Official Dell Zino 410 HTPC - Page 8

Originally Posted by 3lions

Hi Jack
Nice review

You mentioned on your blog that Dell had a Black Friday deal. If you don't mind, could you give us an indication as to the discount? I know there is no guarantee that it will be the same this year but it might be worth waiting if the discount was significant

Thanks

Originally Posted by phy88

I don't think that link is a good example since the flash server adjusts the quality and bitrate dynamically. In any case, the 6850/4330 plays that video smoothly with and without gpu acceleration (I didn't notice any quality difference):

Available: 5277kbps
Current Bitrate: 4060kbps
With GPU acceleration: Plays smoothly, CPU 30-50%
Without GPU acceleration: Plays smoothly, CPU 70-90%

On the other hand, this youtube 1080 flash video trailer isn't smooth with or without acceleration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siQgD9qOhRs

With GPU acceleration: Noticeable dropped frames, CPU 60%
Without GPU acceleration: Slight stutter, CPU 90-100%

Originally Posted by chrikenn

Can the Zino 410 with the blu-ray DVD drive be used for playback of 3D blu-ray discs if attached to a 3D-capable TV via HDMI?

Or does one need a special 3d blu-ray drive to playback 3d blu-ray discs?

Edit: Or does the ATI 5450 video card not support 3D?

Originally Posted by David James

Java,

In your opinion, if all I wanted to do was

1. Play DVD's (not BD)
2. Watch OTA HD content delivered from an HDHomeRun, including DVR functions
3. Play 720P or less resolution Internet content

All on my 50" plasma, would the basic entry level Zino 410 work?

Originally Posted by Java Jack

Yes, I believe so. In fact, I am doing that with the previous version Zino already. I think it would be fine for that.

Originally Posted by R1Budha

my testing with a BlacX Duet says the ports DO NOT support PM's.

The BlacX works fine on a add on Sil card in another computer and none of the drives are recognized via eSata in the ZinoHD.
Kinda sad really.

But at least they supply two to begin with.

(BTW the BlacX Duet works fine when connected via USB to the ZinoHD)

The eSata port does support multiple devices. One issue we have seen with eSata is sometimes the cheaper cables don't have enough of the connector exposed to make a solid connection into the system. There are some cables that expose more of the connector then others. We have tested this and also have seen where certain cables don't plug in far enough into the system and the devices are never detected.

Originally Posted by Java Jack

So I did a quick check with this clip on my demo box. Results seem a little odd and probably require a deeper dive to better understand what is happening given the difference between Accel. on and off.

While I would not say it was completely stutter free, it played very good. The observable stutter was really during the scene in congress and even that was only slight. Rest of clip played very well with very little observable stutter. During the action sequences, it was hard to see any real stutter. That may be because the editing was so quick, it was not noticable. Likewise, during the slo mo scenes, it would be hard to tell what was stutter and what was slo mo.

Now, I would say a clip may not truly relate what watching a full length, 1080P movie streamed over the internet might be like. I would prefer to watch something for 15-30 mins to get a sense of how the experience might be.

However, with that said, while the clip was not perfect, it did play very good with only slight stutter during parts of the clip.

With GPU acceleration, CPU was ~55 -65%
Without GPU acceleration, CPU was ~60-70%

Originally Posted by jakmal

Was Flash acceleration ever enabled by drivers in the 4xxx IGP ? I remember having a long exchange with AMD/ATI PR about lack of Flash acceleration support in the older ATI GPUs, but don't recollect exactly as to whether it was for the 3xxx standalone GPUs or it included the 4xxx IGP.

Anyways, I think the 5450 should have no issues with this. I will check it in my review unit ( Just finished collecting some gaming benchmarks last night -- The review is making slow progress ).

Originally Posted by Java Jack

Yes, h/w accel of flash was enabled on the 3xxx IGP. I don't recall at which driver release it was enabled but it was right around the time that flash 10.1 came out that we released a driver update that enabled h/w accel. of flash.

Therefore, the 4xxx series should have it by default.

Originally Posted by Java Jack

So I did a quick check with this clip on my demo box. Results seem a little odd and probably require a deeper dive to better understand what is happening given the difference between Accel. on and off.

While I would not say it was completely stutter free, it played very good. The observable stutter was really during the scene in congress and even that was only slight. Rest of clip played very well with very little observable stutter. During the action sequences, it was hard to see any real stutter. That may be because the editing was so quick, it was not noticable. Likewise, during the slo mo scenes, it would be hard to tell what was stutter and what was slo mo.

Now, I would say a clip may not truly relate what watching a full length, 1080P movie streamed over the internet might be like. I would prefer to watch something for 15-30 mins to get a sense of how the experience might be.

However, with that said, while the clip was not perfect, it did play very good with only slight stutter during parts of the clip.

With GPU acceleration, CPU was ~55 -65%
Without GPU acceleration, CPU was ~60-70%

Originally Posted by klas

That's a bit disappointing and I wonder if Quad Core will eliminate this issue?

Originally Posted by Java Jack

Actually. The Radeon 3200 IGP is uvd 2 and does support h/w acceleration. I have had it working since last year. I even posted some results on it in another thread here.

Originally Posted by jakmal

I know Wikipedia is not a trusted source, but, maybe AMD PR needs someone on the lookout over there as it is referred to most often:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_700...rated_graphics

Can you link me to your Flash acceleration piece on the 3200 IGP?

Originally Posted by Java Jack

It was in the 2nd blog post I did on the original Dell Zino HD.

http://blogs.amd.com/home/2009/11/30...piron-zino-hd/

Originally Posted by Java Jack

I did the upgrade on the gpu after I did the flash testing on the IGP. If you look at the paragraph just above the table I spell out what I used for the testing.

I tested with both the 3250 and the 6850 but posted the results of the 6850 CPU. The gpu was the 780g chipset.

I know for a fact that h/w acceleration works on the 780g and 780m chipsets because I am using it at home. I also worked with the team enabling uvd on the 780 and was one of the early testers before it was released.

Originally Posted by Java Jack

So I did a quick check with this clip on my demo box. Results seem a little odd and probably require a deeper dive to better understand what is happening given the difference between Accel. on and off.

While I would not say it was completely stutter free, it played very good. The observable stutter was really during the scene in congress and even that was only slight. Rest of clip played very well with very little observable stutter. During the action sequences, it was hard to see any real stutter. That may be because the editing was so quick, it was not noticable. Likewise, during the slo mo scenes, it would be hard to tell what was stutter and what was slo mo.

Now, I would say a clip may not truly relate what watching a full length, 1080P movie streamed over the internet might be like. I would prefer to watch something for 15-30 mins to get a sense of how the experience might be.

However, with that said, while the clip was not perfect, it did play very good with only slight stutter during parts of the clip.

With GPU acceleration, CPU was ~55 -65%
Without GPU acceleration, CPU was ~60-70%

Originally Posted by matdx

Also what up with option #5 in dell store is it the some or some old components, because it will send you to another web page then the rest of the options?

Originally Posted by phy88

That is very disappointing. Based on your description, the playback is nearly identical on the 6850, which means the P340/P520 is no improvement at all. In my opinion, that type of playback does not qualify as 'very good'. There should be no hesitation or slight stutter at any point. Anyway, thanks for checking.

I'd be interested to see how the P940 performs (and if it has the same issues), but with the current configuration, the price just makes no sense for me (I'd rather just build a more powerful i3 system for that price, as size of the case is not a concern).

Originally Posted by R1Budha

interestingly, i downloaded the iron man trailers and then played them from local storage as flv files....

no skips.
no stutters
no stalls.

maybe its youtube that is the problem........


btw , the only stutter i saw in the congress scene was from bad encoding as it happens on any system i use. and always at exactly the same time.

Originally Posted by Java Jack

So I did a quick check with this clip on my demo box. Results seem a little odd and probably require a deeper dive to better understand what is happening given the difference between Accel. on and off.

While I would not say it was completely stutter free, it played very good. The observable stutter was really during the scene in congress and even that was only slight. Rest of clip played very well with very little observable stutter...

However, with that said, while the clip was not perfect, it did play very good with only slight stutter during parts of the clip.

With GPU acceleration, CPU was ~55 -65%
Without GPU acceleration, CPU was ~60-70%

Originally Posted by bri4jenn

Incase anybody is interested there is anactive coupon that works on the Zino for $35 off any system with a pre-discount price of $699. I hope this helps someone. Use coupon code CVTMP6XQ8KV1VV. This offer ends 10/30/2010.

Also, don't forget to use Discover Cashback to get an extra 5% off.

Originally Posted by bri4jenn

Incase anybody is interested there is anactive coupon that works on the Zino for $35 off any system with a pre-discount price of $699. I hope this helps someone. Use coupon code CVTMP6XQ8KV1VV. This offer ends 10/30/2010.

Also, don't forget to use Discover Cashback to get an extra 5% off.

Originally Posted by David Scott

got any more coupons? that one is redeemed already...thanks!