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The Zino HD is an attractively (glossy finished) designed product which will look great in a living room or bedroom environment. It isn't very big so it won't dominate space beside the television, a frequent cause of arguments with a partner. The Zino is 197x197x89mm and weighs 1.6kg – around the same as a modest laptop.
As we detailed earlier in the review, the tops are interchangeable and there are a variety of options on offer. At the front there is a 3.5 mm audio out, 2 x USB 2.0 as well as a 4 in 1 card reader and infra red receiver.
The rear is home to a very comprehensive portfolio of connectivity. there are dual e-SATA ports, HDMI 1.3, gigabit Lan, 2x USB 2.0, VGA and a 3.5mm audio connectors with optical out. A cooling fan resides on the side to help exhaust warm air. Lastly there is a button next to the VGA port which acts as a ‘quick release' for the top fascia panel.
The Zino HD has been designed for easy access and inside we are immediately presented with a metal protective cover. There is a dual antenna system here for the wireless connectivity.
Removing this section reveals the Blu Ray or DVD rewriter which is inside a caddy based system – we received the DVD rewriter configuration. Underneath this is a 3.5 inch hard drive, in this case a 750GB model which operates at 7,200 rpm.
I was actually looking at these last week. great idea for people who dont want an ATOM.
Very nice units, a little like the mac mini, but more colourful and more powerful.
Surprised how nippy those little AMD processors are. very capable indeed, much better than ATOM
The lower end models are good value, but the higher quad core with bluray is expensive. over 800 quid would get me a mega gaming rig.
Fl0 – you pay for the size reduction, remember that. this isn’t a gaming system, its a media system with a focus clearly on size and looks for people who want something sexy for display.
Interesting looking little thing, seems to be everyone is making these kind of pcs lately. I can understand why, with familes having a computer in a main room,. some of the full size cases take up far too much room.
Looks ideal for media, but I think I prefer the ASROCK ION 3d system as it is much cheaper and comes with bluray. if it handles 1080p thats all most people will need.
This AMD processor is much better than the ATOM, but as the reviewer says, the cost is more power consumption. For media, I think the ASROCK is the better deal as its cheaper, £399 with bluray, smaller and takes up less power under load. can still handle bluray discs and 1080p streaming no problems.
For a general purpose PC this Dell unit is better. I can see a lot of students liking it.
Zardon can I confirm – the top panel removes with a b utton press, but under it, you need a screw driver to get access to things like the drives?
Funnily enough I was thinking the same. the button concept is great, but why have everything else under a screwed panel? whats the point of the button? just to change colors?
I really dig this system, not sure id buy one though. surprised how good the AMD chip is compared to the ATOM. I know AMD dont have a low power processor like Intel right now, but it seems well worth the extra power drain for those performance gains. maybe on a laptop atom makes a bigger selling point ?
I want a review of an intel core i3/5/7 system 🙂 in this size.
No HDMI 1.4.
No 3D capability
Sony plans to have 40% of TVs next year to be 3D enabled