Dell's Mini Mac???

[Alan B]

Called a Studio Hybrid??

 

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/desktop-studio-hybrid?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

 

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Alan - Nice find! This could be pretty nice in many circumstances.

 

[Innertuber]

That thing is pretty cool. Plop it in your car trunk on a power inverter!

 

[tfarney]

I'm surprised it took this long for someone to compete directly with the mini. And there flatscreen prices sure beat Apple's.

 

Tim

 

[airdronian]

yes, gotta like the bamboo. Reasonable feature set - 5 usb ports and one firewire 400. Optional draft-N wireless. Must be using laptop hard drive as the only options are 5400 rpm drives. Nice touch to allow vertical or horizontal placement.

 

I went thru the configurator on the dell page and had to go for a snack half way thru. Now you can even specify recycling options for your old pc. More choices than you can shake a stick at.

 

Nice design really, especially considering it's a Dell. Hope they can avoid heat related issues.

 

 

 

 

 

[darrenwm]

How noisy are these things and Mac Minis? Similar to a laptop?

 

[Innertuber]

The Macs are very quiet when not using the CD drive. That can get the fan going plus you hear the drive.

 

My Dell laptop and HPs are pretty quiet too as long as the drives not spinning.

 

I wouldn't find any of them offensive if music was playing via an external drive. That's where the noise seems to be to me, accessing the drive storing the music. Fan and skit skit skit noise.

 

[tfarney]

My Apple laptop shakes like the space shuttle if you try to "play" a cd from it. This is not what it does. But it reads to memory without a lot of noise, and the fan almost never comes on.

 

Tim

 

[Alan B]

The Mac mini (MB139LL/A) is very quiet. The WD 1TB external drive is also quiet. I never hear either one from my listening position. As a qualifier, I have a very attractive high quality custom made cabinet where all of the electronics reside. The Silencer fans that I have mounted on the rear of the enclosure are more audible than any of the electronics. However, I never hear the fans when even when playing the quietest passages of music.