As with the ZBOX nano AD12 PLUS' smaller sibling, it's easy to appreciate the technology packed into a pretty small form factor. ZOTAC have taken the concept of a mainstream APU and run with it, producing an accomplished HTPC which in many ways is far easier to live with than the previously reviewed system.

The primary weakness of the AD12, as with previous ZBOX nano's, was noise: the packaging clearly claims that the system will be "extremely silent", whereas in practice we would disagree. Even relatively low CPU temps. led to clearly audible fan speeds, although the cooling system appears to be an improvement over the too high-pitched nano XS AD11. Living-room HTPC set-ups won't be too concerned because the absolute noise volume isn't too high, but running the system as a SOHO PC may lead you to the headphones a little more than you'd like. Audio connoisseurs may view this as a bridge too far, preferring much more expensive full-size near-silent desktops.

In some respects we're a little surprised ZOTAC didn't design a slightly more elaborate cooling system for the AD12 given the larger form factor to work within and 18W TDP for the E2-1800 Brazos 2 APU. It's quite possible that the system would benefit from additional air intakes, and adding some on the right hand side would do little to mar its aesthetic appeal. Equally we would be a little concerned to run the system at very high load 24/7 - it's clearly not designed for that sort of extremely heavy extended use even though it can handle 20mins+ of >90% load without issue.

ZOTAC also appear to have fixed a minor problem we had with the AD11 in that it wasn't booting from USB reliably. Installing Windows 7 from a USB 2.0 device on the AD12 PLUS was quick and painless, although you still need a separate PC or external DVD drive to begin. Windows 8 is upcoming and allegedly makes booting from USB even more straight-forward, boding well for the future appeal of the AD12 and other ZOTAC mini-PCs to the mainstream.

Good looks are of course part of the package, and you can rarely go wrong with a brushed aluminium and piano black finish. The size increase over the AD11 is in many respects worth it for the additional configuration flexibility it affords: simply slotting in your own choice of consumer-level SSD is in itself worth the extra footprint. By including a DisplayPort allowing >1080p resolutions ZOTAC have also added a certain level of future-proofing, although that perhaps should be taken with a pinch of salt given the increased processing requirements of higher resolutions.

Where software takes advantage of the GPU's capabilities - i.e. hardware decoding of HD video playback - performance is excellent. The beefier E2-1800 APU is also more able to cope with non-GPU accelerated content, leading to a better experience overall in HD content which may for whatever reason be incompatible with the HD7340 graphics. We wouldn't quite recommend flash-based software-decoded 1080p video - many fully-fledged desktops still struggle with this content - but 720p seems to be reasonable. Whichever decoding mechanism is used, care needs to be taken to use the correct software for the task.

Compared to your average Nettop the AD12 PLUS is a strong product with plenty of room to grow into for the novice user. HDD capacity in particular is not a significant restriction; we have quoted a typical Windows 7 installation size of 21GB in the past and in general that still holds true, and so over 250GB of spare storage space should be the norm. But lets be clear, you probably won't be using this space for your Steam folder - the system doesn't have the grunt to be considered suitable for hardcore gaming, though more casual, indie or web-based (non-3D) titles shouldn't be an issue.

When considering the AD12 PLUS for the long term don't gloss over the memory constraints on the system. The 2GB DDR3 1333 RAM is shared between the system and GPU, limiting you to approx. 1.6GB for typical system function rather than the 2GB + 512MB Video RAM you'd see on a low-end desktop PC. RAM issues are especially acute on systems with HDDs rather than SSDs, as HDD performance tends to bottleneck a system to a much greater degree.

To round out the package, we should mention more of the more quality of life features of the AD12 PLUS. Once again ZOTAC have bundled an excellent Windows MCE IR remote and sensor package which is fully supported by XBMC, an afterthought in many competing products and non-existent in others. Although it hasn't been a factor in our review, the inclusion of Bluetooth via the integrated wireless module is a very nice bonus ideal for front-room set-ups utilising compatible wireless keyboards and mice.

So, what's our recommendation? A lot will depend on your budget, but there's no inherent flaw in the AD12 PLUS - buy it understanding its limitations and you should be very happy. We would however suggest that more confident users take a look at the non-PLUS barebones option as and when it becomes available: SSDs continue to fall in price, and this system would benefit from more RAM in the long run. Even those who pick up the PLUS variant should consider a memory upgrade to 4GB, a £20 purchase which should serve to improve performance when your software configuration has bedded in on a mechanical HDD-based system.



In the ZBOX nano AD12 PLUS ZOTAC have once again crafted an extremely accomplished system based on AMD's Brazos-2 APU platform which is fully-featured and performs well to boot. The ample 320GB HDD from Toshiba is an unexpectedly low-noise inclusion, and integrated Bluetooth could be just the ticket for a wireless HTPC setup. Fan noise remains something of an issue for the ZBOX nano's, and it would be nice to see 4GB of RAM rather than the frugal 2GB included in the PLUS variant. Overall it's an extremely well deserved Silver Award for ZOTAC, yet again showing their strength in the mini-PC market.





Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.

Our thanks once again go to ZOTAC for providing this review sample.