If you are looking for a great HTPC then you should look no further than Boxee on the Dell Zino HD. For those of you that don’t know, Boxee is a free software program that you install on your computer that allows users to watch internet movies and TV shows, listen to online radio and music, play your local digital music and movies. The Boxee software turns your HTPC into a social media and home theater media center.

Boxee allows users to watch and listen to their local media, as well all access movies on Netflix, internet radio on LastFM and Pandora, and TV shows through NBC, FOX, ABC, and HULU. Boxee is diverse in its functionality and continues to evolve quickly.

Once installed boxee will start scanning your local Movies, Music and Pictures folders automatically. Boxee will attempt to bring artwork, reviews, cast, etc. for your media, so browsing your library becomes more useful and fun than looking at a list of files. Boxee is based on the XMBC media center.

You can buy a specific Boxee “Box” or build your own by downloading the free software .deb package and installing it on your own Ubuntu (or Windows/Mac) based Linux PC. Sorry but there is no love for Fedora or other RedHat distributions at the moment.

Here is a view of the Boxee home screen.

As far as hardware goes you can’t go wrong with the Dell Inspiron Zino HD. This little PC is powerful and keeps a very low profile in your home theater.

The Zino HD starts at $299 and you get is a CD/DVD combo drive, integrated graphics, integrated 2.1 Hi-def audio, and a dual core AMD processor. All models come packed with multiple USB ports, eSATA, HDMI, VGA, Gigabit Ethernet, analog audio in/out, SPDIF, and a 4-in-1 media card reader, so connectivity is covered. With an HDMI cable and an HDTV, you could have your Boxee HTPC up in no time.

Optionally you can upgrade to THX 7.1 audio, integrated WiFi, discrete graphics cards, Blu-Ray drive, or a quad core Phenom processor.

The Zino HD packs quite an affordable punch. Installing Linux was hassle free as all devices were correctly detected and the proper drivers were installed.

You could control this HTPC with a full sized wireless keyboard but this guide wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the Logitech diNovo Mini. This little remote device has the perfect blend of portability, functionality, and ease of use. It is a handheld wireless bluetooth keyboard with an integrated trackpad that’s designed to perform all of the functions necessary to effectively control an HTPC from the comfort of your couch.

The diNovo Mini has full functioning keyboard and trackpad but also comes with media keys to control playback and the backlight which is invaluable at night. One of my other favorite things is that it comes with an integrated USB bluetooth dongle that can plug into any PC that doesn’t natively support bluetooth.

You can usually find this for under $100 USD online.

Related posts

1. Installing Ubuntu 9.10 on the Dell Zino HD
2. How to get Boxee to correctly identify local media files
3. Install Boxee on 64-bit Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic

The Dell Inspiron Zino HD is the perfect machine if you are looking to build an Ubuntu Linux based HTPC. At the time of this post the Zino can be purchased with either Windows 7 or Ubuntu linux 9.04. I decided to go with Windows 7 and install Ubuntu 9.10 64-bit karmic on my own in a dual boot configuration. This article will cover all the steps necessary to get Ubuntu up and running.

The easiest way to setup a dual boot configuration is to reinstall Windows 7 first with the included OS DVD and then Ubuntu second. When installing Windows 7 make sure to leave space for your Ubuntu installation. Repartition the drive so that Windows 7 only uses a small chuck and leave the rest of the space unallocated. The good thing about reinstalling Windows is that it gets rid of all the extra 3rd party junk that comes preinstalled.

You can install Ubuntu through the HDMI but on some TVs the HDMI port may display incorrectly until the ATI drivers are correctly installed. If this occurs to you switch over the the VGA port until you have completed the installation.

The only other pitfall of this installation is that the default Ubuntu installation doesn’t recognize the wireless card (in my build it was the Broadcom wireless b/g card). All this means is that you need to have the wired ethernet connection until you update the system and download the appropriate wireless driver.

Once you have completed the initial installation and made sure you have a working network connection you should update your system.

$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade

Next you need to find and install your hardware drivers. Go here:
System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers

It should find the Broadcom STA wireless driver for your wireless, and the FGLRX ATI/AMD driver for your video card. Download and activate both of them. You should now be able to connect with wireless and use the HDMI port if you experienced display issues with it during the installation.

If your display resolution if incorrect. Go here:
System -> Administration -> Display

Configure your sound to work over HDMI. Go here:
System -> Administration -> Sound

In the Output tab select HDMI. You can go to the Sound Effects tab and select a sound to test that it works.

You should now a fully functional system up and running with Ubuntu, but you may want to install some packages that will make your make your life easier. Here are my suggestions:

ubuntu-restricted-formats
ssh
nfs-common
sshfs
vim

mythtv
boxee
xbmc

Enjoy your new Zino HTPC!

Related posts

1. Build the perfect HTPC with Boxee and the Dell Zino HD
2. Enable HDMI output on Dell XPS M1530/M1330 with Ubuntu
3. Fix Skype audio on Ubuntu with Dell XPS M1530/M1330