Dell Releases Inspiron Zino HD To Take On Mac Mini

Jonathan Lovelock | Nov 13, 2009 | Comments

The size of personal computers is reducing as their power and versatility is on a rise. Not only the present generation laptops have become sleeker and lightweight, their desktop counterparts are also becoming increasingly compact and svelte. The Apple iMacs and Sony VAIO All In One PCs belong to a niche category. Till a few months back, the Mac Mini was known as the smallest desktop computer of the world. Recently Dell has launched a challenger to the Mac Mini in the form of its Inspiron Zino HD. It resembles a Mac Mini in terms of Size and oomph factor. While it is cheaper than the entry level Mac mini, the price can go up depending on the customization of the components.

Dell has designed the Zino HD with care to ensure that it looks stylish and cute. In fact some people can mistake it as a Mac Mini with Black finish on first look. The Inclusion of Windows 7 ensures that the users can use it as a HTPC. Like its other PC products Dell offers wide customization for the Zino HD at its site. However, as of now the company offers the option of using only AMD CPUs. This move may be aimed at keeping the cost on the lower side. The users can opt for either the Neo X2 6850e CPU or the Athlon CPUs. The hard disk capacity can be extended up to 1TB and the models supports 8GB of memory. This makes it ideal for storing and playing back space consuming HD content.

The integrated ATI Radeon graphics chip may be fine for DVD and HD movie playback but it will bottleneck the gaming capacity of the processor to an extent. There is an optical drive slot in this PC. The buyers can opt for a Blu-Ray drive as well. The base model of the Zino HD stacks up well against the recently released Acer Revo. While the basic model ships with a single core Athlon CPU, 2GB memory and a DVD burner, a few thoughtful upgrades can boost its HTPC capability. Even with an upgrade to the Athlon X2 3250e CPU, 4GB memory and Wi-Fi, the price stays within $500, much lower than the Mac Mini’s tag.

Just like its Inspiron and Studio series of laptops, Dell is offering the Zino HD in a range of attractive colours. The users can opt for vibrant hues like lime green, purple, pink and orange or select the classic Piano black hue. The latter costs $10 more though.

In terms of connectivity options, the Zino HD packs in a punch. It offers USB ports along with an eSATA port. For video output there is a VGA and a HDMI port. Therefore, connecting it with a LCD monitor will not be a problem. Dell has made this model compliant with the latest Energy Star 5.0 standard to limit power consumption. While there are some other small form factor PCs in the market, the Zino HD is likely to attract buyers for its style quotient and reasonable pricing.