Pros: small form factor, powerful enough hardware for high definition, great image quality, good software bundled, media center remote
Cons: Bundled Power DVD version is version 7 on mine.
Cons: Bundled Power DVD version is version 7 on mine.
I got my Bodhibox and I must say that I am impressed! It came with what most HTPCs offer as standard and more. First of all let me tell you that I got the base unit and didnt get anything extra with it. The box was plain brown with a green "bodhiboxes" sticker on it (which is understandable because of their "green" approach to HTPCs). Inside the box came a Thank You note from the PC maker, a wireless keyboard and mouse (with included AAA batteries), a small but nicely made manual which reminds me of the Apple manuals, a system restore disk with drivers, a Windows 7 Home Basic disk, a Power DVD disk, a media center remote and of course the Bodhibox itself.
When I took the Bodhibox out of the box I was surprised how small it was. One thing that I do have to mention is that the box is long length wise so just make sure you have clearing in the back of your home theater rack or cabinet. Setting it up was easy. All the hook ups for my HDTV and my sound system were there in the back of the bodhi (including hdmi and optical for my sound). I followed the instructions on the manual to get my wireless setup connected to the bodhibox (another nice feature is that it came with a wifi card on the base unit and they didn't make it an optional thing). The wifi is wireless g and not "N". I wish that it had come with an "N" card but at least it came with a wifi card period and "G" is the standard anyway. I clicked on Windows Media and setup my shared folders and done! Yes it was that easy.
It already came with Power DVD preinstalled and everything was good to go straight out of the box. I was playing blu-ray movies and watching streaming movies right away. The media center remote it included controls both Power DVD software and Windows Media Center and it even controlls my XBOX 360 which was a nice surprise since I didn't have a remote for that!. I installed XBMC and Boxee on it and was able to play HD mkv compressed movies just fine. I used Boxee for the Pandora app which is great for parties. Turn on your sound system and turn off your TV and let Pandora and the Bodhibox do the rest! I highly recommend the Hulu desktop app since it goes well with the Bodhibox. The interface is nice and it works with the media center remote bundled with the unit.
The machine is whisper quiet. They really focused on making the HTPC as "eco friendly" as possible so its not the fastest machine but nor does it have to be. Its a media center computer not a gaming one (although I did load up World of Warcraft on it and it worked fine with some settings turned down of course). I am sure if I had bought the optional video card my games would look and play better.
The mouse and keyboard aren't the greatest in the world but they are decent and a nice bonus to include it.
Overall I am very happy with my purchase. With all the things that come bundled with it and it even working straight out of the box made it all well worth it. Great Job guys! I can't wait to see what comes next from them.
-Richard
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