ZOTAC ZBOX E Series EI750 PLUS Workstation Mini PC with Intel Core i7-4770R quad-core Processor, Intel Iris Pro 5200 Graphics, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 8GB Memory, 1TB HDD, No OS Barebone System (ZBOX-EI750-PLUS-U)

I ordered this from Amazon a couple days ago and had to return it because the included mounting screw for the msata drive broke while trying to remove it. I like the computer a lot and recommend it as an excellent solution for doing work and some gaming. It outperforms similar machines in tests across the internet (just search "Zbox EN760 gaming" and you'll see). It even outperforms some tower based PC's. This is because of the dedicated graphics card, which means if you want a small form factor pc for work and occasional gaming, this is one of the best choices. Below I will itemize some pros and cons for others considering purchasing this machine.Pros:01. Extremely easy and fast access to the ports for installing the ram, msata drive and other SSD - case opens with thumb screws02. Small footprint and energy efficient03. Fairly quiet operation04. Mounting bracket included for mounting to the back of your monitor05. Can run on an msata drive exclusively (not included), no need for another hard drive unless you want one06. Includes all needed drivers on a usb key (install them after you install the operating system)07. Aesthetically pleasing - For those who appreciate good design, this is nice to see on the desk08. Start up from msata drive is blazing fast if you use it as your main boot drive (highly recommended)09. Includes the msata screw already in the motherboard, just be careful unscrewing it, because it's fragile10. Has enough USB ports - you will likely need all of them for installing your operating system (for keyboard, mouse, external DVD drive for installing operating system, etc) - Not sure if wireless peripherals work while doing a system build, because the drivers aren't installed until after the operating system is installedCons:01. Msata mounting screw too fragile, snapped while trying to unscrew it, leaving half of the unremovable screw in the motherboard02. USB ports are all around the machine, which seems convenient, until you have cables sprouting off in all directions, lol03. Outer shell is somewhat flimsy plastic and fingerprints are extremely easy to get and even harder to remove, worse than a stainless steel fridgeOk, so here is my configuration which is compatible with this system:01. Msata drive - Samsung 840 EVO - available from 120GB to 1TB: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HT2RNSO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s0102. RAM - Crucial Ballistix Sport: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DSGLM50?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s0103. External DVD drive for installing operating system - Samsung TSST Ultra-Slim - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MLXA1HG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s0104. Operating System - Full Windows 8.1 Disk which installs directly to 8.1, nice and easy - since it's not the OEM version (it's the full version), it's not tied to specific hardware, making reinstallation easier (definitely worth the extra $15): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EDSI7QO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s0005. Keyboard: Corsair K70 Gaming Keyboard - the highest quality keyboard I've ever seen (aluminum top, fabric wrapped usb cables, programmable illumination of your choice of keys...wow): http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Mechanical-Keyboard-Backlit-CH-9000076-NA/dp/B00M5DUJQ0/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1437276948&sr=1-3&keywords=corsair+keyboardOne more thing to consider - the rainbow effect, lol. Many of these components illuminate with a certain color while in use. I didn't think about this. They can be turned off of course, but maybe you enjoy having your keyboard illuminated, etc. Well, then you may want to consider the color coordination of all of these devices' illuminations. I am planning to change my mouse for this reason - it illuminates blue. So now I have a computer with an orange illuminated ring, a keyboard with red illuminated keys and a mouse with blue illumination. Clashing colors is unpleasant to see, especially on a daily basis, so you should think about this when planning your assembly if this is important to you. Ok, that's all! Just wanted to get the info out there that I was looking for when I made my purchase. Good luck to all of you!

I wish that I could give this product two reviews. The Zotac ZBox EI 730 easily earns five stars for its performance and value but the manufacturer is less than useless when it comes to customer service and support. If I were just reviewing Zotac, the company, they would get no stars at all. With that as an introduction, let me share my experiences with this amazing piece of hardware.When I started shopping for a new computer, I had several goals in mind. I wanted to get something that included state-of-the-art hardware, in the smallest possible package. It has always seemed silly to me that every time I replaced a computer, whatever I bought came with a new, (usually cheap), keyboard and mouse, along with another copy of the OS and a bunch of bloatware. The big cases were pretty but they took up valuable space on my desk and had to be thrown away during the next upgrade cycle.This time the plan was to get a small, bare bones system with lots of connectivity options. Assuming that I found such a thing, I would simply attach the high-quality peripherals that I already own. For the OS, I would use one of the many copies of Windows that I had already had on hand. I am not a fan of Windows 8 so there would be no reason to buy a new copy of the OS.After doing a lot of research, I discovered that during the summer of 2014, a bunch of amazing new hardware was set to debut. Among the major game changers that have been recently released are Intel's Haswell processors with powerful onboard graphics and a variety of affordable SSDs with SATA and mSata interfaces. These devices have been optimized for speed and efficiency. Their low power requirements make them perfect for use in a Mini PC format enclosure. All I had to do now was decide on which box and SSD to buy.There are only a few decent options out there right now when it comes to barebones mini PCs. The other contenders came from Gigabyte, Intel, (NUC), and Asus. There are a few others but they were really expensive and not worth the money in my opinion. In the end, I went with the Zotac ZBox EI 730 over its better-known competitors because it came with one of the fastest i5 Haswell CPUs out there. I could have purchased the slightly faster i7 version but the extra cost and potential heat issues scared me away.The ZBox IE730 is being marketed as a gaming PC. Although I am not a gamer, I felt that the higher performance specs that this computer features might future-proof my purchase a bit. The difference in price between this box and its lower performance cousins is not very much, especially if you plan to hold on the computer for a few years.In addition to having a bleeding edge processor, the ZBox also comes with a great mix of connectivity options. You can stuff up to 16GB of RAM and TWO DRIVES into this little box. This ZBox can accommodate a standard notebook hard drive and also has a place for a tiny mSATA SSD. An impressive collection of ports are included, (4 USB 3.0, 2 Display Port, 1 DVI-D with an HDMI adaptor). Rounding out the included connection options are a flash card reader, 2 Gigabit LAN ports, Bluetooth 4.0, WIFI and more). The only thing missing is a fully functional HDMI port.The secret to getting the most out of this, (and probably any new computer), is to install an SSD drive for the OS and programs. I chose a 250 GB Crucial M550 paired with 8GB of Crucial memory. I am sure that just about any SSD and memory combination would work great but I found these at the right price. My total cost for all the new hardware was about $800. It could have been a little less but I live in California where Amazon has to charge sales tax.The boxes from Amazon showed up just a couple days after I placed my order and I went to work putting my new computer together. Installing the mSATA drive and memory took just minutes. Then the problems began.Zotac provides virtually no documentation or useful instructions. Calling or emailing tech support is useless. If you do reach someone, their English skills are usually very poor and their product knowledge is worse. The company website does not even have anything available to download for most of their current products. Zotac may make excellent hardware but their customer service side is about as bad as it gets.Fortunately, the ZBox comes with a CD and a small flash drive containing all the required drivers, (don't lose this disk because these drivers are nowhere to be found on the Zotac site.) Unfortunately, no instructions are provided as to how to tweak the BIOS so it will boot from a user-supplied CD Drive. It took me half a day to figure this out.Once I did, installing Windows and all my programs was a relatively easy process. A word of warning, if you have never started from scratch installing a new OS and a sizeable collection of software, you should set aside a significant block of time. In my case, the whole process, including downloading updates for Windows all my programs, partitioning drives and loading data from backups, took me several days. In the end, it was well worth it.My two-year old i5-based laptop, (with a slow hard drive), can take up to three minutes to fully boot. The new ZBox with the SSD drive boots in seconds and that is with a bunch of programs loading in the background. Wow!!Big software packages, such as Photoshop or MS Office load in as little as five seconds on the new computer. I have never seen anything like this.This little computer also seems to have a lot of power in reserve. Just to see what would happen, I opened over several major programs and had each of them doing something. Even with a major load, I could not detect any speed reductions. To be fair, I have not tested the resources the way a gamer might but as a business computer, this thing gives me everything that I would wish for.I am only a week in to my experience with the ZBox EI 730, so there may be some surprises down the road. I do not expect anything too bad however because this computer is very well designed and incredibly simple. All that is in the simple plastic case is a tiny motherboard along with the user installed memory and disk drives.It does not look like there is much that can go wrong with the hardware, at least I hope so. On the other hand, if something does go bad and I have to rely on Zotac to solve the problem, I could be waiting a very long time.Based on what I know today, I highly recommend this product. If you are looking for a small, modular Windows PC solution that features state-of-the-art hardware and almost every conceivable connection option, the Zotac ZBox EI 730 should definitely be on your short list.