Zalman HD160XT Plus - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 3rd Feb 2008, 08:20

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...zm160xt_plus/1

Are you looking for the ultimate home theatre case? Well, look no further because Zalman has sent it to us - we have a look at the HD160XT Plus, a 100 percent aluminium design with looks to die for. It even has a 7" touch screen to tie it all off. Excessive? Awesome? Costly? We find out.

Mankz · 3rd Feb 2008, 09:20

Do I spy one of those awesome looking little Asus mATX gaming boards? Are you going to be reviewing it?

They are nice cases, but if I think the price needs to come down by £100 to make people even start considering them.

Bindibadgi · 3rd Feb 2008, 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by '91

Do I spy one of those awesome looking little Asus mATX gaming boards? Are you going to be reviewing it?

Next week

fathazza · 3rd Feb 2008, 15:15

i dont get the point of the screen being that small...

if youre going to pay that much for a case you may as well go the whole hog and get the origenAE case with the 12" 1080p screen

HandMadeAndroid · 3rd Feb 2008, 16:03

Overkill, 90's hi-fi look, very much like a Yamaha AV amp or the like from back in the day. Touch screen totally pointless, and @ £400 far to expensive. Mutton dressed as lamb lol

HourBeforeDawn · 3rd Feb 2008, 20:09

I think it looks great and the fact that the inside is also painted is a nice touch, I want to get my hands on this case or the Silverstone CW03 HTPC Case for my next HTPC build.

Bindibadgi · 3rd Feb 2008, 20:14

It's not painted, it's anodised - engrained colour into the metal oxide layer.

DougEdey · 3rd Feb 2008, 20:20

The LCD should be placed in an external enclosure with a battery back and wireless VGA...

Jipa · 3rd Feb 2008, 20:45

Oh this is so confusing... I reviewed the original HD160, but it seems it has nothing to do with this case except the name. The side panels are from HD135 and the internal layout is KINDA 160-ish, but then again not. I like how they've paid attention to the HDD-cooling, and I love the fact that there's an actual cage like in HD135, but then again they've removed the nice wire-fanguards and replaced them with the cheapest cut-out versions. What's that all about?

The screen seems like a nice toy, and allthough there's no way I'd pay the premium to get a screen on my HTPC-case, I kinda see where that's coming from. If the HTPC is hooked up to a proper setup with a projector and a ton of amps then I understand it's sometimes nice to tweak some settings on the small screen and save the lamp of the projector... And if you can pay all the other equipments then hell, one 7" screen shouldn't blow the budget

Mankz · 3rd Feb 2008, 20:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

It's not painted, it's anodised - engrained colour into the metal oxide layer.

Sort of, an extra layer than can be coloured, added outside the original oxide layer of the Aluminium!

Woodstock · 3rd Feb 2008, 21:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jipa

The screen seems like a nice toy, and allthough there's no way I'd pay the premium to get a screen on my HTPC-case, I kinda see where that's coming from. If the HTPC is hooked up to a proper setup with a projector and a ton of amps then I understand it's sometimes nice to tweak some settings on the small screen and save the lamp of the projector... And if you can pay all the other equipments then hell, one 7" screen shouldn't blow the budget

or just use vnc from a differennt computer

Jipa · 3rd Feb 2008, 21:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woodstock

or just use vnc from a differennt computer

Yeah first stick the movie to the drive and then run back to the office to make the settings and... It's just handy sometimes, ok?

Bindibadgi · 3rd Feb 2008, 21:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by '91

Sort of, an extra layer than can be coloured, added outside the original oxide layer of the Aluminium!

That's just being pedantic. :P I'm technically not wrong.

Mankz · 3rd Feb 2008, 21:41

Yes, but at the same time, your not 100% right! I win!

Mwaah!

Woodstock · 3rd Feb 2008, 21:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jipa

Yeah first stick the movie to the drive and then run back to the office to make the settings and... It's just handy sometimes, ok?

or just use the remote

markkleb · 3rd Feb 2008, 21:46

Check out this insane HTPC case that fathazza mentioned (I thought the Zalman was $$$)

http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/25/o...me-theater-pc/
(12 HDDs?)

Joeymac · 4th Feb 2008, 04:14

Yeash.. that seems like a right pain. 6/10 for usability.. the screen and remote are next to useless due to the software and the untoward cables make installing stuff a complete headache. Too many points there.
Plus that thing looks like a dust nightmare. Too bad the 10/10 features don't include some easy removable filters to go over those fans/holes. You'd have to wear the screw threads down when you open it for cleaning out.

Bindibadgi · 4th Feb 2008, 09:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by '91

Yes, but at the same time, your not 100% right! I win!

Mwaah!

Well technically nor are you, but I wasn't arsey enough to point it out muhahaha

Joey - if you spend a lot of time getting it right, it has all the feature potential right there. You can use the remote or the screen or the buttons etc. Yes, no fan filters but not everyone wants them - the case should dissipate quite a bit of heat and should sit with very little airflow to be quiet. Filters just reduce the flow making it noisier. Personally I would like to have seen them, but I accept why people don't need them.

Bionic-Blob · 4th Feb 2008, 10:13

i'd rather have one of those zalman TNN systems.

[USRF]Obiwan · 4th Feb 2008, 11:14

I rather have a network 'play everything' player with a very good HD decoder chip, all sorts of outputs like dvi/hdmi/optical/digital outputs, usb in the front so i can stick a 8gb stick/ or external drive into to player and it plays the content. And a nice onscreen menu to browse te network for content and internet for content from youtube, shoutcast whatever from yout lazy chair

For example the snazio media players, or what about the Alienware bluray mediaserver ?

3rd Feb 2008, 08:20	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Zalman HD160XT Plus http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...zm160xt_plus/1 Are you looking for the ultimate home theatre case? Well, look no further because Zalman has sent it to us - we have a look at the HD160XT Plus, a 100 percent aluminium design with looks to die for. It even has a 7" touch screen to tie it all off. Excessive? Awesome? Costly? We find out. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

3rd Feb 2008, 15:15	#4
fathazza Freed on Probation Join Date: May 2002 Location: Gloucestershire Posts: 3,110	i dont get the point of the screen being that small... if youre going to pay that much for a case you may as well go the whole hog and get the origenAE case with the 12" 1080p screen __________________ I may be fat but at least I am not Ginger "The President is no longer a cross-eyed Texan warmonger, unelected, inarticulate, who epitomises the arrogance of American foreign policy" - Boris Johnson

3rd Feb 2008, 16:03	#5
HandMadeAndroid Multimodder Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Newcastle Posts: 125	Overkill, 90's hi-fi look, very much like a Yamaha AV amp or the like from back in the day. Touch screen totally pointless, and @ £400 far to expensive. Mutton dressed as lamb lol __________________ Give them cake

3rd Feb 2008, 20:09	#6
HourBeforeDawn a.k.a KazeModz Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Cali, USA Posts: 1,796	I think it looks great and the fact that the inside is also painted is a nice touch, I want to get my hands on this case or the Silverstone CW03 HTPC Case for my next HTPC build. __________________ Current Rig: RubyRED • Lian-Li A05B • (2) Swiftech 220 Radiators • (2) D5 Variable Pumps • (2) Res • and a whole lot of modding • Retired Rig: Project F.E.A.R. • TT Lanbox Lite • Swiftech H2O-120 • Q6600 G0 OC@3.6ghz • 2900XT • 4gb SuperTalent Memory •

3rd Feb 2008, 20:14	#7
Bindibadgi Richard Swinburne bit-tech Staff Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Omnipwntent Posts: 28,284	It's not painted, it's anodised - engrained colour into the metal oxide layer. __________________ Made you look, made you stare, made you clicked this in your underwear! Den of Geek!

3rd Feb 2008, 20:20	#8
DougEdey I pwn all your storage Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Southampton Posts: 13,933	The LCD should be placed in an external enclosure with a battery back and wireless VGA... __________________ Burnout: Paradise Stats!XBL: DougEdey Bindi PSN ID: DougEdey Twitter

3rd Feb 2008, 20:45	#9
Jipa Licenced idiot. Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Tampere, Finland Posts: 3,068	Oh this is so confusing... I reviewed the original HD160, but it seems it has nothing to do with this case except the name. The side panels are from HD135 and the internal layout is KINDA 160-ish, but then again not. I like how they've paid attention to the HDD-cooling, and I love the fact that there's an actual cage like in HD135, but then again they've removed the nice wire-fanguards and replaced them with the cheapest cut-out versions. What's that all about? The screen seems like a nice toy, and allthough there's no way I'd pay the premium to get a screen on my HTPC-case, I kinda see where that's coming from. If the HTPC is hooked up to a proper setup with a projector and a ton of amps then I understand it's sometimes nice to tweak some settings on the small screen and save the lamp of the projector... And if you can pay all the other equipments then hell, one 7" screen shouldn't blow the budget __________________ Abit IP35 - E6750 - 8800GT 1024 MB - 2 GB 800 MHz - enough HDDs - 750 W Silverstone - CM Storm Sniper Asus P5Q-VM - Q9450 - 4 GB - 400 W Silverstone - Fortress FT01 AllTheMods - MetkuMods - LedCalc

3rd Feb 2008, 21:46	#16
markkleb Minimodder Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 22	Check out this insane HTPC case that fathazza mentioned (I thought the Zalman was $$$) http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/25/o...me-theater-pc/ (12 HDDs?)

4th Feb 2008, 04:14	#17
Joeymac Multimodder Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 224	Yeash.. that seems like a right pain. 6/10 for usability.. the screen and remote are next to useless due to the software and the untoward cables make installing stuff a complete headache. Too many points there. Plus that thing looks like a dust nightmare. Too bad the 10/10 features don't include some easy removable filters to go over those fans/holes. You'd have to wear the screw threads down when you open it for cleaning out.

4th Feb 2008, 10:13	#19
Bionic-Blob Multimodder Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 72	i'd rather have one of those zalman TNN systems.

4th Feb 2008, 11:14	#20
[USRF]Obiwan Ultramodder Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,220	I rather have a network 'play everything' player with a very good HD decoder chip, all sorts of outputs like dvi/hdmi/optical/digital outputs, usb in the front so i can stick a 8gb stick/ or external drive into to player and it plays the content. And a nice onscreen menu to browse te network for content and internet for content from youtube, shoutcast whatever from yout lazy chair For example the snazio media players, or what about the Alienware bluray mediaserver ? __________________ Mascleta: "The most accurate simulation of thunder, humans can simulate..." The answer is 42, so... whats the question again? If you know what 'Peek' and 'Poke' represents, then you are probably as old as me.