Official Dell Zino 410 HTPC - Page 24

I got my Zino from the Outlet store last week and had a couple of random reboots and blue screen errors. Also, my remote quits working randomly and the red light stays on solid on the sensor. I chatted with support and they had me boot into the BIOS and run diagnostics and it found a memory error. They are calling me back tonight so I can let them know what the results of the test are. I wonder if they will send a tech out if it is indeed a hardware problem?

I'm struggling with something I think many other Zino owners have gone through - I ordered mine with the internal IR receiver/Dell Media Remote, and despite this, I can't get a 3rd party MCE remote to work with the internal Dell IR receiver.

Worse, I am unable to get the Zino to wake from S3 sleep using my xbox 360, the Dell Media Remote, or the 3rd party MCE remote I purchased.

I am running 64 bit Personal edition, and I did a hack to get remote desktop working with the Zino. My interim solution is to use RDP to connect to the Zino using a laptop, which does wake the Zino, and then use the xbox.

Dell tech support seems to think this is caused by a faulty board, so they're sending a tech out to replace it. My thought, since I'm past 30 days, is if this doesn't correct the waking issue, I'm going to try and get Dell to accept it as a return and then build my own replacement HTPC using assassin's recommendations.

It's unacceptable to me a HTPC geared device from a place like Dell would have an issue like this; it's unacceptable to have to train my wife and family that if you want to use the DVR (that's what the HTPC is to them) you need to either try and RDP from a laptop or mash the wireless keyboard, and then if it doesn't wake, go to the Zino and manually power it on/off.

For me, all power management features are turned off, the computer stays on. No need to wake up the computer for anything. I also use Playon to stream content to my Moto Droid, which is another reason why the computer stays on.

I have a Harmony 880 remote to control Media Center, as well as the Wireless Trackball keyboard to navigate through programs such as Kylo and Hulu Desktop. I've had my Zino for almost 2 months and compared to my electric bills from last year during this time period, nothing has changed.

I'm just impressed with the amount of control over content I have compared to having Satellite or Cable. The last few days have been amazing, simply because I can watch Baseball Games using ESPN3.com and not have to pay for it through some type of subscription service, plus there's the Xbox 360 to perform the same task. When College Football starts up in the Fall, that's going to be crazy. OTA reception of the major networks in HD, Espn3 > Heaven!!!!!!

Hi ALL,

I've had the 410 since Nov and it was working well for me. Nothing fancy - only use it to view videos from the web and play and record OTA channels via USB TV tuner. Then a few weeks ago Win Update showed 3 updates and I told it to go ahead and do them. They weren't very big and I expected that it would take maybe 10 minutes or less. When it went to the shutdown screen, as usual it stated to not turn off the PC but no percentage of completion ever showed up. Meanwhile it sat and sat and sat for an hour!!!! I watched the disk activity led on the back panel and while it sometimes slowed its blinking it never stopped so I assumed the update was still going. But after an hour I got mad and just shut it down.

When I re-booted it came up and some things worked but many other things did not work. The USB tuner via Win Media Center no longer worked and some other things no longer worked. I then tried to do a System Restore but it came back with an error message indicating that there was a problem with the disk and it could not access the System Restore point. It suggested that I run the disk checker.

I ran the disk checker (which really ran the next time I booted) and it found a whole bunch of errors which it stated it had fixed. When I re-booted the TV tuner worked again and almost everything was working.

But a week or so later Win 7 SP 1 came out and no matter what I did I could not get it installed including using the stand-alone version. I also discovered that Norton Internet Sec would no longer update properly. So I knew I had to do a major restore from a DVD backup I made with the Dell provided backup.

When I booted off of the DVD, the Dell backup came up but it was confusing as to how to get it to use the image from the DVD so I called Dell support. I got to a human within a minute or two (I believe someone from India, but he had a very minimal accent and was was easy to understand) and to make a long enough already story shorter he was from their HW support and he suggested that I be transfered to their SW support but there would be a charge! I said, since I bought the PC from Dell and it came with an OEM version of Win 7 that MS will NOT support, shouldn't I get support from Dell. And he said yes, but not for free!! I said would it have been free, say, 30 or 60 days from the purchase and he said NO!! So the bottom line is that Dell sells you some OEM SW but ALL of their support is not free! I never heard of such a thing.

I was able to get the DVD image to restore, although it was the fresh-from-factory image rather than the image of when I made the DVDs and it took me all afternoon to get everything back to the way it was supposed to be. But at least its back - BUT WITH NO HELP FROM DELL!!!

Just thought you would like to know!

Gerry

What kind of service do you feel Dell should offer as free "software support"?

Personally I keep my 410 in such a condition that I really only need to install a couple things should I have to do a reinstall with the factory OS DVD. OS->Updates/drivers->Avast/FireFox->Sharky's->MediaBrowser->Bitstreaming Goodness. However, I do support for a living, so I run into "software" issues all week long.

In the past companies like Dell, who sold OEM versions of MS software, gave the same kind of call in tech support of the SW as they did with the hardware - 1 year's worth. I had heard that some companies then cut the software support to something like 90 days before charges kicked in, but I never heard of a company that sold you a product (the OEM version of MS SW) and provided absolutely zero no cost support.

Oh well, live and learn!!!

Gerry

anyone here have a suggestions on which remote software will work on this thing? I pretty much gave up on trying to get the remote hook to work in Media Control, and that software doesn't seem to be supported anymore.

recommendation on an alternative?!?!

If you have an iPad. Mymovies on media center and my movies on iPad has a built in ip based remote to control media center. They should extend that to iPhone and iPod touch soon. It works great.
The app is the only thing you need to pay for and for what it costs it's a steal even just to use as a remote.

Has anyone else ordered the "Dell wireless keyboard with trackball" with their Zino? I am having intermittent issues with the wireless range. Sitting on my couch (about 8 feet away from the Zino), it usually works fine, but then all of a sudden, will start dropping the connection. It's extremely frustrating, especially when typing and a key is "stuck in transmission" so it endlessly repeats whatever key you last pressed.

I already tried another type of wireless keyboard but had the same issues. The fact that it works fine for a while, and then starts acting up without moving to a different location or anything else that I believe could cause interference, is startling to me.

I have not used the Dell keyboard but I bought a Logitech K520 keyboard and mouse after studying the Amazon reviews for various units. It seems to work just fine from about 10-12 feet away. Originally I put the tiny receiver unit on a front USB port, so the signal would not be obstructed, but then I moved it to the back, and it still works fine.

i have had the same issues. Discovered they can be caused by line of sight problems such as finger on front edge of keyboard or knee blocking signal when holding keyboard on your lap.
Another possibility is your wifi signal is dropping since the keyboard uses the 2.4 GH band

XBMC has an official remote app on android for free and it runs great on my GTablet and Evo

Anyone here used either the Rii Mini or the Logitech Dinovo with their Zino. I'm looking for a mini keyboard option (about 6" or less in length), and these are the 2 that seem to be popular around the web for HTPC's. The Dinovo is about 3-4 times as expensive as the Rii Mini.

Anyone got any experience with these. What are your impressions of either of them? Can they wake and sleep the PC with ease? How is your connection quality, range, etc? Any issues any of you have run into using either of these with the Zino.

Thanks.

I use a Logitech Dinovo with my Zino 410 and it works fine. Sleep and Wakeup of the Zino works. Range is OK. Typically about 15 to 20 feet from Zino. I switch it between MCE and mormal (mouse) mode sometimes. I don't have any other keyboard/mouse connected to the Zino 410.

I use the lenovo media kb and its perfect for the job

Dalereed: One of the big knocks I have read about on the Dinovo mini is that when you put the computer to sleep for an extended period of time (maybe a day), that the keyboard loses its connection with the PC and the only way to fix it is to remove the battery, reinsert it, and then pair the keyboard with the PC (not automatically, you have to physically push the pairing buttons on both the keyboard and the receiver). Sounds like a major hassle if true.

Have you experienced this problem with your Dinovo Mini after your PC sleeps for an extended period of time...assuming you put your Zino into standby periodically?

My Dinovo is connected to my Zino-410 and was 'asleep' for about 10 days when we were on vacation. Came back and the Zino powered right up after grabbing the Dinovo. No issues with losing its connection for me.

I'm getting my Zino 410 next week along with a SiliconDust HDHomerun. The Zino has the 1520 wireless N card. I had a huge issue running cables to my set up and was wondering if I could connect the HomeRun to the Zino and run it wireless instead of hard wired. My benchmark speed tests run anywhere from 5.5 Mbps to 7.0 Mbps.

Thanks in advance!

Anyone?

I am a running wireless connection between my Zino 410 and a HDHomerun. Netgear WNDR3700 router using AN band (300). One tuner OTA the other TWC QAM. Works OK for live viewing and recording/playback, but it is a pretty good wireless connection. I am also using Windows Home Server to move the recorded episodes to server to storage and later playback...

Not sure whether you mean:
-- HDHomeRun will be wired to the router or switch and Zino is wireless to the router
or
-- You want to set up a private network between the HDHomeRun and the Zino using a single cable.

You could do the latter with a crossover cable. Then the question is how will the HDHomeRun get an IP address. See this post in the SiliconDust forum about Auto IP (169.254.x.x) on the HDHomeRun. The regular HDHomeRuns do not support static IP.

Been out of country for the last few days. Thanks for the replies. The Zino would have been wireless and wired to the HDHomerun, but, I used my considerable fish tape skills and got a wired connection to the setup. So, good to go. Will be configuring everything tomorrow and really appreciate all of the feedback.

Thanks guys! (or girls!)

Question for zino fans...

How do you think a mini-ITX with the following would compare to your zinos? How much more would you pay if it were built with all quality parts?
-i3 Sandy Bridge with up to date drivers for all hardware
-Mini-ITX motherboard, case and PSU

-USB 3.0, SATAIII, eSATA, Optical Output, AHCI capable

-4GB RAM
-DVD or Bluray (including LAV splitter to play retail Bluray)
-Optional SSD
-2TB Hard Drive
-Optional Wireless
-Optional Tuner Card or recording device
-Windows 7 without all the bloatware
-Mediabrowser, Media Center Master, Codec pre-installed and configured to play all HD sources including bitstreaming HD Audio

Just trying to see if the average Zino user would be interested in something like this off the shelf if it was available.

I love the idea of Dell refreshing this line with SandyBridge. The only real reason I did the Zino vs a byo was because I work for a Dell shop that gets mega discounts on the Outlet site. Well that and the SandyBridge release hadnt taken place.

I'm refreshing this line. Just not for Dell.

Are you talking about actually updating a Zino or building a completely different HTPC with the specs you listed?

Has Dell changed the specs on the 410 recently to move to a better processor? I recieved my 410 probably 6 weeks ago and haven't even taken it out of the box yet. If anything significant has changed I may just sell it it pick up a newer version.

Completely different. Mini itx build.

It would have to be very competitive on price. My Zino is pretty well equipped, and with tax, shipping, and a good 1 year warranty which my AMEX added another year to, I paid $450. I think prices have come down a bit since I ordered mine in March as well.

It's green to red apples for the build you describe, but while I don't love the Dell, I do love having 2 years of full warranty, and I love the form factor of the Zino. It has most of what you'd put in except the tuner card, the 2 TB HD, and the SSD. My Zino also came with a wireless keyboard, remote and wireless mouse which I was able get $40 on eBay which paid for a wireless IOGear keyboard and a Rosewell remote.

FYI - when I started looking at HTPC I was actually cross shopping the Moxi, a TiVo Premier with lifetime, nettops, Boxee Box and Google TV. I came to the HTPC scene when I found out about the HDHomeRun Prime on Engadget and thought I could get rid of all the equipment in my home except for a cable card which justified buying a HTPC.

Price is not the only distinguishing factor - to the average person like me that would buy the Zino first and develop the interest in HTPCs afterwards, what would you offer to differentiate? I'm not too concerned about quality of parts because of the warranty with Dell, and the cost would be difficult to best. Considering a TiVo Premier with lifetime is probably around $500, that is probably the ceiling for what your build would need to cost with tax and shipped to attract interest from a Zino buyer, IMO.

So what you are describing has absolutely nothing to do with a Dell Zino - how about starting a new discussion and just link to it from here for those interested.

Has anyone tried a Velociraptor in theirs? How's the heat off the HDD?