Is the Zino HD now an option?

Twin Turbo

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Just got an email from Dell advertising the new Zino HD.
Seems like a nice little bit o' kit, but I'm a complete novice with this stuff! :(

I was thinking of maybe getting the basic system + the optional BD drive, so I could rip the BD's and store them externally.
Would the basic system suffice for HD playback/audio, or what would the minimum requirements be?

Thanks guys.
 
Just got an email from Dell advertising the new Zino HD.
Seems like a nice little bit o' kit, but I'm a complete novice with this stuff! :(

I was thinking of maybe getting the basic system + the optional BD drive, so I could rip the BD's and store them externally.
Would the basic system suffice for HD playback/audio, or what would the minimum requirements be?

Thanks guys.

Pretty crap computer having a BD drive if it couldn't play HD. It's not really a streamer though is it.
 
Don't really need it for streaming though.

I'm just looking for something/somehow to rip my BD collection, and play them back (audio and video) losslessly as ripped.
 
'Cause it's for "Streamers and Network Media Players"?
 
Possibly.
Or there's a bigger chance it's me being a numpty!

I outlined what I'm looking for in my first 2 posts. Will this suffice?

P.S. I'm new to this whole game, so I may be technically wrong about using it as a media player?
 
Possibly.
Or there's a bigger chance it's me being a numpty!

I outlined what I'm looking for in my first 2 posts. Will this suffice?

P.S. I'm new to this whole game, so I may be technically wrong about using it as a media player?

Well you are either going to use a media player/streamer such as a WDTV or an Xtreamer. These are not computers but clients that link to a media source and play the file. Thats all the do.

What you are linking to is a media center pc. A whole different beast.

I can;t imagine Dell would sell a pc called "HD" with a BD drive and it not be up to spec to play Blu rays. But maybe the Computer forums may be best.
 
I was thinking of maybe getting the basic system + the optional BD drive, so I could rip the BD's and store them externally.
Would the basic system suffice for HD playback/audio, or what would the minimum requirements be?

Thanks guys.

It can be used as a network player, you could put XBMC on it but then you don't get VDPU acceleration as its Windows only for ATI currently. The ATI setup with the BD drive can of course play BluRay fine, see reviews online.

It doesn't come with a IR sensor or remote which seems pretty silly to me. You can buy your own of course and install. Its clearly meant to be a computer than can do media rather than anything else. Also it lacks SPDIF, you can get surround out via HDMI with a suitable amp or LCD.
 
Moving to HTPC section.
 
You can use the Windows DXVA enabled builds to run XBMC with GPU support but it is still in development.

Boxee is another option which has more stable DXVA support and is related to XBMC, a little easier to use but focuses on internet media.

The only option that will happen anytime soon for something like XBMC Live and the Zino is to use the Broadcom Crystal HD mini-PCIe card (if it has a mini-PCIe slot) however that too is in development but there is more effort behind Crystal HD so it will happen sooner rather than later & it is working in nightly builds.
 
I too was looking at this but appears the Blu Ray drive option has been removed :thumbsdow
 
Dell really screw you with the price of adding extra components. I don't think it has wireless as standard.
 

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