Onkyo p305 Review (or OEM-nettop on ION-e)
Hello to you, habra people.
Not so long ago, in the comments to the Wexler VisION review , I promised a quick appearance of a review of the mine ion nettop, now called the Onkyo P305 . The review was delayed a bit, due to the presentation of the device on October 22 on the release of Windows 7. However, he came back to me and we had a great time.
')
In addition to the p305, the slightly shabby first sample of Acer Aspire Revo was also caught in my paws, storing traces of previous reviews and repeated autopsies. Before his hands did not reach him, and most likely, they will reach a general summary review.
Features and price tag:
OEM: Pegatron
Processor: Intel Atom 230
Chipset: nVidia ION with gf9400m graphics
RAM: 2Gb DDR2-800
Hard Drive: 160GB
Optional: SD card reader, eSATA port, mini-HDMI port, 5 USB 2.0 ports
Price: $ 770 in Japan
I would like to begin a story with the ergonomics of p305. Although the ergonomics of a nettop are a peculiar thing, I will try to look in the most abstract ways of mounting and mounting, the location of connectors and other small joys.
It is easy to see that the main difference from competitors is the presence of a removable DVD-drive. However, I will talk about it below a little more.
Another difference this nettop from the others is the presence of two digital outputs on the monitor at once. The first is presented in the form of a standard DVI-port, and the second in the form of miniHDMI, which has not yet gained popularity. I really wanted to test my dual-monitor configuration on p305, but I couldn’t find the HDMI to miniHDMI adapter quickly and for adequate money.
Device installation is possible both horizontal and vertical. If there is an attachment that should be included in the kit (in my case it was missing), it can even be attached to the monitor. There are no ventilation holes on the sides of the case, cooling takes place through the edges of the nettop, so you can safely lay it on its side without fear of overheating. Convenience of connecting wires - like other nettops. On the front panel - eSATA, USB 2.0, card reader and audio connectors.
In principle, the implementation is not so bad. The usb-2-usb connector is curved and of incomprehensible shape, and the guide groove on the nettop body ensures good fixation, preventing the drive from loosening. For good, at the device, there is another retractable latch, designed to attach the drive to the main body. In my case, he was either broken or lolled, and flatly refused to perform his direct function.
Then the first question immediately arises - why it was impossible to combine the usb port and the guide slot? This would save us from using a non-standard connector. Also, this approach would add a convenient port on the nettop's inner edge, which would be very convenient to use when it is installed vertically.
From this follows the second question - why the hell do you want to use the USB connector of the "mother" type on the drive? Why limit the use of a great external drive?
Well, the third question - why not embed a standard limiter into the slot-loading drive? See the video. For some reason, the nettop stand was not passed to me, so I had to fix the device with two hard drives.
Since I consider all nettops on ION as media centers, I had to conduct combat testing to determine suitability for HD content playback. For this, we had to use a 47 ”LCD panel produced by NEC, which was accidentally left in the closet.
As test samples, I chose two films in 720p and 1080p formats, which I tested on p305 in the playback modes from the hard disk, flash drives and over the network. As a network storage device, Intel Entry Storage System SS4000-E NAS was used. The system installed the standard drivers, merged through Windows Update, as well as the full package of K-lite codecs.
In fact, I doubted that the system would pull 1080p over the network, but all tests showed excellent results. The player starts to skip frames only at the very beginning of the movie, when rewinding, as well as when “flipping” the movie. With video as 720p, there were not even such problems, so I think this resolution is optimal for broadcast over the network.
Another difference this nettop from the others is the presence of two digital outputs on the monitor at once. The first is presented in the form of a standard DVI-port, and the second in the form of miniHDMI, which has not yet gained popularity. I really wanted to test my dual-monitor configuration on p305, but I couldn’t find the HDMI to miniHDMI adapter quickly and for adequate money. I had to test the game.
For the ION platform, there is a large list of compatible games that are not so resource-intensive for integrated graphics GeForce 9400M. These games included Sims3 and Spore, which I discovered in my test kit. I didn't really want to play Sims, so I preferred Spore and installed it on a nettop. I spent the rest of the day there, developing and training my being.
Of course, the game decently worked only at the lowest settings and at a fairly low resolution, but this had no effect on the gameplay. Or I should have played Spore earlier ... By the way, the screenshot looks much better than the picture in the game.
In principle, all performance test results are not very different from Wexler VisION tests, since the difference in the configuration of these nettops is 1 extra gigabyte of memory for the p305.
Behind
Vs
In my opinion, a lot will depend on the configuration of the device, because the main disadvantages from nettop to nettop do not change - the lack of convenient wire organization and minor engineering flaws. To buy a nettop with a conditionally removable optical drive, or to purchase an analogue and a drive separately? I would choose the second option. Really did not have enough space for a full HDMI? Too many minor issues for a good product.
I'm sure the device will find its fans. And if minor flaws are not corrected before the product enters the market, then I will have to cross out from among the fans.
Good luck! Spore is waiting for me. =)
Not so long ago, in the comments to the Wexler VisION review , I promised a quick appearance of a review of the mine ion nettop, now called the Onkyo P305 . The review was delayed a bit, due to the presentation of the device on October 22 on the release of Windows 7. However, he came back to me and we had a great time.
')
In addition to the p305, the slightly shabby first sample of Acer Aspire Revo was also caught in my paws, storing traces of previous reviews and repeated autopsies. Before his hands did not reach him, and most likely, they will reach a general summary review.
Prologue
Features and price tag:
OEM: Pegatron
Processor: Intel Atom 230
Chipset: nVidia ION with gf9400m graphics
RAM: 2Gb DDR2-800
Hard Drive: 160GB
Optional: SD card reader, eSATA port, mini-HDMI port, 5 USB 2.0 ports
Price: $ 770 in Japan
General convenience
I would like to begin a story with the ergonomics of p305. Although the ergonomics of a nettop are a peculiar thing, I will try to look in the most abstract ways of mounting and mounting, the location of connectors and other small joys.
It is easy to see that the main difference from competitors is the presence of a removable DVD-drive. However, I will talk about it below a little more.
Another difference this nettop from the others is the presence of two digital outputs on the monitor at once. The first is presented in the form of a standard DVI-port, and the second in the form of miniHDMI, which has not yet gained popularity. I really wanted to test my dual-monitor configuration on p305, but I couldn’t find the HDMI to miniHDMI adapter quickly and for adequate money.
Device installation is possible both horizontal and vertical. If there is an attachment that should be included in the kit (in my case it was missing), it can even be attached to the monitor. There are no ventilation holes on the sides of the case, cooling takes place through the edges of the nettop, so you can safely lay it on its side without fear of overheating. Convenience of connecting wires - like other nettops. On the front panel - eSATA, USB 2.0, card reader and audio connectors.
DVD drive
In principle, the implementation is not so bad. The usb-2-usb connector is curved and of incomprehensible shape, and the guide groove on the nettop body ensures good fixation, preventing the drive from loosening. For good, at the device, there is another retractable latch, designed to attach the drive to the main body. In my case, he was either broken or lolled, and flatly refused to perform his direct function.
Then the first question immediately arises - why it was impossible to combine the usb port and the guide slot? This would save us from using a non-standard connector. Also, this approach would add a convenient port on the nettop's inner edge, which would be very convenient to use when it is installed vertically.
From this follows the second question - why the hell do you want to use the USB connector of the "mother" type on the drive? Why limit the use of a great external drive?
Well, the third question - why not embed a standard limiter into the slot-loading drive? See the video. For some reason, the nettop stand was not passed to me, so I had to fix the device with two hard drives.
View video
Since I consider all nettops on ION as media centers, I had to conduct combat testing to determine suitability for HD content playback. For this, we had to use a 47 ”LCD panel produced by NEC, which was accidentally left in the closet.
As test samples, I chose two films in 720p and 1080p formats, which I tested on p305 in the playback modes from the hard disk, flash drives and over the network. As a network storage device, Intel Entry Storage System SS4000-E NAS was used. The system installed the standard drivers, merged through Windows Update, as well as the full package of K-lite codecs.
In fact, I doubted that the system would pull 1080p over the network, but all tests showed excellent results. The player starts to skip frames only at the very beginning of the movie, when rewinding, as well as when “flipping” the movie. With video as 720p, there were not even such problems, so I think this resolution is optimal for broadcast over the network.
Games
Another difference this nettop from the others is the presence of two digital outputs on the monitor at once. The first is presented in the form of a standard DVI-port, and the second in the form of miniHDMI, which has not yet gained popularity. I really wanted to test my dual-monitor configuration on p305, but I couldn’t find the HDMI to miniHDMI adapter quickly and for adequate money. I had to test the game.
For the ION platform, there is a large list of compatible games that are not so resource-intensive for integrated graphics GeForce 9400M. These games included Sims3 and Spore, which I discovered in my test kit. I didn't really want to play Sims, so I preferred Spore and installed it on a nettop. I spent the rest of the day there, developing and training my being.
Of course, the game decently worked only at the lowest settings and at a fairly low resolution, but this had no effect on the gameplay. Or I should have played Spore earlier ... By the way, the screenshot looks much better than the picture in the game.
Benchmarks
In principle, all performance test results are not very different from Wexler VisION tests, since the difference in the configuration of these nettops is 1 extra gigabyte of memory for the p305.
Conclusion
Behind
- Stylish appearance
- Two digital outputs
- Removable dvd drive
- eSATA on the front panel
- Blue led
- VESA mount
Vs
- Minor design flaws
- "Shooting" DVD Drive
- The inconvenience (impossibility) of using the drive with other PCs
- Huge declared price
In my opinion, a lot will depend on the configuration of the device, because the main disadvantages from nettop to nettop do not change - the lack of convenient wire organization and minor engineering flaws. To buy a nettop with a conditionally removable optical drive, or to purchase an analogue and a drive separately? I would choose the second option. Really did not have enough space for a full HDMI? Too many minor issues for a good product.
I'm sure the device will find its fans. And if minor flaws are not corrected before the product enters the market, then I will have to cross out from among the fans.
Good luck! Spore is waiting for me. =)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/74372/
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