I love that you seem to be the only person crapping on IceWhale's software. Everything you dogged on has been what has kept me from buying any of their stuff.
Im not a massive fan of CasaOS myself, but im new to docker and found this the easiest to understand and workout as a graphical docker management system so i made it work.some of my biggest peaves are as follows: 1)The widgets are nice to look at but are not really interactive i.e. you cant really manage the disks from the widget. 2) apps are slow to be added to the app store and ive had to add a lot of my apps from external sources. 3) the files explorer is very lacking, i just feel like there's something missing (actually quite a bit)... It's just meh. There are a few more niggles i would like taken care of but other than that CasaOS has allowed me to very productive with docker without having to use Portainer
I have the cluster kit on the way. I'm very happy I decided to get their included 16GB dimm. I didn't even know at the time sourcing my own would have seriously hurt the value, I lucked out for sure.
That video was a breath of fresh air-your approach to critiques and providing feedback is world class (IMO as professional consumer software designer and former people manager at Disney). I think your critique segment is practical and valuable to the entire audience (consumers and manufacturers).
I just received the $96 quad4 version of the ZimaBlade since I already have a ZimaBoard which when booting to Blancco (a compulsory thing for work) the ZimaBoard slowed down in the UI so much it was unusable (either before drive selection via PXE boot, or after successfully erasing drives booting from a USB which meant I couldn't click the "report" then "send" buttons for proof on the record that they'd been erased). I wasn't sure going cheaper than the ZimaBoard would solve this issue, but it did! Blancco on the ZimaBlade runs so well I've now ordered the $64 version just to see if the even cheaper dual-core CPU can also run Blancco with no issues.
I bought one of these to run a small casaOS home server. It was dead out of the box. Still can't get it to boot up. Put RAM in, bought the official 3A usb-c power supply, and still nothing.
“If you liked this, why?” I’m new to the home lab game so I like hearing about all of the tech I’m never going to buy and being told I have no friends for a Minecraft server. Lol
Great video man! So frustrated with CasaOS. I had been running a couple containers in production in my homelab on a zimaboard and was super happy, when a CasaOS bug completely blew away my data directory. And I totally was smart and had a backup #didnot so it wasn’t a big deal #itwasabigdeal
Would love to see a review on the Odroid H3+ from you. Dual 2.5GbE, M.2, dual ddr4 sodimm, dual sata 3... for just 50 bucks more. The only thing in favour for the ZimaBlade is the PCIe port, whoever needs it... It is on my wishlist for a long time, but I never had the money for it :(
When I first saw the announcement, I went through a rollercoaster of emotions. Initially, I felt that it was a downgrade compared to the Zimablade. However, I decided to order one for a specific reason - it would be the perfect backup NAS for me. While it may not have ECC and only has 1 gig ethernet, I believe it is ideal for an extra small footprint offsite backup. It's small, energy-efficient, and the pricing is reasonable for my needs.
finally someone is talking about the pcie design flaw. If I just wanna use the „walkman from the future“😉 as a pure backup NAS, can I go with the base model, or is the 4 core variant the better choice? thx
Thinking at loud - maybe that PCI-E slot is placed there, so all ports are on the same plane, so if you use some common (like 3d printed) case, all IO is on the same plane...? Just thinking.
I looked into the zima blade to replace my pi5 for my small selfhoster. I canceled my preorder when i saw the power adapter and found the nucbox g3 gmtek.90 dollars for an n100 barebones. An extra 30 for 32 gb ram on ebay. 2tb nvme for 40 bucks. That can run proxmox and everything else you can imagine. The pi and zima blades have lost the plot with the costs etc.
Yep, invest some more and get kinda exponential better perf. Btw, I'm building a PC for containers but am confused what spec should I do! Photoprism for photos, Openmediavault Adguard DNS Jellyfin for tv shows and movies Home assistant for controlling lighting and for 2x home cams Nextcloud (Want to poweruse it!) Zfs raid shared 2x 2TB HDD Also came across Mycroft, like an Alexa/ Google assistant alternative. PS suggest some quality of life apps;)
You just got a subscriber. A side note, you might want to try raising your camera height so the lens is the same height as your eyes and the camera is level. Especially with that wide lens up close.
I use an old fitlet2 for my router and wanted to upgrade from 8GB to 16GB DDR3L couldn't beleive how hard/expensive they are to find and how cheap 2*8GB sticks are.
I am really confused by the zimaboard/zimablade and similar devices. It's kinda like the raspberry pi craze in that I feel like I must be missing the point. For $150 I can buy a tiny computer with an Intel N100, 16gb ddr5 ram, and 500g SSD, with 2 2.5gb Ethernet ports and a half dozen USB ports. That uses barely any power too. So am I missing a reason why there are so many reviews for these zimaboard type devices because they seem like they are just underpowered SBC that provide less of what one would want and they aren't really cheap. Actually, a zimaboard would cost me more than the mini computer described above. I've been searching TH-cam to see if there is some benefit im not aware of but if there is not a single person mentioned it. Is it some weird fake hacker cred thing?
I'm having a hard time justifying these over a laptop unless I'm in Europe, but then I'd want an n100 as well. Used DDR3 is more expensive than DDR4 even. :(
your prodesk fab was quite a bit better - 64gb ram was key - you did do 40g like a year ago so the 40g fail on prodesk was too bad - it is definitely possible and 2 40 nas from your ws could be a good option for you and a ton of small biz and homelabbers out there - 56g dual port cards are 50 bucks so it is not crazy expensive upgrade
icewhale had been putting all their time and energy on the zimacube while neglecting the zimablade - which had been in crowdfunding much longer. you can see this in their discord activity for the cube vs the blade, and the number of updates in their zimacube kickstarter versus their crowd supply updates for zimablade. the zimablade feels like a model for early last year that they will be actually releasing in february this year. why ship the blade so fricken late for what it is? in comparison, the cube is newer ish hardware being released a month or two after the blade.
I was looking forward to this release. I held out on buying the zimaboard in anticipation that things could get slightly better and man what a price point!! but only one rj45, pass! So disappointing!!
This review is quite misguided IMO. He basically says it's a great product, but it's not built for his use case. Yeah, you don't buy an 8k cinema camera to record your kid's birthday. I use this to quickly plug in into another system to run audit tools, or provide quick access to services or connectivity just by plugging in a box (USB/LAN). I think of it as a lab in my pocket, that allows me to turn any network into a hub. For a motorbike rally (+200mi) I used it to setup a local video streaming server on a boosted wifi network to stream live feeds from different checkpoints and vehicles, while syncing with a remote CDN server, basically a security cam network. Still more of a hobby project than real consequences situation though. I only use SMBs bare-metal, when ease of access, installation and power consumption are a priority, anything else that can benefit from virtualization probably runs better on a discount product that will get you a better bang for your buck.
For the price or 10 more can get a n100 from china. The only “advantage “ is the pcie but I wonder how many actually use that. Extremely overpriced even the top spec should sell at 60 bucks max
Also the sata ports. That makes HDDs/SSDs work without additional cost. For me, that is the selling point compared to my N100 cluster. Having acces to 2x 3,5" HDD without the need of some shitty USB-Sata enclosure (not even considering how bad USB connection is compared to a native Sata connection) is kinda cool :)
The m2 to Sata adapters cost little so if you got a minipc without internal Sata you can easily add those. Too bad there's little products which are n100/300 with a slightly larger housing so you could stick a few 2.5 drives internally
Why do you keep comparing it to the ZimaBoard? It's not a replacement, it's at best a cheaper version of it. You have some valid points but you forgot the most important of all: price. This board is only about the price.
Just as it is shipping to backers? Hehehehe Let me see what you say about casaos and zimaos before I decide whether to like or unsubscribe 😂😂😂😂 Edit: I liked. But you should really try zimaos.
I love that you seem to be the only person crapping on IceWhale's software. Everything you dogged on has been what has kept me from buying any of their stuff.
They’re so close to something awesome. I’ll be patiently waiting.
Im not a massive fan of CasaOS myself, but im new to docker and found this the easiest to understand and workout as a graphical docker management system so i made it work.some of my biggest peaves are as follows:
1)The widgets are nice to look at but are not really interactive i.e. you cant really manage the disks from the widget.
2) apps are slow to be added to the app store and ive had to add a lot of my apps from external sources.
3) the files explorer is very lacking, i just feel like there's something missing (actually quite a bit)... It's just meh.
There are a few more niggles i would like taken care of but other than that CasaOS has allowed me to very productive with docker without having to use Portainer
Agree about the 2.5gb NIC, N100 processor, and more modern Ram spec.
I have the cluster kit on the way. I'm very happy I decided to get their included 16GB dimm. I didn't even know at the time sourcing my own would have seriously hurt the value, I lucked out for sure.
That video was a breath of fresh air-your approach to critiques and providing feedback is world class (IMO as professional consumer software designer and former people manager at Disney). I think your critique segment is practical and valuable to the entire audience (consumers and manufacturers).
Should've swapped the mini displayport for another type c would have still worked as a dispaly out but would've also given you another usb port.
True
it would have cost them $.40 more per unit 🙄🙄🙄
You could do a video about carpet tiles and I'd still watch it for your snark! :) This was a decent honest review - really appreciate that.
I just received the $96 quad4 version of the ZimaBlade since I already have a ZimaBoard which when booting to Blancco (a compulsory thing for work) the ZimaBoard slowed down in the UI so much it was unusable (either before drive selection via PXE boot, or after successfully erasing drives booting from a USB which meant I couldn't click the "report" then "send" buttons for proof on the record that they'd been erased).
I wasn't sure going cheaper than the ZimaBoard would solve this issue, but it did! Blancco on the ZimaBlade runs so well I've now ordered the $64 version just to see if the even cheaper dual-core CPU can also run Blancco with no issues.
I really wish this was POE powered. That would be an amazing box to just toss at the edge, or to fully replace the RPI.
Yeah would be SICK
I saw minisforum had a pc in the works that's poe powered... May be worth a look
Yeah Wendell reviewed it, looks cool@@ToaOfTech
POE splitter?
@@Cynyr I have not seen a PoE splitter that converts to Type-C PD, especially with this weird 12V/3A spec
I bought one of these to run a small casaOS home server. It was dead out of the box. Still can't get it to boot up. Put RAM in, bought the official 3A usb-c power supply, and still nothing.
“If you liked this, why?”
I’m new to the home lab game so I like hearing about all of the tech I’m never going to buy and being told I have no friends for a Minecraft server. Lol
8:08 I need that little hard drive case. Where'd you get it?
They sent it with the ZimaBoard so I assume you can buy it?
I bought one of these and it absolutely breaks my heart that they didnt think to use DDR4 instead of ddr3
Thanks for the demo and info, have a great day
Great video man! So frustrated with CasaOS. I had been running a couple containers in production in my homelab on a zimaboard and was super happy, when a CasaOS bug completely blew away my data directory. And I totally was smart and had a backup #didnot so it wasn’t a big deal #itwasabigdeal
Would love to see a review on the Odroid H3+ from you. Dual 2.5GbE, M.2, dual ddr4 sodimm, dual sata 3... for just 50 bucks more. The only thing in favour for the ZimaBlade is the PCIe port, whoever needs it...
It is on my wishlist for a long time, but I never had the money for it :(
When I first saw the announcement, I went through a rollercoaster of emotions. Initially, I felt that it was a downgrade compared to the Zimablade. However, I decided to order one for a specific reason - it would be the perfect backup NAS for me. While it may not have ECC and only has 1 gig ethernet, I believe it is ideal for an extra small footprint offsite backup. It's small, energy-efficient, and the pricing is reasonable for my needs.
finally someone is talking about the pcie design flaw.
If I just wanna use the „walkman from the future“😉 as a pure backup NAS, can I go with the base model, or is the 4 core variant the better choice? thx
So would this be a good option to run home assistant? Don't crush me as I'm an amateur at home server tech
Absolutely!
I'd whip out my Dremel on that IO shield so fast lol. Create a nice little grove for it to slide into.
Thinking at loud - maybe that PCI-E slot is placed there, so all ports are on the same plane, so if you use some common (like 3d printed) case, all IO is on the same plane...? Just thinking.
I looked into the zima blade to replace my pi5 for my small selfhoster. I canceled my preorder when i saw the power adapter and found the nucbox g3 gmtek.90 dollars for an n100 barebones. An extra 30 for 32 gb ram on ebay. 2tb nvme for 40 bucks. That can run proxmox and everything else you can imagine. The pi and zima blades have lost the plot with the costs etc.
Price is $120 USD for the barebones model. They might have different prices by geography.
Yep, invest some more and get kinda exponential better perf.
Btw, I'm building a PC for containers but am confused what spec should I do!
Photoprism for photos,
Openmediavault
Adguard DNS
Jellyfin for tv shows and movies
Home assistant for controlling lighting and for 2x home cams
Nextcloud (Want to poweruse it!)
Zfs raid shared 2x 2TB HDD
Also came across Mycroft, like an Alexa/ Google assistant alternative.
PS suggest some quality of life apps;)
Totally agree about the n100 CPU. I will not touch anything less than a n100 CPU in 2024, especially as it decodes AV1 via hardware.
You just got a subscriber.
A side note, you might want to try raising your camera height so the lens is the same height as your eyes and the camera is level. Especially with that wide lens up close.
I use an old fitlet2 for my router and wanted to upgrade from 8GB to 16GB DDR3L couldn't beleive how hard/expensive they are to find and how cheap 2*8GB sticks are.
Reminds me of r\c toy robots from the 80’s. But I’m sure the hardware isn’t THAT old.
What’s a low power alternative to this to use as a truenas sever. Hopefully something with expandable ram
I am really confused by the zimaboard/zimablade and similar devices. It's kinda like the raspberry pi craze in that I feel like I must be missing the point.
For $150 I can buy a tiny computer with an Intel N100, 16gb ddr5 ram, and 500g SSD, with 2 2.5gb Ethernet ports and a half dozen USB ports. That uses barely any power too. So am I missing a reason why there are so many reviews for these zimaboard type devices because they seem like they are just underpowered SBC that provide less of what one would want and they aren't really cheap. Actually, a zimaboard would cost me more than the mini computer described above.
I've been searching TH-cam to see if there is some benefit im not aware of but if there is not a single person mentioned it. Is it some weird fake hacker cred thing?
in just 6 months the 3760 went from 64 to 79 dollars. interesting.
Every time I hear about these boards I think of Zima the clear malt drink from the 90s.
Delicioso
Can you power the zimablade from a atx 12v psu?
I'm having a hard time justifying these over a laptop unless I'm in Europe, but then I'd want an n100 as well. Used DDR3 is more expensive than DDR4 even. :(
Yeah the n100 would be better to have even if it’s more expensive
ZimaBoard looks amazing but not with those specs...
your prodesk fab was quite a bit better - 64gb ram was key - you did do 40g like a year ago so the 40g fail on prodesk was too bad - it is definitely possible and 2 40 nas from your ws could be a good option for you and a ton of small biz and homelabbers out there - 56g dual port cards are 50 bucks so it is not crazy expensive upgrade
".... let's be honest. You dont have any friends"
😂😂😂
The truth hurts sometimes
icewhale had been putting all their time and energy on the zimacube while neglecting the zimablade - which had been in crowdfunding much longer. you can see this in their discord activity for the cube vs the blade, and the number of updates in their zimacube kickstarter versus their crowd supply updates for zimablade. the zimablade feels like a model for early last year that they will be actually releasing in february this year. why ship the blade so fricken late for what it is? in comparison, the cube is newer ish hardware being released a month or two after the blade.
FML I have had this Zima board 832 since October and its hell on wheels sometimes so annoyed
We need a better Zima with multi gig nics, a better processor and more ports.
needs to have a CPU that can encode AV1
love ur humour
I was looking forward to this release. I held out on buying the zimaboard in anticipation that things could get slightly better and man what a price point!! but only one rj45, pass! So disappointing!!
On my way to the doctors!
Best review, well balanced
Love the video and the jokes until you called me DDR 3 not cool bro 😂
Hey man DDR3 isn’t bad! 😅
DDR3 Release date: 2007; 17 years ago. 😂 anyone who buys this got taken for a ride.
That's old😂
My zimaboard is so turned on right now.
Mmmm 🥵
Love the Unicorn Shirt! BUT not the Zimathingy.
I use it as a hacking lab so we can definitely hack with it or do stupid shit.
This review is quite misguided IMO. He basically says it's a great product, but it's not built for his use case. Yeah, you don't buy an 8k cinema camera to record your kid's birthday. I use this to quickly plug in into another system to run audit tools, or provide quick access to services or connectivity just by plugging in a box (USB/LAN). I think of it as a lab in my pocket, that allows me to turn any network into a hub. For a motorbike rally (+200mi) I used it to setup a local video streaming server on a boosted wifi network to stream live feeds from different checkpoints and vehicles, while syncing with a remote CDN server, basically a security cam network. Still more of a hobby project than real consequences situation though. I only use SMBs bare-metal, when ease of access, installation and power consumption are a priority, anything else that can benefit from virtualization probably runs better on a discount product that will get you a better bang for your buck.
For the price or 10 more can get a n100 from china. The only “advantage “ is the pcie but I wonder how many actually use that. Extremely overpriced even the top spec should sell at 60 bucks max
Also the sata ports. That makes HDDs/SSDs work without additional cost. For me, that is the selling point compared to my N100 cluster. Having acces to 2x 3,5" HDD without the need of some shitty USB-Sata enclosure (not even considering how bad USB connection is compared to a native Sata connection) is kinda cool :)
I guess …but the performance on these are horrible. Specially compared to a n100.
The m2 to Sata adapters cost little so if you got a minipc without internal Sata you can easily add those.
Too bad there's little products which are n100/300 with a slightly larger housing so you could stick a few 2.5 drives internally
they wont bother it will cost too much imo
+nvme slot, ffs!
Hey, I have friends, they just go to a different Minecraft server =(
Bro same. You’ve never heard of it tho…its new
Johnson! Did you use minecraft to make a giant...
Dick! Did you see the huge pixely...
Why do you keep comparing it to the ZimaBoard? It's not a replacement, it's at best a cheaper version of it. You have some valid points but you forgot the most important of all: price. This board is only about the price.
You're really gonna tell me that the Zimaboard and Zimablade are not comparable?
"If you enjoyed this.... why?
Just as it is shipping to backers? Hehehehe
Let me see what you say about casaos and zimaos before I decide whether to like or unsubscribe 😂😂😂😂
Edit: I liked. But you should really try zimaos.
When it’s out of beta I’ll try it. Deal?
@RaidOwl deal. I hope you get a high end zimacube to try it on. Word is it will be the zimacube firmware.
@@RaidOwl I will await that too :D
nice
all right now my answer is no.
Open source firmware would get my attention, otherwise meh.
Maybe trade it for a better shirt.