Acer Aspire Revo AR3160 $317 + Free Shipping
$316.84
$329.99
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The ION powered Acer Aspire Revo arrived at my doorstep today. This went on sale in Japan a couple of days ago.
*Available in HD
There are three models available here in Japan. The cheapest model, which I got, comes with 2GB of RAM. The next model up which costs $100 more has a webcam and 4GB of RAM. The most expensive model, is not really a model but comes bundled with a 23-inch Acer LCD monitor.
The rest of the specs: Atom N230 (single-core, 1.6GHz), 160GB HDD, 802.11n Wi-Fi, 0.75kg, 1Gb wired and of course the NVidia ION. (which is just a 9300 series graphics chipset).
Comes with Windows Vista Home Premium and is eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 7.
Wireless keyboard and mouse feel ultra cheap, but should do their job. I don’t know about it’s status in the US. Still no word on when it’s going to be released there. It has already been out in the UK for quite a while now.
If you have any requests, let me know in the comments below.
Complete Ion systems are strangely taking a long time to go on sale in US channels. Both the Acer Revo and Asrock Ion 330 are mostly available in Europe & Asia regions.
If testing out XBMC for GPU video decoding I would recommend following this guide for the Asrock Ion 330 system most of it still applies;
http://a8t8.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2518DD508BB713E8!804.entry
A newer 9.04.2 XBMC Live release is due soon that will negate most of the tweaks in the link above.
Hi Peter,
could you please have a look at the Revos HD-Playback setup? Which player/codec does it use?
With the given setup your Acer 751 should give you the same experience or hardware decoding.
Thanks,
Felix
I would also request HD video—from my experience, it’s only possible with a low-end CPU like the Atom with the proper DXVA (Direct X video acceleration) drivers and software.
The available “free” solution is Windows Media Classic Home Cinema edition, but it is slightly fickle and requires that codecs do not conflict with one another.
Another (not free) option is CoreAVC; I believe it now has nVidia CUDA support, so it bypasses the codec issue altogether and instead uses the nVidia chip as a coprocessor. I’m interested in seeing how this solution pans out (as my HTPC rig uses ATI)
Lastly, I don’t know if this is available to you or not, but I would LOVE to see the power consumption stats on this (do you have a Mega-A-Watt device?) on idle and HD playback. Right now my home-made HTPC consumes about 30 Watts and is conceptually similar to the Atom/Ion combo (instead I use a low power AMD, underclocked and undervolted along with an onboard DXVA chipset). I’m curious to see how it stacks up on the consumption front.
Thanks, that would be really interesting. Have you ever heard about the Revo´s GMA500 rival, the “fit-PC2”?
http://fit-pc2.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
Greetings,
Felix
On Windows MPC-HC is the best option just remember to set its video output under options to EVR-Custom mode.
Win7 RC is also better choice as OS at least to preview next release as Win7 has native XviD/H.264 codecs which are DXVA aware so should do the job.
To play MKV videos in WMP12 or media center 7 install the DivX MKV splitter (not a codec) and the native codecs will decode any MKV with compatible content in the two built in media players.
http://labs.divx.com/mkvwin7preview
I’m sorry I butchered the name; it’s actually called “Kill-A-Watt.” They are pretty inexpensive, I’ve seen them run from $15-$30, although I don’t know what the availability is in your neck of the woods.
why cant they just sell this in the us :(
I search weekly to see if any us e-tailers carry it yet :(
You can get the Kill A Watt meter. I have one and it works like it’s supposed to.
http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU
Could you place common objects next to the Revo for use to get a relative size comparison? Like a soda can or something.
Any idea about U.S release?
Hi,
how you connect wireless keyboard and mouse to the main unit? I have bought the same computer from ebay and can’t connect those devices :(
Eugene
Hi Peter,
my ebay seller told me about this trick. It’s amazing! I’m completely fooled :) USB dongle hold in the battary compartment of the mouse.. :)
hey thanks guys for the usb dongle tip - hv been going crazy myself; picked up the unit in Mumbai (India) last week - 2 GB, 160 GB, webcam, etc etc. hooked it thru hdmi to my lcd panel - needed to make some display adjustments but all good now
Hi Peter, I have a question for you. You were able to achieve surround sound by connecting the HDMI cable into your TV and then using an optical connection to your amp? I have heard that HDTVs cannot pick up surround sound from HDMI and send it to optical. I have heard that it only sends 2 channel stereo through optical (unless the audio signal is coming from the TVs internal tuner).
I heard that all major HDTVs did this. Can you please tell me which HDTV you have as I am currently in the same scenario as you!