14 DAY TRIAL // It has become somewhat of a trend for various hardware manufacturers to have their products tested and reviewed even days before the official launch. This also goes for Dell, which has rolled out today its small-sized, energy efficient desktop computer system, the Studio Hybrid PC. On that note, it looks like the first review is already out, as the guys at PC Magazine got a chance to put the system through its paces.
As we mentioned in some of our previous articles on Dell's new product, the system comes fairly close to a comparison with Apple's Mac Mini. There are several reasons for that, including the small-sized design, of which both products make use. Also, both systems require a power brick, as they aren't featured with any internal power supply, but that may come as a rather insignificant annoyance for most users. Another interesting feature that both Dell and Apple's systems share is the application dock, which is basically a shortcut launcher for them. The Dell Dock (developed by the folks at Stardock) will certainly be something that will come in handy to those that migrate from Mac to Vista.
As far as testing goes, Dell's mini PC is what most expected it to be, and that is a small-sized desktop computer ideal for office and home tasks, but totally inappropriate for running games. This happens because of the system's Intel X3100 integrated graphics, which only provides 128MB of memory - in the test model used by PC Magazine. However, while it was no good with Crysis and World in Conflict (for which the Hybrid PC scored 1 point at a 1280 x 1024 resolution, with Medium settings on), the system did fairly well with Windows Vista's Aero experience.
The test model PC Magazine had at its disposal was equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 Penryn-based processor, which performed rather well in the SYSmark 2007 tests. The system achieved 116 points for electronic learning and 113 for office productivity, these being the system's highest results in the above-mentioned application.
In 3DMark06 the system's integrated graphics were no match for the graphics test, as Dell's Hybrid only achieved 526 marks at 1280 by 1024. The multimedia tests results were rather good, as the system was capable of completing the Windows Media Encoder test in 1 minute 19 seconds, while it took only 38 seconds to finish the Photoshop CS3 test.
Overall, Dell's Studio Hybrid PC plays out as a good investment, considering its price tag and specifications list. All you have to decide now is whether you want to go for Apple's Mac Mini and its OS, or for Dell's Studio Hybrid PC and its Windows Vista operating system.