Dell just went official with the Inspiron Zino HD price and spces. There have been a few unboxing and previews popping up around the blogs the last few days and I’ve fallen in love with the little computer. It’s slightly larger than the Mac Mini, but I believe infinitely more versatile.
HTPC - It’s a given. The $229 Dell Zino HD would feel right at home on a A/V rack. The Athlon CPUs and optional ATI Radeon HD 4330 512MB GPU has more than enough juice to output 1080p to your HDTV. Check the box for the optional Blu-ray drive and TV tuner to create a bonafide HTPCIB – Home Theater PC In a Box, that is.
WHS - There are about a dozen and a half already built Windows Home Server options available. HP makes the media-centric MediaSmart line, Acer has the Atom-packing easyStore, Lenovo has options and the list goes on. They are competent boxes, but none of them have the processing power that the AMD options offer in the Zino HD, which is somewhat important if you want to turn the server into a torrent downloading monster. Choose the integrated graphics but select at least 2GB of RAM along with the option 1TB hard drive. The 2 eSATA ports ensure that you’ll never run out of storage capacity too.
Trendy office computer – It doesn’t take much to run Microsoft Office apps anymore. Why live with a boring gray tower these days when the playful Zino HD can get the job done too? Even the base model should be fine for most office tasks.
In-car computer – The Mac Mini might score you nerd points with the geeks posing in the car tuning crowd, but there are a lot of PC-only in-car apps, which makes the Zino HD a perfect solution. It has a small footprint and more than enough power to run GPS and music software. But most importantly is that the computer comes in enough color options that you should be able to find one to match your ride.
Old folks computer – What do old people do on a computer these days? Play on Facebook? That’s about it and the Zino HD, along with countless other options, has more than enough power to be a reliable computer for them. The Athlon cores should be able to handle at least five Internet Explorer toolbars and several spyware programs posing as card games. Try that with an Atom CPU.
The Zino HD product page is currently up, but you can’t customize or order one yet. That will probably change sometime today.
Press release,
ROUND ROCK, Texas, Nov. 12, 2009 – Dell today introduced the mini-sized Inspiron Zino HD, which is versatile enough to handle tasks from basic computing chores to driving a big-screen, High-Definition TV media center. With a choice of colors, the Inspiron Zino HD can be easily personalized to add flare to any room in the home.
The News:
Starting at $229, the Inspiron Zino HD includes standard HD-capable integrated graphics, HDMI output and built-in networking that make it smart for typical home and student computing activities such as word processing, e-mail, organizing photos and music, and surfing the Internet.
The economical Inspiron Zino HD with optional additional memory, hard drive storage, combo Blu-ray disc player, HDTV tuner, wireless remote control and Windows 7 Media Player and turns into a powerful home media center computer. In that capacity the Inspiron Zino HD can record and play your favorite TV shows, display high-definition content from the Internet, and store and deliver music, video and photos very well.
The Inspiron Zino HD is also ideal as an additional household PC that can fit in tight spaces and make home networking a cinch. It measures about 7.75 inches square and 3.5 inches tall. While small in size, the Inspiron Zino HD is a big performer with:
- Ultra-small form factor designed to fit almost anywhere.
- Easy personalization with nine color choices for Inspiron Zino HD.
- Choice of AMD processors or dual core Athlon Neo X2 6850e.
- Up to 8GB dual channel DDR 2 memory.
- Up to 1TB internal hard disk storage.
- Combo DVD/CD RW drive with optional Blu-ray Disc combo.
- Integrated 10/100/1000 networking with wireless option.
- Optional TV tuner, wireless keyboard and mouse.
- Built in 2.1 high-definition audio and 4-in-one media card reader.
- Integrated ATI graphics adapter with standard HDMI and VGA video connections, and optional 512MB discrete graphics adapter.
- Four USB ports (2 front/2 rear); two eSATA ports (rear).
- Energy-Star 5.0 compliant.
A basic Inspiron Zino without High-Definition capability or upgrade options will be offered in some regions.
Sounds like a perfect box for XBMC or any other HTPC application. So WHY OH WHY is it only Conexant CX20561 2.1 Channel Audio!!?!
That does seem odd, I could understand if that was a base spec with an optional upgrade available.
I see a starting price of $359 on their site?
http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desktops/inspiron-zino-hd/pd.aspx?refid=inspiron-zino-hd&s=dhs&cs=19&ref=dthp
$229
Sound good
1. Multi channel audio is an option.
2. No TV tuner is currently available.
C. Typical Dell.
actually, it does support multi channel sound via HDMI http://www.jrin.net/2009_12_16/dell-inspiron-zino-hd-400-mini-desktop-review
Thank God Dell finally invented the Black Mac Mini. I am too much of an anti-Apple a^^hat to use an Apple product because, you know, dude, uh, Apple makes crap that costs too much. Oh, wait, people have been using their Mac Minis for all of these uses for several years. And the Dell can’t even be customized to have comparable proc or vid card in the Mac Mini. Man, when I price compare, the Dell is more expensive, too. That sucks. Oh, wait, Apple still sucks, and Dell invented this type of product anyway.
Thank you for the unbiased critique minimii. Tell me, when did the Mac Mini get a TV tuner and a blu-ray drive, and a larger 160gb + hard drive for about $500? Oh yeah, that’s right, as much you love mocking Apple, there are alternatives, even…gasp…better options.
Blue-ray is $100 add-on with the Dell … You can buy a Blue-ray add-on for Mini for about the same. TV Tuner is also an add-on for the Mini, just like the Dell. Larger drives (up to Duel 500Gb, ie 1TB) are available for the Mini. Normally “optional” means “you pay more”.
The Dell’s $500 configuration is not competitive, especially if you factor in the add-on price for Blue-ray and TV Tuner.
PS – I wasn’t mocking Apple, though I can understand the confusion.
The Mac mini does not support BluRay. http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/11/amex-digitals-mac-mini-blu-ray-drive-upgrade-kit-is-not-what-it/
Mac mini…typical overpriced, underpowered Apple product. Let’s compare Mini with recently purchased Zino (as configured) -
Graphics card: Mini (integrated with 256k shared memory and only DirectX 9 support); Zino (dedicated graphics with 512k memory & DirectX 10.1 support).
HD Video Output: Mini (DVI – video only, sound through audio jack); Zino (HDMI – video with 7.1 sound)
Hard Drive: Mini (5400 rpm); Zino (7200 rpm)
Processors: Both Dual-Core
Optical Drive: Both DVD-RW (Zino does have Blu-Ray option for extra $100)
Memory: Mini (DDR3); Zino (DDR2)
Ports: Mini (1 FW, 5 USB, 1 mini DVI, 2 audio minijacks); Zino (1 HDMI, 2 eSATA, 4 USB, 1 VGA, 2 audio minijacks)
Pricing: So with dual core processors, 4GB memory, best graphics cards, 320GB hard drives, wireless n….Mini ($799), Zino ($399 less $80 Bing Cash back).
Summary: Apple underpowered with less feature options and overpriced 2x.
With Windows 7 out, I am switching back to Windows PCs. In the last few weeks I have purchased a high-end laptop and a Zino. Compared to a Macbook Pro and Mini, I am savings over $1,500 and getting higher powered product with more features.
Yes, I used to be angry like you paying twice as much for low powered computers. But now all is good.
The Apple macmini rocks. I have one so I know. The way it’s built both internally and eternally and the way it performs is extremely good compared to the ‘competition’. The macmini has been around for while now and a company like Dell had a chance to leapfrog this but they haven’t. The Apple macmini has quality, attention to detail and performance oozing from it. That being Apple has made some glaring mistakes in the macmini….
…which is why I would like a Zino HD but seems to fall short in those areas well. The thing with Apple is that they think outside the box, they innovate. They are huge companies such as Dell who have the capacity to do this as well but they refuse to. I am hoping a spec’ed up Zino HD is available with Ubuntu on it, and with a built TV tuner. Now I could go for that.
it will NOT make for a good carpc because of power supply. its always easier to just build one from scratch.
No TV Tuner but you can get a 56k Modem?
Can it output audio on HDMI?
Is it limited to 2.1 sound?
What does the “Soundblaster X-Fi Hi Def Audio” upgrade do exactly? What is the connector for outputting multi channel audio??
Someone who owns one please post answers!!!!
It outputs digital 2.1 via HDMI or analog 2.1 via line out.
2.1 still converts to analog dolby prologic 5.1 signal, but not dolby digital or dts for DVD.
I’d only upgrade if you NEED digital 5.1 (for DVD/BD) or 7.1 (for BD).
Upgrading to Soundblaster will enable up to 7.1 LPCM out via HDMI but line out will remain 2.1 analog.
I just found out the hard way, ordered one for a friend and missed the fact that it was only 2.1 standard. Gotta exchange.
My impression was that the soundblaster upgrade is software only, not a sound card. Could’nt you just buy the software separately?
I would like to be able to output 7.1 if possible, but I didn’t get the soundblaster option. I did get the upgraded video card, which I think supports 7.1. So little info from Dell on the sound output… Still waiting to receive mine. Should get it in about a week.
Dell is having production Issues. I ordered 2 Zino HDs on Nov 17. It is now Jan 22 and still no Zino HDs.
PowerNow / CPU frequency scaling don’t work for me under Linux. (mine has AMD x2 3250e.) I’ve planned to use the box as always-on system running some server applications. The issue seems to be caused by an bios bug, really bad…
Do you see the same issue? Is there a workaround?
Good luck in getting one any time soon. Dell is experiencing a production issues on the Zino HD. My Zino HD order back on Nov 17 still has not shipped.
My story about the Zino:
http://me-and-dee.web.officelive.com/ZinoHDReview.aspx