Dell Inspiron Zino HD Desktop Review

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When I saw the announcement of the Zino HD from Dell, I immediately thought how huge this was for the SFF market if big boy Dell was getting involved. This isn’t an HTPC-focused review, but it gives you at least an introduction into the device (at least until we can get our hands on our own!).

 

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One place that the Inspiron Zino HD does excel is in HD video playback. No matter what we threw at it, the system was able to play it without any hiccups or stutters–that is, as long as the video playback was the only task taking place at the time. We encountered a number of times during Windows Media Video 9 and DVD playback, where the playback momentarily stuttered when a file transfer or McAfee Security Center update (you get 15-free months) was taking place in the background. With its small form-factor and HDMI output, the Inspiron Zino HD could make an excellent home-theater PC; but if this is what you relegate the system’s primary role to, make sure that there is nothing else going on while watching movies, or your viewing enjoyment might get temporarily interrupted.

 

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