A "Hybrid" Computer?

So I caught wind of this, the other day. It's called the "Dell Studio Hybrid".



Sounds pretty cool! I've been considering getting rid of my current desktop for something more energy efficient, and from what I read, laptops are the most efficient computers if you really care about energy usage. The problem is that I want this as a permanent fixture apart from my laptop (one I can have a TV tuner and a bunch of USB devices and have it tucked into a nook in my computer desk).

I always thought it would be great to have a desktop made with the more efficient/expensive laptop parts and, well, I guess this is it.

70% lower energy consumption than the average PC, reduced pacakaging and all from a company that apparently declares itself carbon neutral now.

The main drawback is a wimpy graphics card (can't play 3D PC games) and any expandibility is through USB: there's not even a second hard drive bay, card slots or anything.

Really, I think that works okay for my needs, so I'm considering getting one eventually.

What does everyone think?

Also, I've heard the Mac Mini is similar. I have a question for the Mac people, though. Let's say I had a USB TV Tuner plugged into a Mac Mini that dual-booted OSX and Windows. Would I run into any problems when running OSX if the USB device only had Windows drivers (I wouldn't expect it to work, I just wouldn't want the OS barking at me about the incompatible device every time I started up).

 

Yeah, but the HP Slimline doesn't emphasize power savings as much. I'm not sure how, in practice, the Slimline compares to the Studio Hybrid in terms of energy usage, but I know the Studio Hybrid is made of laptop parts and has a 65w power supply vs. the Slimline's 160-180w power supply!

The Studio Hybrid's power supply is apparently 89% efficient, also, which is ridiculously good (I have an "EarthWatts" PS that is about 83% efficient)!

Eagle, definately tell me the results! I'd love to have an Apple/Windows dual-boot system, but I'd be worried about leaving Windows-only components attached to it all the time.

 

I don't know, man. The Slimline series doesn't even have an energy star rating (like the Studio Hybrid or HP's a6560t line) which at the very least suggests that they didn't go out of their way to give an 80+ power supply.

HP markets the Slimline series as small, not energy efficient, though I am curious to see the stats.

 

And by "hybrid" I assume you mean gets half of it's power from electricity and half from a large diesel engine?

 

duplicate.

 

What about under full load with a PCI-X card?

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see the real-world numbers and the Slimline's 160-180w PS implies it tends to use a lot less juice than the average computer (which tend to require at least twice that), but the Studio's 89% efficient 65w PS still makes me think it would probably win out by a good margin. You sacrifice graphics expansion capabilities and other fetures where the Slimline would win out, though.

 

Well, it's a different way to think about buying a computer. It's not how fast of a computer can you get for the price, it's how efficient.

If you had $1000 to spend, you could by a much faster desktop/monitor combo than a laptop and a big reason for that is that a laptop uses parts that are specially engineered to use less energy (which means better battery life).

In the case of the Studio Hybrid, it's a desktop which uses relatively expensive laptop parts. I personally think it's a great idea (though I do hope it goes on mega-sale like most Dell computers do from time to time)!

 

Pardon me. I thought I read that the newer models had a PCI-X slot which doesn't appear to be the case on second glance.

Anyway, my point is that the Slimline offers graphics card and other expansion, which is an advantage in the capabilities, but you end up sacrificing efficiency so you have that trade-off.