[Hemps]

Very nice Media player:
http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/p...oducts_id=1165

Was wondering when companies where going to catch on to something like this.

 

[K3NS31]

Agreed. I think the Linux bootable USB is their Ultra OS, which is Ubuntu based, running XBMC with a few customisations. Looking at their site it looks very slick... I'm curious as to whether this image would work on any PC or its only for ion2 hardware...

Well, I know there's a LiveCD version of XBMC which you can download, based on Ubuntu.

 

[martin]

Very nice Media player:
http://www.scoopdistribution.co.za/product_info.php?products_id=1165

Doesn't say so on the site, but the flyer they sent me seems to show it preinstalled with XBMC. NICE.
R 2850 excluding HDD.
Includes remote etc. see below. The included wifi keyboard / mouse combo will be very useful too. I had to put my media player together bit-by-bit to get this functionality. And it's in a much bigger case [mine, that is]

- Xtreamer Ultra (HDD not included)
- MCE Remote Control with 2 "AAA" batteries
- 4 GB DDR 3 RAM
- 8 GB USB Stick with Linux Pre-configured Boot OS
- Li-ION Mini Wireless Keyboard with mouse pad
- HDMI Cable 1.4a (1.5m)
- AC Adapter
- VGA 2 DVI adpater
- Quick start guide
- Audio & Video Cables

No HDD included for that price! :wtf: My HP Microserver (R800) has the following specs:
- 1 x 4 GB DDR 3 RAM (R230)
- 1 x 250 GB HDD (included)
- 1 x 2TB HDD (R600)
- 1 x Wireless Mini Keyboard (with trackball) (R200)
- 1 x Powercolor HD5450 screen card (for HDMI) (R350)
Total cost: R2180

And the Microserver has space for two more HDD's.

Edit: Oh, and I still have the 1GB RAM DIMM originally included with the Microserver which I can sell or trade for a coke or something.

 

[SomeoneEls]

Well, I know there's a LiveCD version of XBMC which you can download, based on Ubuntu.

This is a different distro built with the sole purpose of being an XBMC distro so doesn't have all the additional ubuntu services and therefore boots quite a bit faster www.openelec.tv
There's also XBMC live and XBMC freak which are both based of ubuntu

R3249 incl vat is an ok price.
These are pretty much the same thing minus the remote control
Mecer ION2 nettop R 2,698 incl Vat
SHUTTLE XS35GT V2 SLIM PC R2,987.00 incl Vat

4Gb of ddr3 1333 Ram cost between R200 - R300 and a basic remote like include about the same R200 - R300

Buying one of the other options gives you some extra junk though windows 7 starter license keyboard and mouse and the 250Gb hard drive with the mecer


Other options:-
Zotac ZBox only available off bidorbuy at the moment R2649 incl vat with onboard wifi best deal but off bidorbuy
Or you could get a HP Mircoserver as well, but they're slightly bulkier, I have 2
Or build your own small form factor HTPC using an Ion board or e350 fusion board and it'll work out at around R2500

Board +-R1100
4GB Ram +-R250
mini-ITX case and powersupply +-R700
Wifi +-R250
DVD-RW +-R200
4GB flash drive cheap as dirt

 

[K3NS31]

No HDD included for that price! :wtf: My HP Microserver (R800) has the following specs:
- 1 x 4 GB DDR 3 RAM (R230)
- 1 x 250 GB HDD (included)
- 1 x 2TB HDD (R600)
- 1 x Wireless Mini Keyboard (with trackball) (R200)
- 1 x Powercolor HD5450 screen card (for HDMI) (R350)
Total cost: R2180

And the Microserver has space for two more HDD's.

Edit: Oh, and I still have the 1GB RAM DIMM originally included with the Microserver which I can sell or trade for a coke or something.

Impressive, a coupla issues for me, though.
A bit big to slip in next to / under the TV. Not really big, but substantially bigger than the Xtreamer.
You'll still need to buy a remote, hdmi cable etc. Good price nonetheless. Definitely the cheaper of the 2. Now pray tell where you're getting this HP for such a bargain?
(Oh, and you'll have that irritating external USB IR receiver instead of a built in one. No biggie, just works on my ****)

 

[K3NS31]

snip
Or you could get a HP Mircoserver as well, but they're slightly bulkier, I have 2

See above. Where do I get an HP Microserver? Haven't seen one at any of my normal suppliers. Sounds very interesting.

 

[SomeoneEls]

See above. Where do I get an HP Microserver? Haven't seen one at any of my normal suppliers. Sounds very interesting.

For R800 I dunno... for one of the suppliers not sure which.
was on special for R999 from Hpshop.co.za a few weeks back. PostmanPot can get them in Cape Town for you for around R1000.
I have one as a file server and another using openelec

If you're just looking for a media streamer to put next to the tv why not build one with one of the new AMD e350 boards
Board R1063
Case R664
RAM R212
and then a remote and usb drive and wifi
P.S.- That board as on-board Bluetooth

 

[martin]

Impressive, a coupla issues for me, though.
A bit big to slip in next to / under the TV. Not really big, but substantially bigger than the Xtreamer.
You'll still need to buy a remote, hdmi cable etc. Good price nonetheless. Definitely the cheaper of the 2. Now pray tell where you're getting this HP for such a bargain?
(Oh, and you'll have that irritating external USB IR receiver instead of a built in one. No biggie, just works on my ****)

Keep in mind that with that size comes the ability to double, triple or quadruple your HDD space. Also, I've seen bigger subs and amps in people's living rooms so it doesn't really bother me. No need for a remote - the USB keyboard I'm referring to doubles as a remote - it's the same size as a most standard remotes (a little thinner and wider maybe). You're right about the HDMI cable - I had a spare one lying around but that would be an additional cost (R80 - R100?). I bought the Microserver on special through a friend. I'll try and find out which company had the special. Normal price is R1100 I think?

One other thing, the Microserver has USB ports on the back as well

 

[K3NS31]

interesting stuff. Will call around my suppliers on Monday and see if anybody has one. Thanks for the info guys. Even though I'm not really looking for a media machine right now, I like to keep an eye on things.