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XBMC Running On an Atom-Based MID
reborn writes "Someone's got XBMC running on one of those MIDs. This one is a Compal Jax10. It runs Linux and is powered by an Intel Atom processor clocked at 800Mhz along with Intel's GMA500, which is basically a licensed PowerVR SGX GPU. Except for the better GPU (and its screen and keyboard, of course), it is similarly specced as some of the lower-end netbooks. XBMC would make a great portable media player, given its ability to play media off the network and virtually all file formats, but in the end it depends on the price-point of these MIDs. Here's the video."
Jeez, could we get a few more acronyms and buzzwords in this summary please?
-- http://ninthagenda.com/
If Nvidia's Ion platform takes off, an updated Eee Box 202, or the MSI Wind desktop, would fit the bill. Its not ready out of the box, but a $200 PC in the size range of a Mac Mini with full GPU video acceleration running XBMC or an equivalent is probably the closest we'll ever get.
"XBMC would make a great portable media player, given its ability to play media off the network"
If I'm in my car, on an airplane, or anywhere else I'd take a portable media player, there is no network from which to play media. This is why portable media players emphasize disk space. Unless you're looking for a portable player for trips to another room of your house, network playback is useless.
Sorry for yet another "acronym" but if they want to be running an HD media player, my guess it's not so much the SGX technology they want to use, but the vxd
Really? I thought VxD died with Windows 98.
why a netbook? if it's going to be a HTPC then why get something designed for portability? having a tiny 9" screen is also kinda pointless when the system's plugged into a TV. a low-power VIA C7 processor paired with VIA's EPIA NX Nano-ITX motherboard would be far more suited for a media center PC or set-top box. the EPIA NX comes with the CX700M IGP chipset and features:
alternatively, you could get the VIA C3 or the 7.5 watt fanless VIA Eden processor + CN400 chipset, which use even less power and still has:
lastly, there's the VIA CoreFusion Processor Platform, which is also based on the C3 Nehemiah core. the VIA Luke configuration features:
oh, and VIA's Green Computing Initiative means all of their new processors and motherboards are RoHS compliant, and many of there products are also lead-free. so not only are you reducing your energy footprint on top of getting a cooler/quieter-running system, but the manufacturing process is also more environmentally friendly.