Dell Zino HD 410 HTPC Review
by Ganesh T S on February 19, 2011 7:08 AM EST- Posted in
- HTPC
- Dell
- AMD
- Media Streamer
- ATI
We reviewed the performance of the Zino 410 from the standpoint of a HTPC, and its capabilities lie in between that of the Core 100 and the Vision 3D from ASRock. Its advantage lies in the fact that it comes with the OS and keyboard/mouse while the Core 100 and Vision 3D do not.
Kudos to Dell for learning the lessons from the Zino 400 and putting it to good use in the Zino 410. That said, there are some areas where Dell can improve with respect to its future offerings in the SFF HTPC space:
- 2.5" hard drives should be used instead of the 3.5" ones for the main storage option
- It would be nice to have a 64 GB boot SSD option in the high end offerings
- Steps must be taken to ensure that installation of the bloatware is minimal / optional (McAfee / Dell DataSafe etc.)
- Most importantly, the discrete GPU in the high end offerings must be made more powerful. Even in the Zino 410 generation, we could have got better HTPC video performance with the Mobility 5650. The extra power consumption of the 5650 could have been easily offset by using a 2.5" drive instead of the 3.5" currently in the system. The thermal design would have needed re-engineering, though.
If money is not a concern with respect to your SFF HTPC purchase, the ASRock Vision 3D still continues to be our SFF HTPC of choice. If you are looking for the best bang for the buck, the highest end Zino 410 is pretty good for a decently powerful HTPC. The good thing is that the Zino 410 comes in a variety of configurations ranging from $300 to $800, a model to fit every budget.
In conclusion, we recommend the Zino 410's highest configuration at its price point, albeit, with some reservations. If the issues outlined aren't of much concern, we are sure you will enjoy your Zino 410.
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funtasticguy - Saturday, February 19, 2011 - link
Great and thorough review as always. I just purchased one of the these just yesterday when I noticed their new upgraded chips (P960 & P360). Anyway, does anyone know how easy is it to upgrade the hard drive?ganeshts - Sunday, February 20, 2011 - link
Hard drive upgrading should be pretty straightforward. Just make sure the drive you put in doesn't dissipate more than 8.4 W under full load (just to ensure you don't run into issues with overheating of the unit)tkpmep - Saturday, February 19, 2011 - link
I bought a Zino 410 a few months ago that was configured almost exactly the same way as is the review unit, and found that it came without an IR receiver for a Windows Media Center Remote. It appears that you have to purchase Dell's own Media Center remote when ordering the unit in order for them to install the IR receiver. I now have to use a USB receiver to control WMC. This is disappointing. Also, the USB receiver for the wireless keyboard works a lot better when plugged into a port in front of the unit than into the rear. Apart from this, its a very nice machine.pirspilane - Sunday, February 20, 2011 - link
just get a USB extension cable from monoprice.comsoftdrinkviking - Sunday, February 20, 2011 - link
It seems a little funny at the top of the unboxing page.The paragraph that starts... Of all the SFF HTPCs I have seen, the Dell Zino 410 HD HTPC has the best industrial design....
seems like it should be the first paragraph.
because as it is now, the first paragraph ends with... Apart from the main Zino 410 unit, the package also contains:
but then it starts another paragraph.
seems like they got reversed.
hvakrg - Sunday, February 20, 2011 - link
Ok, so one could buy this and then upgrade the graphics by purchasing a new graphics card on ebay?http://cgi.ebay.com/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-5650-DD...
ganeshts - Monday, February 21, 2011 - link
Need to handle the TDP properly. I think the 5650 is rated for 15-19W, while the 5450 is 11W max. If you don't game at all, it should be pretty OK to get past the video decoder limitations.leftyleno - Sunday, February 20, 2011 - link
$90 SilverStone Aluminum/Steel Micro ATX HTPC Computer Case GD05B$80 AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz
$88 Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
$60 SAMSUNG Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support
$50 4 gig g skill ram
$55 Microsoft Wireless Comfort Desktop 5000 Keyboard and Mouse Set - Black
$80 Radeon hd 5670
$54 SeaSonic S12II 380B 380W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$100 ASUS M4A88TD-M/ USB3 SATA 3 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
$100 Windows
$20 Intel 622AN.HMWWB Mini PCI Express 6200 Centrino Advanced-N Wireless Adapter
=$ 780
Beat that Dell!
GeorgeH - Sunday, February 20, 2011 - link
SilverStone GD05B Dimensions:5.91"x17.32"x12.79", 1300 cubic inches
Del Zino 410 Dimensions:
3.4"x7.8"x7.8", 200 cubic inches
The Dell is well over six times smaller.
Radeon 5670 Power Consumption ~ 60W
Zino 410 Power Consumption ~ ~60W
The entire Dell system consumes as much power as one component.
Not only did Dell already "beat that", they did so by a very large margin.
geok1ng - Sunday, February 20, 2011 - link
"$80 AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz"If you wanna do this, do it the right way; use an e series CPU from AMD for better thermals, or simply go the i3 way.
"$54 SeaSonic S12II 380B 380W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply"
That is A LOT of unused power, simply go the picoPSU way. Better thermals and small form factory. A well built sistem would use a notebook power brick to save space and move heat generation away from the SFF case.
"$100 ASUS M4A88TD-M/ USB3 SATA 3 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard""
With AMD integrated graphics, i would rather use a custom cooling solution and overclock the hell out of the IGP. 900Mhz core is not an impossible goal for 785G and better IGPs. AND there are smaller ITX MOBOs for this plataform.