Dell Unleashes Inspiron Zino HD Media Box

Nov 12 2009, 12:26pm CST | by Robert Evans

Let me take you back to a simpler time; 2004. I was setting up my first media box, cobbled together off of a terrible old Dell machine with less then a gig of RAM. It backed 500 GB of hard drive space though, which was a lot back in those days. While having a media box was far better than not having one, I still had endless problems with the old girl. She crashed constantly and would break frequently for reasons I could rarely work out on my own.

Now kids with fancy TVs and a desire for a media box don't have to worry about repurposing ancient, failing machines to do the job. Several companies have dedicated PCs that were built from the ground-up to be media boxes. Today, Dell unveils another PC in that image; the Inspiron Zino HD.

The Zino HD is one of the most stylish media boxes I've seen. It's just a simple 8" by 8" cube with a glossy colored top. All you have to do is plug it in right under the TV and, boom, your set-up is basically complete. Plug in a USB keyboard and a wireless mouse and you're good to go. The HDMI-out and optional Blu-ray drive mean that this will make a very solid companion for any HD television. You have the option of paying for discrete graphics, and these machines can pack up to 8 GB of RAM and 1 TB of data.

Prices start at $229 for the minimalist model, and go up to $649 for the the works, plus a 20" panel thrown in for good measure. Anyone interested by this? Or would you still prefer to build your own?

More details on Dell.

where to buy

Buy from Amazon

What Others Say about This

...
Full article at: More like this

Don't miss ...

Home Entertainment

LG hires Megan Fox to Promote LG's Cinema 3D TVs...

Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.