Mac Mini vs. Dell Inspiron Zino HD
The Dell Inspiron Zino HD. A mini computer thats sole purpose is to be a home theater computer. The Mac Mini, a computer that is meant to be a starter Mac. It has all the functionality to become a home theater computer.
Lets start of with hard drive size. The Zino HD comes standard with a 500 GB hard drive but is upgradable up to 1 TB for $85. Also, the Zino HD's HDD's can only be 7200 RPM. On the Mac Mini, you have two options, we will only consider the higher end option. On the Mac Mini, you get a 320 GB hard drive built-in standard. This is upgradable only up to 500 GB, the amount that comes standard on the Zino HD but for a $100 upgrade price. Bit of a rip off, don't you think?
The memory on the Zino HD is 4 standard but is upgradable to a full 8 GB, for $60, with an option of 6 GB in between. The Mac Mini comes with 4 GB standard, non-upgradable.
The Zino HD comes with 1.8 GHz with 512 KB L2 Cache standard for its processor upgradable only to a 1.8 GHz processor with 1 MB of L2 Cache. The Mac Mini comes with a 2.53 GHz processor upgradable to 2.66 GHz.
Because the Zino HD is meant to be a home theater system, it comes with a 8x DVD/CD reader and burner, same to the Mac Mini, however the optical drive of the Zino HD can be upgraded to a Blu-Ray Disc drive.
The Zino HD comes with a graphic card of the ATI Radeon HD 4330 512 MB. The Mac Mini comes with the NVIDIA GForce 9400 M with 256 MB of VRAM. Both are non-upgradable.
The Zino HD comes with a keyboard and mouse and a 20" Dell display but the Mac Mini doesn't as the Mac Mini is meant to be a starter Mac. Both of the systems have built-in 802.11 b/g standard with the system. However the Mac Mini also comes with 802.11 n standard as well. That is a $20 upgrade on the Zino HD.
Let me remind you that the Mac Mini that we have been comparing to the Zino HD has a $799 price tag whereas the Zino HD has a $649 price tag. Anyway, now you've seen the internals, we'll move on to the externals.
We'll start of with size and colors. The Mac Mini is a 5" by 5" by 2.5" cuboid. The Zino HD is a 8" by 8" cuboid. The Mac Mini comes in white. The Zino HD comes in so many colors and designs, its hard to tell.
The I/O (input/output) on the Mac Mini. 5 USB ports. 1 FireWire 800 port. One Mini DVI port and 1 Mini Display Port. It also sports a Kensington lock slot, an ethernet port, an audio in and out port and finally, but most importantly, power. The Zino HD has 4 USB ports (2 on front, 2 on back), 2 eSATA ports, ethernet, power, HDMI, VGA and a media card reader. It also has audio in and out.
So, as you can see, the Mac Mini has its plusses and minuses as does the Inspiron Zino HD. But one quick thing, the Mac Mini is running Snow Leopard unlike the Zino HD running Windows 7. So, you decide for yourselves, what will you choose?
Akash Raman Dec 10, 2009 at 5:14 AM
Reader Comments (3)
your last sentence doesnt quite sum it up only because on the Mac you can have both, so if your deciding based on the OS, go with the Mac, duh.
I'm sorry. I was just stating that you can make the decision for yourself. Why bother make the decision for people. Besides, it depends on your needs. One other thing, could you not take the time to write at least some sort of positive words towards me? I mean come on! I spent 2 hours switching between tabs, TextEdit and my homework just so that I could help people. Next time you comment on anyones post, just say something like: Nice post! However.... (insert constructive criticism here) Anyway, now do you understand why I did that?
Dude, you are seriously insecure.