Dell Inspiron Zino HD and the HP Pavilion All-in-One MS225

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If you're looking for a desktop that can fit into a tight space, the Dell Inspiron Zino HD and the HP Pavilion both deserve your attention. These two machines approach the issue of saving space slightly differently. Let's take a closer look.

Dell Inspiron Zino HD desktop

Unlike many standard desktops, the Dell Inspiron Zino HD is very compact and can fit even in the tightest setups. It offers plenty of upgrade options when ordering, so the likelihood of you paying just $249, which is its base price, is slim. The Zino HD comes with a one-year warranty on parts and labor with technical support available online or through Dell's 24-7 toll-free line.

The bare bones configuration of the Zino HD only costs $249, which only gets you a single-core processor, Windows Vista, and other unappealing features. Luckily, Dell offers a ton of upgrades when configuring the system online, and for the purpose of this review we will discuss a configuration that costs nearly double the base price at about $470.

For that price, an upgraded 1.5GHz AMD Athlon X2 3250E CPU with 1 MB of L2 cache is included. The 3250E is a dual-core processor that gives better performance than, let's say, the single-core Atom processors found in some competing systems. Still, do not expect to perform any demanding tasks on the Zino HD without some lag. Simple tasks, however, like instant messaging, web surfing, and the like should not be too much of a problem.

To help with multitasking and running multiple applications at once, you get 3 GB of DDR2 SDRAM, which can be boosted all the way up to 8 GB. For storage, there is a 320 GB hard drive on board, but you can upgrade up to a 1 TB drive if necessary. Integrated graphics are supported by an ATI Radeon HD3200 card. If you plan on using the Zino HD for a lot of multimedia viewing and similar tasks, you will definitely want to upgrade to discrete graphics with a Radeon HD 4330 card for better performance. Users might notice some choppy performance with the Zino HD while streaming video in full-screen mode.

Next: Zino OS and Other Features >>
 

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