- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 22 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Fine for a media-room PC"
Pros: Compact, visually-appealing design, reasonably well-configured for HTPC use
Cons: No internal TV tuner; Intel X3100 graphics are weak
Summary: I thought Rich Brown's review missed the target market for this product. It's easy for PC enthusiasts to dismiss it as under-powered, and yes, you can easily buy or build a bigger PC with more bang for the buck. But, this product is not intended to be a gaming box, or a computing powerhouse. It is targeted to the same audience who'd buy a Mac Mini, or any other small form factor product...good looks, unobtrusive design, well-equipped for a basic home office or home theater PC (especially when they replace the current optical drive with a Blu-Ray drive).
I'm now on my 4th generation home theater PC, all built by me. My previous generation machines were built using Antec Sonata tower cases, but my current version is a tiny AOpen MiniPC, built out of similar, but higher-spec, laptop guts. It runs Vista Ultimate just fine, records HDTV shows, acts as my music and photo server, and is virtually silent. Nobody walking into my family room would notice a PC next to the TV. I simply plug in a large external HDD for media storage, and I use a SiliconDust HD HomeRun networked HDTV tuner. It was fun to build the AOpen MiniPC from barebones parts, but it was a big hassle to source all the laptop-class parts, and the Dell product is ready to go. Although the Intel X3100 graphics hardware is rather weak for Vista Aero, it does work for its intended purpose. It will be an even better performer when Dell inevitably upgrades the chipset to Centrino 2 (Montevina).Don't compare this to state-of-the art desktop/tower PCs, to laptops, or to cheapo-budget boxes, none of which are the intended market for this product. Compare it to the Mac Mini and to the small form-factor business PCs from Lenovo.
- 3 replies to this review
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For someone who has been looking for an HTPC for YEARS, but never find a form factor that was appealing to go into my Entertainment area, I saw this new studio desktop. WOW!! Really nice looking.
However, I was disappointed with the graphics card and no internal tuner. Processing power, memory are fine, but they need to have upgradable graphics to at least 512MB.
I am sure they will soon enough, and when they do, I will grab this one. Will just play the waiting game...I've waited this long! -
Steve:
I also felt that the review missed the point - which is not that the Studio Hybrid would replace your existing desktop, but be used as a cheap alternative to a bulky HTPC.
I have a question though: have you tried playback of hi-def video files ala mkv or some other 720p or 1080i/p variety? I picked up a Mac mini to be able to watch these on my HDTV and have had mixed results. PC seems to handle some of these files with more grace. -
Good comment about the market which average America household need one PC next to their big LCD TV now a day as HTPC. Aopen is far more better choice with smaller foot pin, cheaper price and more powerful chipset - Intel G45 Chipset. The mobile cpu and component is now much easier to get than in the past.
Dell Studio Hybrid:
