Official Dell Zino 410 HTPC - Page 11

No, not at all! In fact, the thermal design is really good.. much better than any other SFF HTPC we have seen so far.

Hyper-V is a follow up to Virtual PC and Virtual Server and is part of the Windows Server 2008R2 stack.

@ Java Jack, it would be nice if you could take the time to test it out, maybe I might reconsider buying this machine

A quick question regarding setup: I just got an Onkyo 3007 receiver today and finished hooking up my speakers, including "height" speakers. When I test audio levels I get sound out of all 7.2 speakers hooked up. I've hooked the receiver to a new Dell Zino 410 htpc and when I play a 5.1 dts mkv I get no sound out of my height speakers. Is this more likely I've missed a setting in the Onkyo, or could it be a setting in the htpc? The htpc is setup for 7.1 hdmi audio out using an ATI 5450 card, ffdshow, and MPC-HC for the player.

My first thought would be to check the HTPC speaker configuration and test on each speaker.

Go to the speaker icon in the system tray and right click.
Then select playback devices
Then select the appropriate output device (codec). Once highlighted, select configure in lower left corner of window.
This should call up a speaker layout, select the 7.1 or 5.1 config so that it matches the number of speakers and locations.
Select Next and then tell the system which speakers are full range and which are separates to match your speaker config.
You can then click on each speaker in the map and generate test tones to make sure the speakers are working properly.

I don't know if I should buy the 2.2 dual core or spend another $100 for the 1.7 quad core.

I live in canada ...... it's more expensive here.

Has anyone tried streaming from a Windows Home Server to XBMC with their Zino? Is it as simple as pointing XBMC to the shared folders? What is performance like?

Is the Dell Media Remote any good? I can't find it on the canadian Dell website.

It's meh. It's cheaply made and torques fairly easily. Ergonomically its pretty bad as all the buttons look and feel exactly the same. I bought it because I thought it would be nice to have an internal IR receiver but now I wish I had just bought a cheap 3rd party IR remote. Plus the buttons don't light up so you'll never be able to see anything at night with it.

Also, and not that it would matter for most people, but the remote and IR are Philips so they won't work with earlier XP or "eHome infrared receiver's".

Any deals on new zino, or is everyone hoping for BF deal.

Can the power button be programmed to turn on/off yourtv?

I just bought this. I have a small stutter problem. This is every few minutes and very subtle, possibly not noticeable to untrained eye.

My files are normal 1280x720p AVC files.
I watch using ZoomPlayer with these filters.
CoreAVC 2 + ffdshow resize from 1280*720 -> 1920*1080 Lancos resize.

Is this equipment not powerful enough to handle this? I could watch this way on my old HTPC with no problem.

If I use only ffdshow to decode and no CoreAVC, the stutter is worse. Is there anything else I can do? Use ATI acceleration perhaps? I don't know ATI cards, I used nVidia before. I want to keep the "resize to 1920x1080" part.

I've been using Zino 400 (6850 w/ 4330) for about a year and while for the most part it satisfied my needs although I was always waiting for better alternatives. For a while I was contemplating about getting 410, but reading recent reviews it appeared not much different from my old one in terms of performance. I was also waiting for Vision 3d, but it's still not for sale and apparently the starting price is around $1k, so that leaves one final option to try... mac mini. I don't need bluray and it's about $200 more then I wanted to pay for base model, but it appeals me in other ways. I will most likely compare it to Zino once I get it.

finaly I sold my 400 on ebay and ordered a 410...... hope I won't regret it.

I will post the difference between the two unit once I get it.

Sounds like you may be a patient fellow. If so, you can save a few dollars if you get a refurbished model. I save $150 on my mini that way. Apple gives a longer warranty on them too. They just sell really fast. I like my mini and works well for my needs. My biggest gripe is the lack of software choices, although some of it is really good such as Plex. The other was more me and my lack of OSX knowledge made it hard to figure out problem resolutions; I've been on Windows for over years.

On a side, there are some blu ray solutions that people have been able to do. They're just not exactly user friendly. I haven't been following the Zino HD, so I don't know about it's HD audio capabilities, but the mini has none because of hardware limitations; you can play 5.1 audio fine.

I'm having a few issues with my zino hd when I am streaming videos from my living room computer. For some strange reason, peoples skins have a "blotchy spray on tan" look. I played with the tvs color settings with no luck. My zino is connected via hdmi.

My second problem is controlling the volume when watching videos on MC. Level 50 down to 1 is the same and does not gradually increase or decrease. This sucks because it requires me to have two remotes and that could be very stressful.

I love my Zino! I am doing everything I wanted. Its a good thing I didn't buy an Apple TV or one of those Media Center Extenders. No limitations on online services or video formats.

Thanks guys.

BTW I am still waiting for the internal IR board. Dell said "out of stock" and will be available in two weeks. No word yet. Anyone?

First, check the HDMI cable. If colors and such are off, could be a bad connection or something. Then go into the CCC (Cat. Control Center) and look for the advanced settings under graphics. There is a setting for skin tones, in there.

For the audio, I would suggest running through the set up again. Try right clicking on speaker, select playback devices. Highlight the HDMI device, then lower right corner of window select Properties. In there you should find a levels tab and enhancement tab, try playing with those to see if you can fine tune it a little.

Also if he's bitstreaming audio to a receiver then wouldn't it be the receiver which is controlling the volume? I'm close to having everything setup with my new Zino and it's working great so far. I'm bitstreaming my high resolution surround sound using Foobar to my new Onkyo receiver, and just installed Meda Browser yesterday to organize my movies and tv show collection. One thing I noticed (or perhaps just didn't see) is the remote control which I added when buying the Zino doesn't seem to come with any documentation. I have no idea what it can control or how to customize it. I'm sure there's something online, but with everything else I'm installing it's just one more thing to have to research.

The remote is pretty basic. While I don't know for sure, I suspect it is not a universal/learning remote and thereofre, probably does not allow for programming or control of other devices. The beauty is that it is an RC6 remote/sensor and therefore, you could likely use other, more robust RC6 remotes like a Harmony to control other devices and just use the built in sensor without tying up a USB port.

I read through most of the pages of this thread.
I want to make sure my expectation is correct before I purchase this.

I recently purchased the Acer Revo 3700 with Next-Gen Ion but found it not to be able to do what I need it to do.
1) Hulu fullscreen at 480p
2) 1080p MKV (can do that if without subtitle) + subtitles (DirectVobSub)
Sadly, I cannot return the Revo to Newegg.

Can this new Zino handle all flash fine and easily display Hulu in fullscreen mode with a 1080p HDTV? Has anybody tried using the new Zino to play 1080p MKV files WITH embedded/external subtitle support such as DirectVobSub filter?

Thanks,

I would love to have hulu in my zino but I live in canada....... and hulu block everyone not from usa..... kinda sucks.

there is some workaround you can do but they usually don't last very long until hulu blocks them.

I just finished reading this entire thread.

Has anyone tried using the Zino 410 HD 4250 with a ripped bluray containing Dolby True HD or DTS HD?

I was just on online chat with Dell for 2 hours (it would take him 15 minutes to find out some canned response), which was a worthless, worthless waste of time. As usual.........

I simply wanted to know:

1. Can you actually order the internal IR receiver for $5.99, and if so, will it work with the Harmony remotes. I have a Harmony 880 currently.

2. I plan on hooking this thing up via HDMI to my AV Receiver. Will the Zino HD 410 with 4250 output 7.1 Dolby True HD over HDMI? What about DTS HD? If not, can it decode Dolby True HD and DTS HD and spit out 7.1 PCM over HDMI? Seems the Zino HD 410 with the 5450 will definitely output all these sound options, but I only want to spend around $330 or so as a Popcorn Hour replacement, if it's worth it. My current AV receiver cannot decode Dolby True HD or DTS HD, but I would like to know what exactly will happen if a Bluray image with Dolby True HD encoding only gets played by the 4250 graphics card. Will it output 7.1 PCM?

Thanks in advance.

Hi ALL,

I'm looking to get an HTPC that does NOT need Blu Ray (my Panny stand-alone player works just fine) and mainly will be used to stream video from the Internet and some casual browsing. I already tried the Acer Revo 3610 and while it mostly worked the HW is JUST BARELY enough to work and sometimes the video stutters anyway. I also just tried the Logitech Google TV and while that also basically does what its supposed to there was one deal breaker (processes HDMI data from STB and then feeds to TV - HD picture is good but NOT as good as when STB feeds TV directly) and an almost deal breaker (Chrome browser is hobbled making it harder to use if you are an advanced PC user).

So now I'm considering the Zino, which of course is more money than I want to spend but I feel that it should do what I want.

Please comment on whether or not this configuration should do what I want.

Thanks,
Gerry

BUMP!!

Any comments?

Gerry

Does the Zino 410 bitstream HD audio (TrueHD and DTS-HD MA up to 7.1)? Also, does it support 1080p/23.976 in addition to 1080p/24? Thanks.

Yes, the Zino 410 should do what you want. Make sure to get the quad core model if you are already used to the capabilities of an Intel Clarkdale or Arrandale based system. The dual core model experience is similar to the experience on last gen Intel systems.


The model with the 5450 GPU should do what you want. 23.976 fps support is EXCELLENT, as is 24fps. Note that AMD's official line is that the GPU will provide hardware acceleration upto only 1080p24. So, for 1080p60, only some videos will have hardware acceleration. Others will have to rely on the CPU. If you have the quad core model, it should be good. I would have liked Dell to go with the Mobility 5650, but guess it is too late now. Our review for the Zino 410 should be up soon. Will link it over here as soon as it is posted.

If you want to bit stream the HD Audio codes then you have to have the 5450 graphic card. "A special feature of the HD 5000 series is its ability to transmit HD audio formats (like Dolby True HD or DTS HD Master Audio) with up to 8 channels and 192 KHz / 24 Bit over HDMI 1.3a."

There was another question about HD audio and using the 4250 graphic. Not 100% sure on this, the "core" audio should be extracted and sent down the HDMI. This would DD 5.1 for DD True HD and DTS (5.1??) for the DTS HD. I'm not sure if the software or the hardware is responsible for extracting the "core" audio. I think is is the software's player responsibility for extracting the "core" audio.

You can order the IF part but I believe everybody has been told that it is on back order. I do not think any has actually received the part and tried it out.

If you are not interested in BD then, IMHO, look at the X2 (dual core)/ 5450 instead of the X4/5450 package.

Thanks Ganesh. I've never done an HTPC before. I'll wait for your review before jumping in. Any other Dell (or other manufacturer's) PC that I can just buy and use as an HTPC? You mentioned 5450 GPU and 5650. Which other GPU's support HD audio and 23.976/24? Thanks again.

I don't need a BD drive. I have 1:1 Blu-ray rips (mostly MKV and some ISO). So, would the entry-level AMD Athlon II V140 Zino suffice? Plus, I do need Netflix, Hulu, etc.

Does the ATI HD4250 Mobility Radeon do HD audio and 23.976/24?

Hi Ganesh,

Thanks for the info.

How soon do you think you'll have the review of the 410? I don't know what the big rush is but for some reason I want to get it RIGHT NOW!!!!! But I usually want to read some reviews of a product before I get one.

Thanks again,
Gerry

No, you need the 5xxx GPUs from AMD for HD audio.

Every GPU vendor has + and - ; While nV is very good at video decode and acceptable for HD audio, some aspects like 23.976 fps support are not as good as AMD. (AMD does 23.976 fps perfectly). AMD, on the other hand, is not as good at supporting HD video decode acceleration for all streams (including the Panasonic 1080p60) across the board. Some low end GPUs are not as good.

Personally, if you don't care about 3D, and want to build a HTPC yourself, I would suggest going with the 5570. Otherwise, if you want 3D, use something like the GT 430.

If you are looking for pre-built HTPCs, I would recommend the Zino 410 with 5450 as long as you are going to have only BR and 1:1 non-reencoded MKV content from BR. You should also not expect HW acceleration for 1080p60 content (it is a hit or miss there). If you want to be future proof with 3D, go ahead with the ASRock Vision 3D with DVD drive (since you are going to play BR backups only). It will be around $800 - $900 when it appears, without OS. I am not sure there is a Zino 410 configuration without BR, but with the 5450. In the end, it all depends on your usage scenario.