Product Listing

Dell Inspiron Zino HD - Little Pleasures

By Andy Sim - 26 Jul 2010
Launch SRP: S$649

Performance

Ze Performance Quotient

Since the Zino HD carts a dual-core Athlon Neo X2 6850e processor, it would be terribly skewed if we were to pit it against a single-core Atom N280 chip. Instead, we'll run our review unit against the Acer Ferrari One notebook, since AMD has tuned the 64-bit Neo X2 breed for ultraportables or ultra-thin PCs to begin with. Furthermore, both Dell and Acer share a similar AMD M780G chipset with a built-in Radeon HD 3200 graphics engine. We also wanted to see how the Neo X2 would stack up against an Intel CULV processor based workhorse and its integrated HD-capable GPU, which explains the insertion of the Acer Aspire 4810T in the fray. You might want to note that the Aspire was benchmarked on Windows Vista, and not on the Windows 7 platform, thus making it an added variable. That said, let's see how they fare against one another.
 

System Comparison Table
Specifications/Notebooks Dell Zino HD Acer Ferrari One Acer Aspire 4810T
Processor AMD Athlon Neo X2 6850e (1.8GHz with 1MB L2 cache) AMD Athlon X2 L310 (1.2GHz with 1MB L2 cache) Intel Core 2 Duo ULV SU 9400 (1.40GHz with 3MB L2 cache)
Chipset AMD M780G AMD M780G Intel GS45
Memory 4GB DDR2 4GB DDR2 4GB DDR3
HDD 500GB SATA 7200RPM 500GB SATA 5400RPM 500GB SATA 5400RPM
Video ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 Intel GMA 4500HD

The system score was rather tight between the Dell Zino HD and Acer Aspire 4810T on PCMark05, with only a marginal difference to show between them. However, the higher clocked Neo X2 began to show its mettle on PCMark Vantage with a distinct lead over the low-powered AMD Athlon X2 and Intel SU9400 classes. Dell's 7200rpm hard drive also pulled ahead on the HDD assessment when measured against slower 5400rpm drives carried by the two Acer machines. This result was similarly replicated on PCMark Vantage. The Zino HD also displayed a better flair in overall productivity with its superior score of 2,676 PCMarks. All things considered, Dell's mini desktop might not boast of fiery hardware like those from AMD's "Windsor" family, but this mobile "Congo" solution shows that it has similar potential for tackling basic computing tasks as Intel's CULV range, if not better. As verified by our own user experience, the Zino HD is proficient enough for light office applications and multimedia sprees.  

 

Intel's integrated GMA graphics engine doesn't go down very well with the masses, with many folks citing AMD's second generation ultra-mobility platform to be the better alternative instead. Based on Gaming Suite numbers on PCMark Vantage as well as our 3DMark06 scores, we can safely gather that their sentiments aren't too far off. The Acer Ferrari One and the Dell Zino HD equipped with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 graphics with 40 unified shader cores, edged past the Intel GMA 4500HD (equipped with 10 unified shader units) on both counts. Then again, it isn't indicative that the Zino HD is capable of tackling intensive 3D games. The Radeon has muscle enough to handle HD files, that we know, but when it comes to gaming, be prepared to play at low resolutions with choppy frame rates for titles such as Far Cry 2 or Crysis, if you insist. Less demanding mainstream games would fare better though.

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8.5
  • Design 9
  • Features 8.5
  • Performance 8.5
  • Value 8
The Good
Compact design
Interchangeable lids
Decent HD playback
The Bad
Unable to display in full-screen
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