Pem’s Tech Blog

Background
I am both a software developer and a frequent traveler, and I have both enjoyment and productivity uses for portable computing. This even applies to desktops (ie, portable desktop computers).

There are some really small examples like fit-PC2i and LinTop. And there is a decent variety of NetTop options, including Asus EeeBox, ASRock Mini PC series, Acer Aspire Revo, and other NetTop computers (Intel Atom, Nvidia Ion). However, for my personal use, these options are just too slow (Intel Atom is too slow).

So what I’m really looking at is either a Mac Mini or a Mac Mini competitor. The Viewsonic VOT550 sounds good too, but I think a better competitor for the Mac Mini is the Dell Inspiron Zino HD.

Zino HD vs. Mac Mini
Here are advantages of the Mac Mini (over the Zino HD):
* slightly smaller/lighter: (6.5 x 6.5 x 2 in, 2.9 lb) vs. (7.8 x 7.8 x 3.4 in, 3.5 lb)
* slightly faster CPU (not by much) (uses more heat/power)
* slightly faster memory (DDR3 vs. DDR2) (more expensive per GB)
* official support for Mac OS X (does not require hackintosh)
* 2.5 hdd helps it be physically smaller, but only 5400 rpm and less GB per $
* the $999 server option has a 2nd hdd instead of an optical drive

Here are advantages of the Zino HD (over the Mac Mini):
* more options, broader price range, lower cost per performance/features
* discrete graphics option (ATI Radeon HD 4330)
* eSATA, Blu-ray, HDMI, memory card reader
* supports 8 GB RAM (Mac Mini only claims support for 4 GB?)
* 3.5 hdd is faster, 7200 rpm, more GB, but physically bigger

Mac Mini is 2 inches high, while the Zino HD is 3.4 inches high. But the Zino HD has eSATA, Blu-ray, HDMI, discrete graphics – making it a better HTPC. I think the rest of the differences are mostly just minor trade-offs.

To make the Mac Mini smaller, I still wish they would just remove the optical drive. I definitely like the Mac Mini’s $999 two hdd option. But even for the Mac Mini, I’d still rather they just have a one hdd option with smaller dimensions (ie, fit it into a smaller case).

Overall, I like the Zino HD’s extra features/options (and lower price per performance/features). However, some obvious things I would like to see them do to make it smaller are (use a 2.5 hdd) and (remove the optical drive) and (remove anything else that takes up space, such as the memory card reader). Of course Blu-ray is great for HTPC, but my interest is more about a reasonably powerful PC with high portability (small, light weight, durable, fits in backpack).

My specific situation
Finally, I should mention some details about my specific setup. My plan is to run all three major OS’s using a KVM switch (one more powerful desktop with Windows 7, one Mac Mini with Mac OS X, and one Linux computer that is similar in portability and performance to a Mac Mini). I’m planning to run Ubuntu Linux (and/or openSUSE) (maybe Fedora) on this third desktop computer. And I have a strong preference to portability (hence why I want one 2.5 hdd and no optical drive).

If you’re looking at a Mac Mini because you want to run Mac OS X, then it’s probably a better choice (unless you just think it would be fun to try hackintosh).

If you’re looking at Mac Mini vs. Zino HD for HTPC (Home Theatre PC), then I think Zino HD is clearly a better choice, because it has Blu-ray DVD and a discrete GPU (plus HDMI). Plus, a 3.5 hdd with two eSATA ports gives you high speed/bandwidth and lots of GB storage for large video files.

For my situation, it’s a more difficult choice. For my situation, both Mac Mini and Zino HD are bigger than they need to be – because I don’t want an internal optical drive (I’d rather use an external optical drive that I don’t have to take in my backpack).

So far, I’m strongly leaning towards Zino HD for Linux. One reason is (discrete GPU, eSATA, 8 GB mem). But I have to admit that it’s also partly just because I’d rather carry around (one Mac Mini with Mac OS X, and one Zino HD with Linux OS) than carry around (one Mac Mini with Mac OS X, and a second Mac Mini with Linux OS).

Pictures: Mac Mini vs. Zino HD