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Dell Zino HD

Discussion in 'Mac and Home Theater' started by chris, Feb 24, 2010.

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  1. chris Administrator

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    Those looking for a non-Mac option, might want to consider the Dell Zino HD. Slickdeals has a deal for the following:

    Specs (without the above upgrades):
    • AMD Athlon 2850e (512K, L2, 1.8GHz)
    • 18.5" Dell IN1910N HD Monitor (1366x768) with VGA cable
    • 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 2 DIMM
    • 320GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
    • Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics
      • HDMI Port
    • Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit
    • 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
    • Integrated 2.1 High Definition Audio
    Of course, options for upgrades might make this more suitable. It also leaves you with a monitor. It's $302 without any upgrades.
    chris, Feb 24, 2010
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  2. acosmichippo Genius

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    it's also a dell.
    acosmichippo, Feb 28, 2010
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  3. Napoleon PhoneApart Moderator

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    Some folks can deal with that.
    Napoleon PhoneApart, Feb 28, 2010
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  4. psylichon Moderator

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    I'm sure you have plenty of personal bad experiences with Dell, Hipps. You're not the kind to just reguritate what the Internet tells ya... :eek:k:eek:k
    psylichon, Feb 28, 2010
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  5. Napoleon PhoneApart Moderator

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    Now, my stepmother is in her early 70s and has had a good experience with Dell. Personally, I wouldn't buy one, but then again, I might sell my Mini in a couple weeks. A person's choice of computer is personal.

    When I get back from an upcoming trip, she wants me to go with her to buy another Dell. Her choice. She's happy.
    Napoleon PhoneApart, Feb 28, 2010
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  6. acosmichippo Genius

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    Not sure if that was sarcasm or not, but just to clarify: Dell are probably the most problematic computers I've worked on in the last two years. With Asus right behind them. This is first-hand experience.

    That being said, I won't say I'd NEVER buy one. The price would have to be right (read: very, very low).
    acosmichippo, Feb 28, 2010
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  7. chris Administrator

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    Price also factors into any decision. This DELL Zino would have rounded out to $200 for a Core 2 Duo Processor, with more than enough RAM to work as nice HTPC. As it turned out, Dell canceled all the orders.

    Mac Mini > Dell Zino -- and that's my Mac bias. Hard to argue with a competent computer at $200.

    Dell does make a good monitor. Ugly, but good.
    chris, Feb 28, 2010
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  8. Napoleon PhoneApart Moderator

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    I'm sure the Mac Mini beats the Dell, but my homebuilt PC beats my Mini hands down. Just my preference.
    Napoleon PhoneApart, Mar 1, 2010
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  9. Europa Moderator

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    acosmichippo, I'm guessing that's because Dell uses inferior hardware which is also the same reason they can get away with selling a desktop with a 1 TB drive and 8 GB RAM for $600? A Mac Pro with similar specs would cost at least 4x that, right? Why is it so much more? I want to get a Mac Pro, I'm just trying to justify the cost.
    Europa, Mar 1, 2010
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  10. psylichon Moderator

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    As I grew tired of building/maintaining PCs for people, I've just been telling them to get Dells. My track record so far has been a lot better after about 4 folks, so Dells are alright in my book. Don't get the cheapest models... that helps a lot.

    I still build my own for personal use, though. :)
    psylichon, Mar 1, 2010
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  11. acosmichippo Genius

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    sounds about right, i guess. the Baseline model Mac Pro is $2500. But with that you also get a 2.66GHz quadcore Xeon with DDR3 RAM, and an Nvidia GT120. And it has a ton of room for expansion. I imagine it would cost about another ~$300 to upgrade to a 1TB hard drive and 8GB of RAM (not prices from apple).

    All i can say is when you open a mac pro, you can see the amount of engineering and attention to detail that went into it. Sure there are better bang for the buck Pro PCs out there, and i'm sure you can even install OSX on them if you really wanted to. I just think Apple is one of the very few manufacturers out there that build computers properly (for the most part).

    If your main concern is a 1TB hard drive and 8GB of RAM, then an iMac would probably be a better fit. An iMac with those specs would probably be in the $1500 range.
    acosmichippo, Mar 1, 2010
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  12. acosmichippo Genius

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    That's cool, and i don't mean to put down your product of choice. Just letting you know that i wasn't pulling it out of my ass (or someone else's).

    I will say that probably 80% of the Dells i service are either from Best Buy or Walmart, so maybe there's a selection bias there. Maybe the direct from manufacturer models are better.
    acosmichippo, Mar 1, 2010
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  13. psylichon Moderator

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    Nothing but respect.. In all honesty, when I first wrote that I wasn't even thinking about your job. All I know is Dell gets slagged a lot and I never ran into it personally, but I totally value your opinion.
    psylichon, Mar 1, 2010
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  14. Napoleon PhoneApart Moderator

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    But that $600 "inferior" Dell will do just fine for my stepmother. She doesn't need a grossly overpriced Mac to do what she needs to do.
    Napoleon PhoneApart, Mar 1, 2010
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  15. acosmichippo Genius

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    now that i think about it, i probably hear "dell is sh*t" about as often as i hear "Apple is overpriced sh*t," so i guess i know where you're coming from.
    acosmichippo, Mar 1, 2010
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  16. acosmichippo Genius

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    or she can get an iPad for $500!!!
    acosmichippo, Mar 1, 2010
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  17. Napoleon PhoneApart Moderator

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    And not know a thing about how to use it.
    Napoleon PhoneApart, Mar 1, 2010
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  18. acosmichippo Genius

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    Really? Most people don't know a thing about using Windows either...

    Just to be clear, i was joking about the iPad. I try not to string too many facetious comments in a row, but i couldn't help myself that time.

    anyway, i've totally derailed the admin's thread. I will cease the PC bashing now.
    acosmichippo, Mar 1, 2010
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  19. chris Administrator

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    I think the iPad is great for seniors. For the record, I like the idea of the iPad. That being said, it's a more advanced, simplified version of webTV. Turn it on and surf.

    I completely agree. You could even argue that Apple's Mac Pro line is more reliable, better built than the iMac. Given the 27" iMac's troubles, it's easy to take pot shots at it. My Mac Pro is a couple of years old -- it's quiet as a mouse and reliable. Before I had a boot camp capable Mac, I used a Dell tower for Windows. There is no comparison. All you need to do is crack one open and you'll see what I mean.

    View attachment 7006



    The problem with Apple's desktop line is that they are super expensive. They cannot even compete with their own line (iMac).
    chris, Mar 1, 2010
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  20. The Apple Zealot

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    The attachment didn't work for me.
    The Apple, Mar 1, 2010
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