ARCTIC MC001-N ~ MultiMedia Barebone PC - €114.95 Delivered. [Amazon.de]

Allyall · 22-01-2013 5:41pm #1

I just bought this - €99.95 + €15 Shipping from Amazon.de. I think it's a great price.

ARCTIC MC001-N - Home Entertainment Center - Multi Media Computer - Barebone PC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT-UHSrMsYs

CPU Dual Core Intel Atom D525 (1.8GHz)
Graphics ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5430, 512MB GDDR3
Chipset Intel NM10
Memory Compatibility Max. memory size: 2 x 4GB
Memory type: SODIMM DDR3 800/1066/1333
Storage Form factor: 2.5” (9.5 mm thick only)
ODD Form factor: 5.25” Slim
Wireless IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
LAN 10/100/1000 Ethernet
TV Tuner (included) DVB-T
Back Panel
3.5mm audio I/O jack x 6 (7.1 OUT x 4, LINE IN x 1, MIC x 1)
SPDIF port/optical x 1
VGA port x 1
HDTV interface x 1 (HDTV cable included)
Ethernet RJ45 port x 1
USB 2.0 port x 5
DC power jack x 1
Front Panel
IR receiver x 1
USB 3.0 port x 2
3.5mm stereo I/O jack x 2 (Headphone, Mic)
4-in-1 memory card reader x 1
Power Supply 19V DC 60W
Volume 1.5 L

Full Spec Here

4GB RAM for €22
You can also add their remote for €12.95
I also just noticed the MC001-E is only €119.95

livEwirE · 22-01-2013 6:08pm

Nice looking device, pity about the Atom Processor, I'm out:rolleyes:

gerryk · 22-01-2013 6:10pm

That is a good deal.

The E version just seems to add a DVD-RW, which is a bit steep @ €20

Allyall · 22-01-2013 6:13pm

livEwirE wrote: »

Nice looking device, pity about the Atom Processor, I'm out:rolleyes:

I hear ya.. But i'm only going to use it for TV/Media..

Still a great price.

livEwirE · 22-01-2013 6:19pm

Yeah, to be fair, not too shabby at all, I'd like to use something like this for BD ISO playback + HD Netflix, unfortunately I don't think the Atom CPU would cut it.

gerryk · 22-01-2013 6:20pm

livEwirE wrote: »

Nice looking device, pity about the Atom Processor, I'm out:rolleyes:

There are a number of good reasons to have an Atom, rather than, say an i3 or some such. Cost and power consumption are the main ones I can think of. Heat dissipation is another.

Allyall · 22-01-2013 6:22pm

livEwirE wrote: »

Yeah, to be fair, not too shabby at all, I'd like to use something like this for BD ISO playback + HD Netflix, unfortunately I don't think the Atom CPU would cut it.

I'm not 100% but i think it can. That's mostly why i bought it. Because it can handle most quality you throw at it.

Isn't the Atom D525 in the Zotax barebones? And some of the Lenovo?

The Zotac handles Blu-ray no problem at all.

This one.. - http://www.zotacusa.com/products/mini-pcs/zbox-id36-blu-ray-3d.html

My laptop crashed as i was writing.. :mad:

The delivery states expect it from 31st Jan to 13th(i think) of Feb. I hope it comes sooner, i have had that happen a few times.
I can't say/see any faults with this at all for the price..

I hope i'm not wrong..

Alanstrainor · 22-01-2013 8:01pm

Link in the OP is broken.

http://www.amazon.de/ARCTIC-MC001-N-Entertainment-Computer-Barebone/dp/B005AR1RT6

Allyall · 22-01-2013 8:50pm

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Link in the OP is broken.

http://www.amazon.de/ARCTIC-MC001-N-Entertainment-Computer-Barebone/dp/B005AR1RT6

Oops, Sorry and thanks.

TerrorFirmer · 22-01-2013 8:58pm

Seems good to me. Perfect for 1080P playback with ultra low consumption and noise.

fl4pj4ck · 22-01-2013 9:44pm

livEwirE wrote: »

Yeah, to be fair, not too shabby at all, I'd like to use something like this for BD ISO playback + HD Netflix, unfortunately I don't think the Atom CPU would cut it.

that's why it's paired with ATI card with hardware acceleration

jabberwock · 22-01-2013 11:04pm

Looks really nice. Please let us know how it goes when it arrives.

Allyall · 22-01-2013 11:49pm

jabberwock wrote: »

Looks really nice. Please let us know how it goes when it arrives.

Will do, but it looks like it's not going to get here until the 31st at least.

Charlie-Bravo · 22-01-2013 11:54pm

Very tempted by this - have been looking at other devices such as google TV but really like the idea of having a PC at the TV. It looks like it has HDMI to the rear. There is no hard drive (barebone?) so need to source one. No CD/DVD/Bluray drive...will probably not need one...might want one for it to run discs at TV location.

Anyone care to comment on what is else is needed to get it up and running. Oh, and of course, you should be able to install a licensed version of windows if needed [paid licensed etc.]

Allyall · 23-01-2013 12:06am

astrofluff wrote: »

Very tempted by this - have been looking at other devices such as google TV but really like the idea of having a PC at the TV. It looks like it has HDMI to the rear. There is no hard drive (barebone?) so need to source one. No CD/DVD/Bluray drive...will probably not need one...might want one for it to run discs at TV location.

Anyone care to comment on what is else is needed to get it up and running. Oh, and of course, you should be able to install a licensed version of windows if needed [paid licensed etc.]

The one at the bottom of the OP has a DVD/CD player. If you want, for extra €20

I don't plan on using it as a DVD or CD player, just behind the TV.

Anything that may be required is at the bottom of the first post, except the hard drive, as i am thinking of getting a SSD.

As for the OS.. I'll be installing THIS

Here are some reviews of it, these reviews are of the same model with Blu-Ray player and hardware and OS included.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nettop-zbox-coreht-252b,3036-2.html

http://www.rossgerring.com/2011/10/review-arctic-mc001-silent.html

http://www.rossgerring.com/2011/10/review-arctic-mc001-silent.html

This one does have the DVB-T tuner included, most say it's optional.

Charlie-Bravo · 23-01-2013 12:13am

DVB-T can be useful once its hardware can pipe through the X16 flag from Saorview - software shouldn't be a problem once the hardware is up to it. An SSD would be great to keep noise down. I really do like the idea of this slim tower as it does passive cooling so keeping noise to a minimum with less fans.

Mr McBoatface · 23-01-2013 3:29am

Cheers OP, bought one with the DVD Drive. I'm planing on using it as a Mediaportal TV client/front end. Sure if it doesn't work out i use it as my Internet PC.

Also from the specs the built in IR reciever is RC6 so it should work with any existing Microsoft Media Centre Remote (I've a spare one floating around). Just picked up 4gb of ram on adverts.ie for twenty euro, I've a nice spare SSD to try on it too.... happy days.

Good value ram availible from here too - http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr3sodimm.html cheap enough shipping

Dr Nic · 23-01-2013 10:16am

Will Sky Go work on XBMC on this?

Allyall · 23-01-2013 11:18am

Dr Nic wrote: »

Will Sky Go work on XBMC on this?

Yes it will.

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=f7a3565c184cdad3&id=F7A3565C184CDAD3!181

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F65GI0MMHgA&list=UL

Dr Nic · 23-01-2013 2:11pm

Any comments on this vs a google tv device? I want to dl torrents, watch them in sd or 720p, and use sky go

Allyall · 23-01-2013 3:15pm

Dr Nic wrote: »

Any comments on this vs a google tv device? I want to dl torrents, watch them in sd or 720p, and use sky go

Google TV devices are good, but nothing compared to something like this imo.

I have a couple of Google TV devices, I have a set top box, and a couple of sticks.
All good, but this would be much better. Especially for multitasking if you wanted to.
For example if i want to share a movie and music over the network at the same time downloading a torrent or whatever, whilst watching a movie, this will do it with ease. Some google devices can struggle with just streaming. Also they can't yet play 1080p streaming.
Whereas this should play everything you throw at it.
Including a full Blu-Ray ISO - Lossless Codec at, for example 20GB.

A google TV device may be able to play that, but it definitely couldn't do much else. And there would be feck all storage for anything else.

ThunbergsAreGo · 23-01-2013 3:52pm

For an average user is the lack an OS an issue.

Have an Acer R3610, is this a considerable upgrade?

Allyall · 23-01-2013 4:27pm

naughtb4 wrote: »

For an average user is the lack an OS an issue.

Have an Acer R3610, is this a considerable upgrade?

No definitely not, there are many OS's you can download for free and install easily. In no particular order
XBMCbuntu, Ubuntu, PC-BSD,and Zorin OS

I don't know if i'd consider it an Upgrade.. The Acer R3610 is a good PC, and should still be able to handle modern codecs/streaming. This is better imo, but not by so much that i'd call it an upgrade. If you are looking for a Nettop/Mini PC that can do all the Acer can, and more, then yes.
It has a lot more ports and supports USB 3.0 amongst other things. The CPU is slightly better and while i don't have the exact specs for the Acer, i'd guess this has better graphics also.
So for €114.95 you can't go wrong. You could use the RAM and HD from the Acer, or you could buy new ones adding roughly €40 to the overall price.

This is still for sale on many websites at €250 + as barebones.

sparxz · 23-01-2013 4:39pm

I'm impressed. That is a nifty wee machine. I am intrigued by the amount of memory upgrade capacity.

ThunbergsAreGo · 23-01-2013 4:47pm

Allyall wrote: »

No definitely not, there are many OS's you can download for free and install easily. In no particular order
XBMCbuntu, Ubuntu, PC-BSD,and Zorin OS

I don't know if i'd consider it an Upgrade.. The Acer R3610 is a good PC, and should still be able to handle modern codecs/streaming. This is better imo, but not by so much that i'd call it an upgrade. If you are looking for a Nettop/Mini PC that can do all the Acer can, and more, then yes.
It has a lot more ports and supports USB 3.0 amongst other things. The CPU is slightly better and while i don't have the exact specs for the Acer, i'd guess this has better graphics also.
So for €114.95 you can't go wrong. You could use the RAM and HD from the Acer, or you could buy new ones adding roughly €40 to the overall price.

This is still for sale on many websites at €250 + as barebones.

Seems worth considering

Thanks for that, biggest issue at the moment with the acer is the wifi is patehtically poor

vibe666 · 23-01-2013 4:58pm

i've an R3610 as well and i'm seriously considering this (as an addition, not instead of).

the problem with the R3610 is that a bug in the motherboard chipset won't allow you to use more than 3.25gb of RAM (minus any shared with the gfx card, up to 512mb) even if you have 4gb installed and a 64bit OS, so you are limited there.

the D525 atom CPU is only slightly faster than the one in the R3610, but the other components will push the speed gap up a bit more as well, not to mention the extra RAM capacity.

an SSD in the R3610 would boost the overall speed considerably so it might be worth thinking about that instead for now as you'd probably end up getting an SSD and more RAM for the Arctic M001-N anyway.

anyway, the Arctic is definitely a bargain at that price imho, but if you're only planning on using it to play video's on our TV, you might be better off with a raspberry pi running XBMC and save a few quid?

the_pod · 23-01-2013 6:14pm

This one seems to have memory, disk, Windows 7 and blu-ray included for €240 plus shipping

http://www.amazon.de/Arctic-Cooling-Mediacenter-MC001-BD-T-DVB-T-Tuner/dp/tech-data/B005FYQKB4/ref=de_a_smtd

yesno1234 · 23-01-2013 6:36pm

vibe666 wrote: »

i've an R3610 as well and i'm seriously considering this (as an addition, not instead of).

the problem with the R3610 is that a bug in the motherboard chipset won't allow you to use more than 3.25gb of RAM (minus any shared with the gfx card, up to 512mb) even if you have 4gb installed and a 64bit OS, so you are limited there.

the D525 atom CPU is only slightly faster than the one in the R3610, but the other components will push the speed gap up a bit more as well, not to mention the extra RAM capacity.

an SSD in the R3610 would boost the overall speed considerably so it might be worth thinking about that instead for now as you'd probably end up getting an SSD and more RAM for the Arctic M001-N anyway.

anyway, the Arctic is definitely a bargain at that price imho, but if you're only planning on using it to play video's on our TV, you might be better off with a raspberry pi running XBMC and save a few quid?

Afaik there was a workaround for the max ram. I've a Eee 1201n and it had the same problem but a bios update and some sort of workaround allowed more ram to be taken advantage. I'm not fully sure of the techy details (not up to date these days), not sure if it's the same problem.

Charlie-Bravo · 23-01-2013 6:53pm

the_pod wrote: »

This one seems to have memory, disk, Windows 7 and blu-ray included for €240 plus shipping

http://www.amazon.de/Arctic-Cooling-Mediacenter-MC001-BD-T-DVB-T-Tuner/dp/tech-data/B005FYQKB4/ref=de_a_smtd

Sh!t that's tempting...now where's the SSD version? :cool:

****edit: ok, 15euro shipping cost on the blu-ray version. Still so tempted....was looking on Adverts.ie and its very difficult to get something this good second hand even at that price.

jimbob_jones · 24-01-2013 12:27am

Just ordered one, cheers OP !!!

Thanks a mil !

stephendevlin · 24-01-2013 10:24am

Wonder would it support a dvb-s2 card instead of the dvb-t

Do-more · 24-01-2013 11:07am

stephendevlin wrote: »

Wonder would it support a dvb-s2 card instead of the dvb-t

It's all dutch to me but I think there are patches here for Openelec for usb DVB-S2 cards.

Allyall · 24-01-2013 7:39pm

I'm after getting an email saying it has been shipped

I'm not mad about the Expected delivery date, but i doubt that's realistic. Hopefully it'll arrive here Monday or Tuesday..

Good day, We hereby wish to inform you that ARCTIC GmbH has shipped your order.

Your mission is now in transit, a change is not possible. Want an item from your order return, or other change orders or view, you can do this via My orders do on our site Amazon.de.
Expected delivery date:
Monday 18, February 2013
Why is my mail not traceable?
The show goes to:
XXxxxX XXxxxX
X XXxxxxXx xxxx.,
Xxxxxx, XXxxxX
Ireland
The consignment was shipped by DHL. This mission is not traceable. Delivery through the local delivery partners.
Details of delivery

ARCTIC MC001-N - Home Entertainment Center - Multimedia Computers - PC barebone
Sold by: ARCTIC GmbH
Condition: new

EUR 99.95
Subtotal: EUR 99.95 Packing and Shipping: EUR 15.00 Subtotal excluding VAT: EUR 114.95 Final amount of VAT included: EUR 114.95 Payment via Visa: EUR 114.95

Returns are easy. Visit our online return center .

If you have any questions about your order, please contact ARCTIC GmbH .
We look forward to your next visit!
Amazon.de

Do-more · 24-01-2013 8:31pm

Allyall wrote: »

I'm not mad about the Expected delivery date, but i doubt that's realistic.

It is possible that they are shipping them direct from Hong Kong but even at that it would take the incompetence of Fedex for it to take that long. With DHL I would have thought you are pretty sure to get it next week.

Do give us a quick review when you get it, I'm trying hard to resist but if it stays around this price for a few weeks I might just cave in!

24-01-2013 8:38pm

Do-more wrote: »

Do give us a quick review when you get it, I'm trying hard to resist but if it stays around this price for a few weeks I might just cave in!

I wouldn't hang around if you want one. I would say they'll either sell out or the price will go back up. It was the same with the £99 Revo's and eMachines er1401, they didn't last long.

bmm · 24-01-2013 8:47pm

Allyall wrote: »

Subtotal excluding VAT: EUR 114.95 Final amount of VAT included: EUR 114.95 Payment via Visa: EUR 114.95

Any Vat to Pay or did you have a vat. no. ?

Allyall · 24-01-2013 8:52pm

Will do. can't wait to get my mits on it. Have Power surge cords and all.
(last year lost a laptop and my beloved Lenovo Q150.)
Have put a Dell SFF 755 behind the TV since, which i got for feck all, and recently it has started acting up. After checking everything, and cleaning it and reinstall, It's ready to pack in. So this came at perfect time for me.

With the cash i'm saving on what i was planning on spending, hopefully this will drop down to below €200. It was €202 in October/November.

Allyall · 24-01-2013 8:55pm

bmm wrote: »

Any Vat to Pay or did you have a vat. no. ?

Paid €114.95. Nothing else.

Charlie-Bravo · 24-01-2013 11:59pm

having looked at Amazon.CO.UK, the list price for the Blu-ray version pc is circa £620. There are buying options of £229 which are the translated price from Arctic off Amazon.de.

I really think these things are last line stuff, and you'll struggle to find anything as cheap.

I've done my maths and here are my thoughts:

Even if I go for the barebones, thats 100euro straight off. But what about the rest of the gear: RAM, say 50euro for 4GB worth, HDD maybe 60euro, blu-ray drive (although not really required) say 100bucks...that's working out to be 310euro before operating system....so 240euro for the blu-ray version is sh!t cool and it will run a licensed version of windows 7HP.

How much more do I need to convince myself?!

25-01-2013 12:20am

astrofluff wrote: »

having looked at Amazon.CO.UK, the list price for the Blu-ray version pc is circa £620. There are buying options of £229 which are the translated price from Arctic off Amazon.de.

I really think these things are last line stuff, and you'll struggle to find anything as cheap.

I've done my maths and here are my thoughts:

Even if I go for the barebones, thats 100euro straight off. But what about the rest of the gear: RAM, say 50euro for 4GB worth, HDD maybe 60euro, blu-ray drive (although not really required) say 100bucks...that's working out to be 310euro before operating system....so 240euro for the blu-ray version is sh!t cool and it will run a licensed version of windows 7HP.

How much more do I need to convince myself?!

You've over-estimated the price of most of those components. And that's assuming you actually want them.

I think the €99 barebones is very good value and you'll get an OpenElec system up and running for under €150.

But for €240 I would want something more powerful than an Atom.

Charlie-Bravo · 25-01-2013 1:08am

I could just very well pick up a Google TV device for less which will stream the main stuff I want - I was inches from buying a MyGica EnjoyTV ATV1200 until I say this thread - I like Windows, I know my way around it, plus it'll do a bunch of other stuff the android stuff won't. Damn it, damn it, damn it.

@Scum - So for 150euro, how would you go about putting together your suggestion?

Allyall · 25-01-2013 1:13am

4GB Ram is €22 and a 160GB HD is £20ish on Amazon UK. Both linked to earlier in this thread.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Generic-160gb-Laptop-Internal-Drive/dp/B0069LIZN8/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1359072689&sr=1-1

That would bring the whole lot to just over €150.

Also Google TV won't stream 1080p. Nor will it do a lot more, that this can. For now, a PC will beat an Android device hands down.

jobyrne30 wrote: »

Just picked up 4gb of ram on adverts.ie for twenty euro, I've a nice spare SSD to try on it too.... happy days.
Good value ram availible from here too - http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr3sodimm.html cheap enough shipping

Charlie-Bravo · 25-01-2013 1:27am

thanks, having looked at the benchmark for the Atom D525 (741 benchmark), I think the little boy can handle plenty on W7 for what it's being used as. Hmm, so I can have an out of box system working for 240euro, or little self-effort and save some money but with less bits or a MS OS. Stupid conundrum.

Do-more · 25-01-2013 8:36am

Deleted User wrote: »

I wouldn't hang around if you want one. I would say they'll either sell out or the price will go back up. It was the same with the £99 Revo's and eMachines er1401, they didn't last long.

Your probably right, but January is a lean month!

Looking at the price history it was €119 in September then €139 in October then €248 in November then down to €129, up again to €248 then down to €119 at the end of December and now €99 so it's been all over the place in the last few months.

Will have to ply the missus with wine this evening and enter into negotiations!

Dr Nic · 25-01-2013 9:52am

Can this thing be a dvbs receiver aswell and get all the free to air channels? Or even get one of those usb saorview dongles and get saorview too??

Shaque attack · 25-01-2013 11:08am

Cheers op, this looks like the job for what I'm after.

Quick question; I already have a 1tb external hd. Can I use this as my hd or would I need to install a normal hd for everything to work ok?

Cheers

Do-more · 25-01-2013 11:09am

Dr Nic wrote: »

Can this thing be a dvbs receiver aswell and get all the free to air channels? Or even get one of those usb saorview dongles and get saorview too??

You don't need a saorview dongle as it has got a DVB-T card already.

It looks like you can add a usb DVB-S2 as well but don't take my word on that.

Do-more · 25-01-2013 11:25am

Shaque attack wrote: »

Quick question; I already have a 1tb external hd. Can I use this as my hd or would I need to install a normal hd for everything to work ok?

Probably wouldn't run very fast of the external HD.

If you just want it for XBMC the cheapest option would be to boot OpenElec off a usb stick and it would run fine.

If you want to run windows or full linux Allyall has a link for a cheap HD from Amazon further up the thread, or you can get a cheap Sandisk SSD for around £40-£45.

Mr McBoatface · 25-01-2013 11:37am

Dr Nic wrote: »

Can this thing be a dvbs receiver aswell and get all the free to air channels? Or even get one of those usb saorview dongles and get saorview too??

No need for a usb dongle, it has a built in DVB-T reciever which is used for saorview. Assuming you are going to run Windows7 it should work out of the box through Mediacentre, the new MHEG digital teletext will work too. You may get better CPU/GPU performance by installing a codecs such as LAV for TV playback. LAV Audio supports DTS & AC3 audio passthrough over hdmi and LAV Video supports DXVA that will work with the built in Radeon GPU.

p15574 · 25-01-2013 11:51am

The case on this looks nice and slim, which brings me to my question, if anyone knows. I have a desktop with a blown motherboard. The price of this seems to be better than a new motherboard, so do you think, given the size of this case, it would take the DVD drive, disk drive, RAM and DVB-S card from my old machine (internally)?

Do-more · 25-01-2013 12:22pm

p15574 wrote: »

The case on this looks nice and slim, which brings me to my question, if anyone knows. I have a desktop with a blown motherboard. The price of this seems to be better than a new motherboard, so do you think, given the size of this case, it would take the DVD drive, disk drive, RAM and DVB-S card from my old machine (internally)?

No this thing uses laptop components, so it needs a slimline DVD drive, 2.5" HDD and laptop type RAM

ARCTIC MC001-N ~ MultiMedia Barebone PC - €114.95 Delivered. [Amazon.de]

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