If you’re looking to build something like my Mac Mini Media Center, but you’d prefer to use Linux or Windows, check out the Zino HD from Dell.
It’s based on the AMD Athlon (the lesser non-HD Zino is based on the Intel Atom) and has an HDMI port built-in, so it’s a pretty good candidate. I don’t know if there’s much else to distinguish it - the graphics are better than the non-HD one, which isn’t saying much, and you can order it with Ubuntu 9.04 pre-installed, which is nice.
Overall the industrial design seems nice, but looking at the web site it seems like Dell has decided that the most important thing to emphasize about the Zino HD is that it comes with a lot of different color options for the top of the case. If that’s really the best marketing strategy they have for this computer, it’s kind of sad.
The price is right though: $229 for a base-level unit. More practically, about $500 total if you bump up the processor and add some RAM, better Wifi, and a Blu-ray drive — one thing the Mini won’t do. You can read more from Cnet’s coverage of the Zino HD.
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