Dell Inspiron Zino HD 2GB 250GB Piano Black Desktop Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought the bare bones ($229) version of this shortly after it was released to use as an HTPC. I didn't bother with Blu-ray or an upgraded video card because I knew a stand alone player would be better for the actual discs.
Once I had the box I plugged in a bluetooth adapter and an external HD to make up for the small stock HD. Initially I was frustrated because the video playback jumped, Hulu didn't work well, and so forth. However, once I went through the process of turning off the useless processes in Windows 7, updating the Catalyst drivers, using the Flash 10.1 and Silverlight betas, and putting Shark007 codecs on the machine it's worked wonderfully. Netflix in Windows Media Center plays flawlessly, Hulu works great, Youtube has no problems, Boxee runs nicely, and I can watch 720p and 1080p just fine (I use WMP with the Shark007 codecs). I really couldn't ask for more, especially because I paid such a good price for it. It does freeze up on occasion if I'm very impatient with it, but that's acceptable to me.

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ASUS Eee Box HD 1006 Nettop PC - Black Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was pleasantly surprised when I initially booted this machine up. It processes extremely well and is virtually quiet. You have to get really close to it to hear anything out of it. After a day or so of running on Windows XP I decided to commence my plan of using it as a Media Center. I loaded ubuntu linux and xbmc on it and after installing a couple other debian packages it was up and running with-in an hour. It's been 2 weeks and I haven't needed to reboot or re-install anything. I can watch HD Movies and listen to High Quality audio over my wireless connection (stored on a network pc) as smoothly as if they were being accessed locally. If anyone is looking for an inexpensive single purpose machine that runs ultra quiet and reliably... this is it. Good job Asus!

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World's smallest Ultra Mini ION2 PC Giada Slim-N20 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Pros:
- VERY quiet operation.
- Excellent build quality.
- Built in Bluetooth.
- Flawless operation with USB audio 2.0 DAC.
- Nvidia ION 2.
Cons:
- Box is not factory sealed. (*)
- Only two USB ports in the back.
- Very minimal documentation.
This is a very nice nettop. I've tried Lenovo, Viewsonic, Shuttle, and Foxconn Atom based nettops with A330 and D510 processors for the music server. Giada and Foxconn have the best build quality. Unfortunately Foxconn has problem with USB 2.0 audio DAC. Also Foxconn has noticeably louder fan, and may not be suitable use in all rooms and situations. Giada is virtually silent. There is very low swooshing from the fan barely audible more than 2 ft away. It also comes with built-in Bluetooth which is rare in this class. ION GPU is sufficient for watching youtube video in full screen. However Hulu videos are jerky in full screen. The problem with Hulu is not unique to Giada, as most people with ION GPU seem to have that problem. When the videos are played in a window, it's very smooth regardless of the resolution and bitrate.
One star taken off because the box was not factory sealed. I've exchanged emails with Giada about that, and their explanation is they cut off the seal to install the OS. I understand the explanation, but still unacceptable. Otherwise this machine would have been five star all the way. I've bought model that came with Ubuntu Linux, but replaced the built in hard disk with SSD and installed Windows 7 on it. All the devices are recognized in Windows and work fine.
Overall Giada is a very good buy. Somewhat pricier than the competitor, but its small size, build quality, and the near silent operation makes it worth the premium.


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Lenovo Ideacentre Q150 Series 40814AU Desktop (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I got this for a home theater PC to watch downloaded videos on my LCD TV. I had looked at the Mac Mini and other options, but chose to buy this. It has the same nVidia 9400M graphics as the Mac Mini and it's about the same size (maybe smaller). The only difference between the two (other than $350 in price) is that the Ideacentre uses a dual core Atom instead of a Core 2 Duo processor.
The dual core Atom D510 is surprisingly zippy. With the ION graphics, it has no trouble handling 1080p video (x264 with DTS for example). Out of the box HDMI video with audio over HDMI worked like a charm. It was really plug and play. Has optical digital audio out on the front (SPDIF) if you need it. Runs quiet. Even has the VESA bracket to mount it to the back of your LCD TV!
The included remote is very good overall. Took me a few minutes to realize that the USB transceiver was stored in the battery compartment of the remote. Once I found it and plugged it in, it worked great. Only (trivial) complaint is that there are no function keys.
If you need a small HTPC that will play anything, give this little guy some serious consideration!


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