new dell mini pc

Info & chat about quiet prebuilt, small form factor and barebones systems, people's experiences with vendors thereof, etc.

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dragonfire
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new dell mini pc

Post by dragonfire » Tue Jul 29, 2008 10:25 am

It's called the "Studio Hybrid"

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=12519

Anyone know if it's fanless?

nutball
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Post by nutball » Tue Jul 29, 2008 10:47 am

Go to the Dell website, you can view a 360 degree view of it and see... a fan grille on the rear :)

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Tue Jul 29, 2008 11:39 am

very nice and stylish, and I would buy this but for the following reasons I won't:

1) the price gouging. base model is $499 (£250) in the US, but $800 (£399) in the UK. I am used to this, but it still p1sses me right off.

2) the base model comes with a single-core Celeron. in 2008, for $800, that is not acceptable.

3) this model only ships with Vista as the OS, you are not allowed to "downgrade" to XP. this is also unforgivable.

so for a small, stylish SFF I will probably be going with an Asus Eee Box instead; while considerably less powerful, it is also half the price and will run XP.

Lawrence Lee
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Post by Lawrence Lee » Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:03 pm

Good set of outputs: HDMI, DVI, S/PDIF, FireWire, Gigabit. Bet it's loud though.

frostedflakes
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Post by frostedflakes » Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:38 pm

Looks pretty decent, especially at $500. 87% efficient power supply as well. :)

jaganath: Are you sure about the processor? US base model comes with a Core Duo T2390. Maybe you guys only get a Celeron, though. Sucks that a lot of Euro PC enthusiasts get shafted when it comes to prices. :(

quikkie
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Post by quikkie » Wed Jul 30, 2008 7:00 am

The Dell UK site has the celeron 550 in as the base package, optional upgrades to c2d are available.

I know that the UK pays 17.5% VAT (sales tax) versus 0-8% (?) in the US, however I seriously doubt it costs 213USD to send the computer from the States to the UK - especially given the size/weight of it...

Having said that: some (but not enough) electronic stuff is available for almost the same price if you subtract VAT

-A Disgruntled UK Shopper

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:34 am

however I seriously doubt it costs 213USD to send the computer from the States to the UK - especially given the size/weight of it...
especially since they are both coming from the same factory in China and costs to ship to the US/UK are about the same (it's still halfway around the world whichever way you look at it). Another great example of Rip-Off Britain. :roll:

qviri
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Post by qviri » Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:39 pm

I really like the design. Depending on the noise, I would consider it had I not sold my soul to laptops. Maybe after I graduate...

DryFire
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Post by DryFire » Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:39 pm

Been looking at something like this for my dad, but noise is a bit of an issue and I think he may find the eee box's performance a bit lacking.

He's also stuck with dell if he wants to buy it through work.

Anyone know if that fan is always on?

Petey
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Location: UK

Post by Petey » Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:53 am

I've heard they've been having a lot of overheating problems, which is why you're encouraged into the 1 year warranty....

I recall when Dell did 90 day warranties on Dimension PCs, they failed shortly afterwards.

Its hardly 'Green' building a machine that won't last, and that has an optional bamboo 'effect' housing. Typical greenwash.

falke
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Post by falke » Sat Aug 30, 2008 11:28 am


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