Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Acer Revo as a HTPC?

  • 26-01-2012 12:29pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,449 ✭✭✭


    Hi all,

    Just wondering if anyone is using one of these for a HTPC and are they any good? What kind of prices are they? Do they offer silent operation/low power usage/xbmc stutter free 1080p video playback?

    Cheers:D


«1

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 3,132 ✭✭✭silvine


    livEwirE wrote: »
    Hi all,

    Just wondering if anyone is using one of these for a HTPC and are they any good? What kind of prices are they? Do they offer silent operation/low power usage/xbmc stutter free 1080p video playback?

    Cheers:D

    I run openelec on my mine. It's silent and plays 1080p . The only thing it doesn't do is HD audio.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,370 ✭✭✭Knasher


    I have one also and I'm very happy with it. The only two small annoyances I've had with it so far are: firstly it can't play video that isn't supported for acceleration by the GPU as it simply doesn't have the power for this. This isn't really a big issue though because you really have to go out of your way to find non h264 HiP for 1080p video, and the only alternative would be to build a system with a very beefy CPU that could handle 1080p in other codecs for the rare instances that aren't covered by the GPU. Massively overkill in my opinion.
    The other annoyance is that it doesn't support CEC (unfortunately almost no GPU does), I really like integration so its a feature I miss, but I'm using an adapter to get around that.

    All in all I'm very happy with it, and if I were spending my money again, I wouldn't hesitate.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭vibe666


    ditto, very happy with mine.

    runs openELEC flawlessly and since i upgraded to 3gb of RAM i even get decent results playing back 720p video in windows 7. hard to ask for more really, considering the price.

    although, unless you really need 1080p, you'd probably get better value out of an apple tv 2 with xbmc if you don't have a need for windows and just want a media player.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,706 ✭✭✭Voodu Child


    The Revo badge is used for a whole bunch of nettops with different hardware.

    There's even one that's a basic media player like the WDTV (ie not a PC).

    So you need to be more specific about what model you are talking about. There was even new models just unveiled at CES.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 2,359 ✭✭✭Access


    Knasher wrote: »
    The other annoyance is that it doesn't support CEC (unfortunately almost no GPU does)

    Sorry to be newbie sounding... but whats cec and why would it be an annoyance if not supported on the revo.

    (hoping to get a revo model also in near future as my sitting room HTPC to replace my old dell - as the revo seems to be near silent).


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,370 ✭✭✭Knasher


    Its a hdmi thing that allows you to control other devices from your tv using its remote, instead of having to set up another. Unfortunately almost nothing supports it.

    And yes it is virtually silent, I've never even heard the fan spin up durin normal operation.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭vibe666


    if you're looking for a revo as a htpc, you'll want to get either an R3610 or an R3700.

    if you're planning on a straight install of XBMC or openELEC, 2gb of RAM will be plenty, although if you're thinking of putting windows on and running various media players through the OS, then you'll want a minimum of 3gb, or 4gb if you can to get the most out of it as windows can be pretty resource intensive.

    also bear in mind that due to a hardware issue on the R3610's, you'll only ever see 3.25gb of 4gb, even with a 64bit OS. you'll also need to assign 512mb of what's left to the gfx card as well, so it would be prudent to get the R3700 if you plan on using 4gb of RAM and have the choice of what to get, although i reckon the R3610's are probably a bit thin on the ground these days.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,359 ✭✭✭Access


    thanks for the info... just spotted my samsung tv has that... antnet+ CEC.

    I knew i saw it somewhere before! :D

    Also, thanks for the info on the Revo. will look into R3700 (as will be using win 7) and thats handy to know about the memory limit on the R3610.

    Spotted online too that it can be mounted on vesa points on back of tv (this is simply brilliant in my opinion)... do you need extra bracket or something or is it a case of just bolting on?

    Revo seems to be top of pile when it comes to a non selfbuild out-of-the-box option for a htpc according to users on here and other sites...

    Dont know about the OP, but i for one will be looking forward to getting a revo soon... as am sick of the old dell optiplex GX620 desktop under tv in sittingroom revving up like a tractor each time i am watching a movie!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,706 ✭✭✭Voodu Child


    Bear in mind that the Revo 3610 uses the Atom/Ion1 combo, and the R3700 uses 2nd gen Atom/Ion2. Both do the job but are a couple of years old.

    There's now a 3rd generation just lauched, the Atom D2700+GT520M. GT520M is not called Ion technically but it is the spiritual successor anyway. It will be the standard 'low power' HTPC platform in the same way as the Ion1/Ion2 were previously.

    That's what i'd be looking for in a low-power HTPC. It'll be a little faster, use a little bit less power. There's already a couple of nettops announced from Zotac and Xtreamer, should be more from Acer, Foxconn etc. Plus of course ITX boards.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭vibe666


    Access wrote: »
    Spotted online too that it can be mounted on vesa points on back of tv (this is simply brilliant in my opinion)... do you need extra bracket or something or is it a case of just bolting on?
    yes and no.

    afaik it's either vesa 50 or vesa 75 which will bolt directly to a standard lcd computer monitor, but tv's would normally use larger vesa mounting points depending on the size, altho you can get adapters, i never bothered and just invested a couple of quid in some velcro tape which does the job just as well, if not better as you can mount the revo to suit your needs.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,449 ✭✭✭livEwirE


    There is a newer model now called the Acer Revo RL70 , looks like the next gen, has AMD E450 1.65GHz and AMD Radeon HD 6320 for graphics, has anyone got one of these and if so, any opinions on them?

    I've also been looking at the Zotac ZBOX AD04 which has almost the exact same specs as the REVO:confused:

    Who makes better HTPC's, Acer or Zotac?


  • Registered Users Posts: 331 ✭✭Zilog


    See Harvey Norman have a Revo RL100 on 'offer' at the moment for €429, includes Windows 7 x64 and blu-ray drive I believe. Saw one in store, has nice slide-out remote keyboard/touchpad thing. Really slim, you'd never guess it was a blu-ray PC. If it was €100 cheaper I'd be sorely tempted ...


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,449 ✭✭✭livEwirE


    Zilog wrote: »
    See Harvey Norman have a Revo RL100 on 'offer' at the moment for €429, includes Windows 7 x64 and blu-ray drive I believe. Saw one in store, has nice slide-out remote keyboard/touchpad thing. Really slim, you'd never guess it was a blu-ray PC. If it was €100 cheaper I'd be sorely tempted ...

    A bit too steep for my pockets right now :(


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3 Cloonbigman


    livEwirE wrote: »
    Zilog wrote: »
    See Harvey Norman have a Revo RL100 on 'offer' at the moment for €429, includes Windows 7 x64 and blu-ray drive I believe. Saw one in store, has nice slide-out remote keyboard/touchpad thing. Really slim, you'd never guess it was a blu-ray PC. If it was €100 cheaper I'd be sorely tempted ...

    A bit too steep for my pockets right now :(

    The RL70 is a class piece of kit but goodluck to getting it delivered to Ireland, at least the one I'm looking at:

    http://www.ebuyer.com/319565-acer-revo-rl70-nettop-pc-pt-sj4e2-002

    It has windows, 4gb ram, 640gb hdd, wireless mouse & keyboard. The processor is the best out there too. Was going to build my own with the same specs but this is just cheaper. Unfortunately this company doesn't deliver to Ireland only mainland uk. This would make an excellent HTPC.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13,874 ✭✭✭✭PogMoThoin


    BrianD wrote: »
    What else does one need?

    That gets you started if you don't need storage and have network storage, you can boot from USB key


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 114 ✭✭armitage_skanks


    You need something to control it, maybe a USB IR remote. Or you can use an iPhone/Android app.

    And you'd want a USB keyboard handy in case you need to fiddle with the BIOS the odd time. But most people have one lying around anyway.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭vibe666


    BrianD wrote: »
    What else does one need?
    pretty much just a remote to control it with (or you could use an app on your smartphone) and a hdmi cable and you're sorted. :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,215 ✭✭✭Kur4mA


    I use my Revo R3700 as an HTPC. Since upgrading to the latest XBMC 'Eden' it is smoother than ever. It will play 1080p but I don't bother really. Pretty much all of my downloads are 720p and they play flawlessly. I use a Rii as my remote control.

    I just posted this in the setup thread but might be beneficial here to show what this machine can do:

    Acer Aspire Revo R3700 with 300GB HD
    External 2TB HD
    XBMC Eden
    sabnzbd+
    sickbeard
    couchpotato

    The Revo runs XBMC Eden, sabnzbd+ and sickbeard for automation purposes, so the box literally does all of the work for me. I also have the sickbeard and sabnzbd plugins running inside XBMC so I can monitor queues and add new shows as needed then get notification popups inside XBMC also.


    Here's a few pics of my XBMC setup. :)

    screenshot000_thumb.png screenshot001_thumb.png screenshot006_thumb.png screenshot008_thumb.png screenshot009_thumb.png screenshot010_thumb.png screenshot011_thumb.png screenshot012_thumb.png


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 1,449 ✭✭✭livEwirE


    Great looking setup there kyub. Have you tried netflix hd playback?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,449 ✭✭✭livEwirE


    The RL70 is a class piece of kit but goodluck to getting it delivered to Ireland, at least the one I'm looking at:

    http://www.ebuyer.com/319565-acer-revo-rl70-nettop-pc-pt-sj4e2-002

    It has windows, 4gb ram, 640gb hdd, wireless mouse & keyboard. The processor is the best out there too. Was going to build my own with the same specs but this is just cheaper. Unfortunately this company doesn't deliver to Ireland only mainland uk. This would make an excellent HTPC.

    www.deliverme.ie will sort this out mate :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,215 ✭✭✭Kur4mA


    livEwirE wrote: »
    Great looking setup there kyub. Have you tried netflix hd playback?

    Nope, I actually cancelled my netflix sub just recently.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭vibe666


    kyub wrote: »
    Nope, I actually cancelled my netflix sub just recently.
    yep, not nearly enough choice. when they can give us the same selection as the US (officially, rather than using workarounds to get to the US site) it will be worth it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,215 ✭✭✭Kur4mA


    vibe666 wrote: »
    yep, not nearly enough choice. when they can give us the same selection as the US (officially, rather than using workarounds to get to the US site) it will be worth it.

    Yep, I agree completely. I think in the past month I had used it around 3 times so it was time to get rid of it for now.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,509 ✭✭✭digitaldr


    If you don't want windows 7 the Revo RL70 is only £178 + €22 deliverme.ie charge. The Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180 might be worth a look too.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,215 ✭✭✭Kur4mA


    If you're going for either one of those you should try to upgrade to 4GB of RAM as soon as you can. I noticed a significant increase in performance on my Revo after doing this.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭vibe666


    kyub wrote: »
    If you're going for either one of those you should try to upgrade to 4GB of RAM as soon as you can. I noticed a significant increase in performance on my Revo after doing this.
    same here on my r3610, particularly in windows.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,509 ✭✭✭digitaldr


    My 3610 is running xbmc live and xp so I'm guessing 2 gigs of ram is ok for me. I figured xbmc on windows 7 would just annoy the missus too much. I know there's ways to get it to boot straight into xbmc but I don't think any of these work 100% - lots of stuff could cause xbmc to loose focus. I might give XbmcBuntu a whirl but will need to change my cheapo Hama remote - it doesn't seem to be supported. Don't particularly like using iPhone as remote.


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13,874 ✭✭✭✭PogMoThoin


    I've had a few niggly little issues since I wiped my HTPC and installed XBMCbuntu. I had trouble getting the sound over HDMI working, had an issue where XBMC was continuously maxing one cpu to 100% and I've had problems with my Windows shares not connecting. I've them all sorted now, but my advise is to skip XBMCbuntu and install Ubuntu 12.04 LTS as it'll have better support and XBMC Eden is going to be in the main repositories.
    http://iloveubuntu.net/xbmc-land-ubuntu-1204-available-ubuntu-software-center

    Also, don't use XBMC to find Windows shares, mount your Windows shares locally in Ubuntu and then use that local mount point in XBMC. It's much faster and less problematic.
    http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=127342&pid=1063074#pid1063074


Advertisement