Dell Zino HD

Nope. Something of a back-pedal by me, shamefully.

I was smittem by the Zino's looks, but came to my senses. As an HTPC it seems a bit half-baked, leaving out the IR receiver and wi-fi is odd.


I couldn't agree more, why would the omit wifi? Crazy!
 
Nope. Something of a back-pedal by me, shamefully.

I was smittem by the Zino's looks, but came to my senses. As an HTPC it seems a bit half-baked, leaving out the IR receiver and wi-fi is odd.


I couldn't agree more, why would the omit wifi? Crazy!

The US units have the option to add Wireless N. Not sure why that is not available over there.

As for IR, not a big deal for me as I prefer to use my Gyration remote anyway and it uses a USB RF dongle.

Still a great box in my opinion. Have yet to find anything this small and this capabable at this price.

I paid $300 US for mine and it works great for HTPC stuff.
 
Also, are they quiet?

What is really annoying with them though is the lack of USB on the rear!!! Who's bright idea was it to put just 2 USB ports on the rear?

I know one could fit a hub but blimey, what a bad design!

Yes, the unit is very quiet. I do agree that they should have put 4 USB on the rear. I would not call it a bad design overall, just a little bit of a pain by not having 2 more USB ports on the rear.
 
Hi guys,

Just seen this deal on hotukdeals.com

Dell Zino HD

Had been indecisive about the ACER and ASRock offerings but thought i would plump for this at £200.

Fingers crossed it will play iplayer and sky player just fine! Even better if i can squeeze a blu ray drive in there as well (but i doubt it!).

Anyway thought I would share.
 
Nope. Something of a back-pedal by me, shamefully.

First off, Dell quoted a delivery time of 12th December - very poor.

Then I took dclayton's advice above and investigated the ASRock a bit further, and ended up cancelling the Dell order and going for the 330HT-BD instead, saving myself just over £200.

It arrived yesterday, I installed Win 7 Home Prem (x64) painlessly last night, along with nVIDIA drivers. So far it seems to work flawlessly. It's responsive, better built than I expected (all metal casing), quiet and and has the all important IR receiver on the front, which the Dell seems to lack. Havent loaded any BR software yet or attempted playback - will do so tonight. The HD sample video file that installed with Win 7 looked crisp and pleasing, but will tweak the tv settings (a Tosh 32" LCD) to see what can be improved.

I was smittem by the Zino's looks, but came to my senses. As an HTPC it seems a bit half-baked, leaving out the IR receiver and wi-fi is odd. As a standalone PC it does little than a similarly priced laptop could do. Dont know what Dell are trying to achieve with it really.

I havent read any consumer feedback on the Zino HD yet, so cant dismiss it completely. But on paper, compared to the ASRock, it doesnt offer the right price/performance/features blend. Also, more annoyingly, its waaay cheaper in the US than it is here. Rip-off Britain returns again.

Have you tried playing any 1080p MKV files in WMC? I have read they will need to be played back through an external player to take advantage of the hardware.
 
Another Dell Zino HD purchased by this link.

The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

Cracking price I think for what is effectively the top spec machine.

Didn't need Blu-Ray player as all DVDs are stored on Windows Home Server.

Looking forward to receiving it to test it out.
 
Another Dell Zino HD purchased by this link.

The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

Cracking price I think for what is effectively the top spec machine.

Didn't need Blu-Ray player as all DVDs are stored on Windows Home Server.

Looking forward to receiving it to test it out.

Am I correct in thinking that the Dell Zino HD doesnt have a digital audio output ?
 
I wonder where Dell managed to find a motherboard without an SPDIF output...thats a complete deal breaker for anyone who doesn't have an HDMI capable amplifer (and if connecting directly to a TV wouldn't classify as a HTPC in my book).
 
can this 'box' do blu-ray audio formats without compression?
 

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