MediaBox-200 V2

[warwickwater]

Anyone out there tried one of these? I'm assuming the 'chosen few' have had them in their hands for a few months if this is now a release product. It seems to be an Intel NUC unit with MediaSignage adding the memory and SSD (along with Win 7 embedded). The raw barebone unit in the UK is around $300 (equivelent) so you are effectively paying $250 for memory, SSD, Win 7 licence and the all important integration. Seems like a reasonable deal to me (maybe a $100-120 premium on the parts alone cost?)

I'd love to see some videos of one of these playing out to TWO screens with multiple regions on each, including video and some scrollers - if it does what it says on the tin then they really do seem great value!

[actnowguy]

Specs would be nice ,motherboard, etc. Zotac is in the others whats in this one?

[warwickwater]

It's an Intel 'Next Unit of Computing' - very Googlable. You can work out the model by the fact it has twin HDMIs.  No inside info here, just some googlefu on the very distinctive case. No idea on the (smallish SSD), but like the memory, not sure it really matters much. 2G of RAM seems a little tight, from what I have seen on 'full size' PC boxes running Win7 (standard not embedded).

[teethstraight]

We've been testing for about a week now. At first everything was running smoothly, but after 5 days of continuous playback, the NUC seems to be affected by heat. It's running between 70C and 78C (convert for Fahrenheit), but essentially, it's HOT! Our content, which is fairly graphic intensive, played without any problems at first, but now it's become very jumpy. Apart from that, longevity of these players will be limited running at that temperature 24/7.

I'm really disappointed about this because the potential was huge. But it makes sense that due to the small size and limited ventilation, these things are destined to overheat. MediaSignage are probably going to tell me to buy the MediaBox 300 to cope with my content. But that means more money for a job that the MediaBox 200 V1 already did perfectly.

I've bought six of these and am not entirely sure what we're going to do with them now.

Anyone else have any similar experiences with these things? 

[admin]

We have tested the mediaBOX-200 V2 for over 3 months under pretty good load and was running fine. If you wish to order the 200 V1, we can still get them.

Regards

[actnowguy]

Best bet , since you already own them and need them cooled is ,you may have to modify the top, remove top and install a fan . I had to do that to the media box 100 because of constantly overheating because of my content, worked fairly well. You can install a pc monitoring software to watch heat dissipation I use cpuid hwmonitor , you will definitely see the difference.
Heat Kills......

[criley]

As far as the over heating is concerned, I have scoured the different forums out there and the consensus seems to point to the wifi card and SSD. I am not sure if you are using the wifi version or not. If you are, try using the LAN if you are able. Also, I do not know the specs of the SSD, but gen2 ssds apparently do not have the overheating issues that the earlier ones did.

When mounting, it may be a good idea to make sure that the vents on the side are facing up as heat rises and away from the Display's vents which would add heat to the unit as well. Make sure that the vents on the bottom have good airflow.

@actnowguy, I was under the impression that there was already a fan in the units based on every forum I have read so far. This is not the case? If not, I would most definitely add that.

[teethstraight]

Here's an update on our tests.

I took the lid off of the NUC (V2) and pointed a fan on it. It's been running for about 48 hours and heat has dissipated from 78C to a stable 62C. That's still a bit on the warm side, but it's an improvement. Our Mediabox 200 V1 run at about 58C. Unfortunately, this hasn't improved the playback of content. Content still lags at times, but I've figured out why.

The NUC (V2) processor might be a new generation of Core i3, but it has almost half the processing power of the V1; 1.8 Ghz versus 3.3Ghz. This definitely shows, and I’m 99% certain this is the reason for our jumpy content playback. Our more graphic intense content is what jumps, while simple content plays back smoothly. However, as soon as we start including multiple zones (weather, rss, live capture) even the simple content begins to stutter. It’s clear that heat is NOT the issue here. The MediaBox 200 V1 has no problems at handling the same campaigns that the NUC (V2) struggles with. It comes down to processing power.

The player has also randomly been restarting itself every now and then. Though I have had this problem on some of our V1's as well though.

Digitalsignage/Mediasignage (what are you guys called these days?) has stated that the V1 is still for purchase. I’m going to continue buying that for as long as I can because I don't want to pay extra for the MediaBox 300. The NUC is a great idea and will probably satisfy setups that run simple content. But even though not everyone will experience over-heating issues, these players still run very hot overall. As a long-term digital signage solution, I don’t think they’re ideal, as the lifespan of the hardware will be severely affected by heat. I’m going to hold out until Intel releases the Core i5 NUC in April. Hopefully by then they will have improved the case design to allow for improved ventilation, and the processing power should be sufficient to match that of the Mediabox 200 V1.

@criley, we're not using the wifi card. There is a fan in the case, but the design is still flawed. There’s not enough ventilation.

[criley]

Good to know. Thanks for the update teethstraight. Great information! You are correct on the different processing power.

Also, it looks like Gigabyte will be making available the i3, i5, and i7 models in April as well. Also their case is designed with more vent holes to promote better ventilation. Not sure if needed, but the USBs will be 3.0.

Intel will also be releasing a Celeron model in the next couple of weeks for those that do not need the power and are looking for an Android alternative. The price should be about $100 less.

As for the MediaSignage versions, you are truly getting a great deal. Based on research, my guess is that MS is not making a great deal of money on these after the OS and SSD are installed. I do like to build my own, but if it is going to be about the same price or cheaper, I have to figure out where to focus the best use of my time.

[actnowguy]

My Media Box 200 Kept over-Heating .....so I did what any Normal Guy would do....
Here's what I did ...."I Know I know...."You could've had a V-8 too "

[criley]

I am at a loss for words right now. 

[RickW]

Hi I believe there is a fix for the heating.

intel-tackles-nuc-heat-issues-with-fan-speed-tweak-ssd-fix <- googable