[Your new HTPC] Dell Zino HD $199 + tax shipped PLUS $60 gift card on top

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lowteckh

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Stolen from http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1673232

Dell Home has Dell Inspiron Zino HD + $60 Dell Gift Card for $199 ($193 w/ DPA). Shipping is free. Thank you mehul73

Specs:
AMD Athlon 2850e (512K, L2, 1.8GHz)
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 2 DIMM
250GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics
HDMI Port
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic SP1, 32-Bit
8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Integrated 2.1 High Definition Audio
$60 Dell Promo Gift Card - Arrives in 6-8 wks, carries a 90 Day Exp. Dell.com/giftcard
If paying with Dell Preferred Account (DPA) you may save an extra 3%, here is how:
During checkout, select Credit Card as method of payment
Click "Change Payment Type"
Click "Choose" link under Credit/Debit Card (again)
Under "Save 3% with Dell Preferred Account! (Discount applied at Final Checkout)" click "Click Here to Take Advantage of this Offer" link
Click "Choose" under "I already have a Dell Preferred Account" if you have one, or sign up for a new one if you don't
Checkout, enjoy your 3% savings
Click to expand...

Cashback for another 5% off.
Dual core Athlon for +$30, Bluray +$100, Win7 upgrade +$30 if desired.

GOGOGO.
 
Man this is tempting... ~$250 w/ tax and dual-core...

About what I paid to build my own HTPC.. mine has a GF9300 vs. this HD3200 AMD... I'm about to spend $130 on a new board, and $70 on a new case when I could probably just order this and sell off my old one...
 
I would suggest you atleast add on the ati 4330 gpu. You can only get 2 channel LPCM with the 3xxx series. With the 4330 you can get 7.1 LPCM, which is a plus if you're using this to watch Blu-ray or multichannel flac.
 
SeegsElite said:
I would suggest you atleast add on the ati 4330 gpu. You can only get 2 channel LPCM with the 3xxx series. With the 4330 you can get 7.1 LPCM, which is a plus if you're using this to watch Blu-ray or multichannel flac.
Click to expand...

TV speakers are pwnsauce :D:D:D
 
Yea doing a bit more research I'm not sure if I'd want it after all...

I'll spend a bit more money for flexibility / customizing... I'll stick with my own stuff :)
 
Blazestorm said:
Yea doing a bit more research I'm not sure if I'd want it after all...

I'll spend a bit more money for flexibility / customizing... I'll stick with my own stuff :)
Click to expand...

Could you elaborate what you're looking for?
 
Something I can upgrade/change myself... by default it only does 2.1 or 2.0 audio, not 7.1... which the GF9300 does... Gaming too is something I was looking at, so with my own setup I can get a low-profile card that would run games decently at 1920 x 1080 (9600 GT low profile / low power) ... I dunno, I like being able to change parts to whatever I want.

I've never bought a pre-built except for a laptop/netbook... this is a good deal though, $200 for a desktop that's not an atom processor... I actually just bought a barebones atom for another project and it was $88 without memory/drives but still cheap.

I'd buy the case they were selling if they sold it seperate / added a low profile slot and made it a bit wider/deeper... cause it looks decent, that's the only problem I've been having is trying to find a case for my HTPC..
 
I'm in the process of building a mini-itx based HTPC and when configured in a parallel fasion this thing is a lot more expensive. My HTPC will be smaller and a lot more powerful then this one.

CPU: AMD Anthon X2 5050e 45watt cpu $30
Motherboard: ZOTAC GF8200-C-E AM2+/AM2 $80
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8200 (Integrated)
Case: M350 Universal Mini-ITX Case (62 x 192 x 210mm) or (2.44" x 7.56" x 8.26") $39.95
PSU: PicoPSU-120watts $39.95
Memory: Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 (PC2 6400) $48.99
HDD: Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD5000BEVT 500GB 5400 RPM 2.5" Harddrive $89.99

Total: $328.88

VS:

PROCESSOR AMD Dual Core Athlon™ Neo X2 6850e (1MB L2, 1.8GHz) edit
MEMORY 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 2 DIMM
HARD DRIVE 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon HD 4330 512 MB
WIRELESS Dell 1397 802.11 b/g Wireless Card

Total: $429 *edit* Now its up to $489 Except you get an inferior processor, and a larger case.

Save a hundred dollars and build your own. Most of the parts I listed in my configuration can be found cheaper here on these forums. I got my cpu here for 30 bux and the same goes for my motherboard for $80, but that can be got new for 10 dollars more.
 
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I have something similar to yours currently, the issue with the M350 case is it sticks the HDD directly above the hot GPU, so I got an SSD thinking maybe heat from the HDD + the GPU was making it worse, that didn't help GPU temps so I got some 40mm fan's and tried to exhaust that heat. Also didn't help...

So now I'm moving to something a bit bigger, was looking at the PC-Q09 but was told that won't be out for a few months, then the Antec ISK-300 which is alright... $70 on buy.com w/ 65watt PSU (You don't need more then that for the Zotac 9300 + E5200).. And then the last option was the Morex T3500 which is similar to the ZinoHD in shape / size I think... but it moves the HDD and CD-rom down to a lower bay so the top section is open airflow so the GPU should stay cooler.
 
Blazestorm said:
I have something similar to yours currently, the issue with the M350 case is it sticks the HDD directly above the hot GPU, so I got an SSD thinking maybe heat from the HDD + the GPU was making it worse, that didn't help GPU temps so I got some 40mm fan's and tried to exhaust that heat. Also didn't help...

So now I'm moving to something a bit bigger, was looking at the PC-Q09 but was told that won't be out for a few months, then the Antec ISK-300 which is alright... $70 on buy.com w/ 65watt PSU (You don't need more then that for the Zotac 9300 + E5200).. And then the last option was the Morex T3500 which is similar to the ZinoHD in shape / size I think... but it moves the HDD and CD-rom down to a lower bay so the top section is open airflow so the GPU should stay cooler.
Click to expand...

There are 2 places in the case where you can mount the harddrive. Did you switch sides?
 
CPU cooler is too tall (stock intel heatsink).

Even then, no room for a slimline drive if I ever wanted it or a low-profile card of some sort. I like the case, but it's just a bit too small for me.
 
How does the X2 3250e compare to something like a Pentium 4 2.4 HT or Core 2 Duo @ 1.8GHz?
 
450 said:
How does the X2 3250e compare to something like a Pentium 4 2.4 HT or Core 2 Duo @ 1.8GHz?
Click to expand...

should handle the p4 easily since it's 2 cores vs. one. and the netbursts chips weren't that great. the c2d will blow by it, though, since it's 300mhz faster in addition to c2d's being faster clock for clock than athlons
 
I guess if you're in the market for an HTPC, and don't have an existing Case PSU & DVD-Rom, this is an interesting setup.. I wouldn't use an ATI for home theater.

I'd suggest spending your $200 on an Acer Revo with ION (VDPAU - NVIDIA GPU), add extra RAM (to increase GPU mem to 512mb), shoehorn XBMC onto it, and bam, 1080p playback.
 
xBanzai89 said:
Last I knew a HD3200 ran circles around a ION.
Click to expand...

I've been searching for a comparison this morning. If you can find any data to back that up, I'd love to see it. I've read the ION was more powerful at video decoding, but I haven't seen any data from reputable sources.

I'm leaning more towards the Acer ION nettop with the Atom 330 for a 24/7 torrent box / video player / TV web box.
 
SeegsElite said:
I would suggest you atleast add on the ati 4330 gpu. You can only get 2 channel LPCM with the 3xxx series. With the 4330 you can get 7.1 LPCM, which is a plus if you're using this to watch Blu-ray or multichannel flac.
Click to expand...

It doesn't have BR reader.
 
It's back to $229, but the dual core option is a $60 add-on now. So what was $229 is now $289.
 
i'm lookin for a cheap "compact" HTPC with a beefier cpu. preferably a system that can decode 1080p via cpu (ie: HD flash). looks like this system is a strong fit.

anyone know if the integrated HD3200 at least supports 5.1 SPDIF?

edit: found my answer. it does support digital 5.1
 
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he means watching watching rips, which technically you don't need a drive for playback, but you still need a BR drive SOMEWHERE to make your rips from, or acquire them through illegal means... which we don't talk about here on [H] ;)
 
cnealjr said:
he means watching watching rips, which technically you don't need a drive for playback, but you still need a BR drive SOMEWHERE to make your rips from, or acquire them through illegal means... which we don't talk about here on [H] ;)
Click to expand...

;):D
 
cnealjr said:
he means [acquiring] them through illegal means... which we don't talk about here on [H] ;)
Click to expand...

Is more like it. Not sure why anyone would want to tell the world what should be kept to themselves. ZOMG So BALlin'!! (?)
 
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