First impressions & Teardown: Acer Revo RL70 AMD Sff System

Mine arrived and it's a great little thing. Powerful enough to run a bunch of game emulators and playback all my media. Thanks to @slm101 for his help.

Mine was a Linux model with wireless keyboard and mouse, supposedly having a 640GB hard drive. But it actually came with a 750GB Seagate Momentus 750GB (ST9750420AS) installed. Result!
 
Yep gingerbreadman, same model as mine which also has the 750 gb drive which is (ST9750420AS)7200 rpm speed which is an even better result.

Had mine for 3 weeks.

Mine is now running windows 7, with almost 600gb of films and music and XBMC. From start button to fully booted = 40 seconds.
I don't have much software on the system, no office suite as this is a HTPC and a little web browsing etc.

It plays everything just fine.

At the moment I am trying to get rid of the 27gb that was reserved for the linux software and extend my C: partition, I loaded windows 7 onto the main C: drive as I was concerned about the 27gb being to small, with all the updates we get from windows, now I realize that I should have put it into the 27gb space then extended/merge that into the C:.

I paid £213.00 for mine then later that day ****** put it up to £219, then a couple of days later the dropped the price several times to as low as £171.00 - back up to £ 199 now.

Still, I am happy with mine as it works brilliantly - well chuffed....
 
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Can someone do me a big favour with this please. Can they lauch a silverlight app (like the lovefilm trailers) in IE or similar and try zooming to around 350% and see if it plays ok? The reason is that this is how a lot of 3rd party apps play lovefilm in full screen and it seems to put more strain on the app than playing using the full screen option.
 
Does the HDMI on the RL70 handle 1920x1200 or only 1920x1080?

I see the OP has got a Hanns.G Hz281 27.5" 1920x1200 and wonder whether you or anyone else have had a 1920x1200 connected to the RL70 via HDMI. And if so did it run at full resolution or just full hd with a measly 1080 pixels vertically?

Looking to buy the RL70 and a 1920x1200 monitor (Dell Ultrasharp 2412m) and would be grateful for some assurance they'll play together nicely.
 
Got the RL70 (3gb win7 home 64) a few days ago - mainly to use as a browser on the TV (FF + adblock) for online footie streams. It does that well and I am satisfied.

However on 1080p playback over LAN (cat5 cable) from NAS(etrayz) I saw video judder/stutter. The etrayz share is a mapped network drive in windows.
Investigating possible causes I see in windows the LAN connection is only 100mbit and not Gigabit. (The Switch, Router and Etrayz are all gigabit). 100mbit is not sufficient for high bitrate (Full bluray 1080p) playback using SMB.

I should be able to get round this by using NFS in xbmc to connect to NAS (original Xtreamer is limited to 100 LAN but playback is perfect with using NFS) -but I wanted to check if others ethernet is limited to 100mbit.
Was the RL70 missold as gigabit? Has a wrong network driver been applied ??

Thanks

EDIT : All is fine after install/repair of driver from acer UK site - Windows now reports 1Gb connection.
 
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Hi all, would appreciate some advice regarding the RL-70.

I currently own an acer revo 3610 - this cannot bitstream audio, and as a result cannot mix to PCM to provide HD Audio.

I understand the RL70 can bitstream the HD audio formats without any issues? Can somebody confirm this?

As the 3610 is still sluggish with 4Gb RAM and 500GB drive - I would be looking to upgrade the RAM and put in an SSD in the RL70 - can somebody confirm this is the right RAM

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-324-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1264

or does it need one 8GB stick only to work properly?

Also, what SSD (make and size) would people recommend for this? i will put win7 64bit on it using an external dvd drive? I want something cheap and reliable - would the Revo benefit from the newer SSDs or will the older SATA2 be just as good?

I currently have a 4 bay usb enclosure (with 3 x2TB) attached to my 3610 and would be looking to get a microserver most likely, so will probably sell the included acer RAM and hard drive to offset the cost - im assuming i just need to wipe linux from it and should be good to go to sell it on?

Sorry for the questions - i just want it to go as smoothly as possible and want to make sure i benefit from upgrading the 3610
 
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I recognise potnoodles name from another board. Maybe we should start an owners club? ;)

For media playback I'm now running openelec xbmc on mine and loving it.

Has anybody tried a TV tuner of any type to receive HD broadcast TV?

Currently wondering if the RL70 is up to running the "Hauppauge PCTV Systems DVB-T2 290e nanoStick HD TV Tuner"?
 
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Naan_H said:
Hi all, would appreciate some advice regarding the RL-70.

I currently own an acer revo 3610 - this cannot bitstream audio, and as a result cannot mix to PCM to provide HD Audio.

I understand the RL70 can bitstream the HD audio formats without any issues? Can somebody confirm this?

As the 3610 is still sluggish with 4Gb RAM and 500GB drive - I would be looking to upgrade the RAM and put in an SSD in the RL70 - can somebody confirm this is the right RAM

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-324-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1264

or does it need one 8GB stick only to work properly?

Also, what SSD (make and size) would people recommend for this? i will put win7 64bit on it using an external dvd drive? I want something cheap and reliable - would the Revo benefit from the newer SSDs or will the older SATA2 be just as good?

I currently have a 4 bay usb enclosure (with 3 x2TB) attached to my 3610 and would be looking to get a microserver most likely, so will probably sell the included acer RAM and hard drive to offset the cost - im assuming i just need to wipe linux from it and should be good to go to sell it on?

Sorry for the questions - i just want it to go as smoothly as possible and want to make sure i benefit from upgrading the 3610
Click to expand...

More ram will not make a difference, you're not gaming on it. The SSD will make things snappier but the key thing is the CPU and GPU, and its not overly powerful to say the least.
 
gingerbeardman said:
Has anybody tried a TV tuner of any type to receive HD broadcast TV?

Currently wondering if the RL70 is up to running this:
****
Click to expand...
The only person I've seen mentioning the RL70 with that TV tuner is RoughNeckTwoZero over at HotUKDeals, I'd link the thread but it's got a censored retailer in the URL so it breaks the link.

Here's the quote anyway:

RoughNeckTwoZero said:
Chuffed to bits with my Revo. Windows 7 x64 Ultimate installed and fully loaded with Shark Codecs and WiMC. The HDTV Tuner worked a treat. Highly recommended for anyone that got this deal.

Untitled.png
Click to expand...

My question is, for anyone who bought this, did yours come with a remote?

VIOsg.jpg

I bought the 4GB RAM, 640GB HDD (although it actually came with 750GB) Linux version and there was no remote supplied. I installed Windows 7 and it detected that there was an IR receiver and auto installed the drivers.

It's not the end of the world as I do have an old MCE remote & receiver, but it would've been nice to use the inbuilt IR and have a remote that has a full QWERTY keyboard on the back.
 
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I'd seen that guy on HotUKDeals, but I don't have a means to contact him. I'm not a regular user of that site so I don't have enough permissions to PM.

Also, I wasn't aware that the RL70 came with irda built in, but thought it more as an optional extra. See the service manual for the parts list that shows the remote and receiver. That said, you can probably buy that Acer remote, or one that's compatible, on its own pretty cheaply?

Last, I own the Linux wifi model which did not come with a remote or any mention of irda, and I am running XP on it. Where should I look in device manager to check for the irda receiver?

Cheers,
matt
 
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gingerbeardman said:
I'd seen that guy on HotUKDeals, but I don't have a means to contact him. I'm not a regular user of that site so I don't have enough permissions to PM.
Click to expand...
I'm not a regular user either, but I can see a "Send Private Message" link on the right hand side of his profile page once logged in.

gingerbeardman said:
Last, I own the Linux wifi model, but am running XP on it. Where should I look in device manager to check for the irda receiver?
Click to expand...
XP probably didn't pick it up, but in Windows 7 Device Manager, it's under Human Interface Devices as ITECIR Infrared Receiver (SIO2) and Microsoft eHome Infrared Transceiver:

Ae2AQ.png
 
Thanks. The service manual seems to say that the irda receiver is standard. Hard to tell but your findings support that. I'll have a play with XP and Ubuntu to see what I can find.

I can see the private message link on HotUkDeals, but clicking I get the message that I don't have the ability to send a message after clicking it.

Edit: turns out I had my "Onboard CIR Controller" switched off in the BIOS. XP has now found it, but no driver is found which is as expected.

Edit, edit: It shows up as the ITE8713 device, and I found the drivers on the Acer RL70 site.

I am going to experiment with my Philips universal remote control.
 
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Hi chaps.

I have the same kit and have a couple of questions... and I would be extremely grateful if anyone can help. ( I only got mine yesterday )

I have this model spec:

Acer Revo RL70 Nettop PC, AMD E450 1.65GHz Dual Core, 4GB RAM, 500GB ( actually turned out to arrive as 640G HD) HDD, NOOPT, AMD HD6320, Wifi, HDMI, Windows 7 Home Premium 64. Includes a Wireless Mouse and Keyboard. No remote.

I want to use mine as a mediacentre pc. Having used several standard pc's with atx or matx cases in the past, this kit seems to be more ideal. However I will want to use it for freeview TV. ( I dont have satelite and dont want it, just normal TV will be fine. ). I currently use a DVB-T receiver card ( standard PCI ) and watch & record tv through this sort of device, but obviously one that will perhaps fit internally into the Revo70. .

What I noticed on the Revo, was the TV bung on the corner. Having seen this youtube on it, it got me thinking. . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GcUWEhHaZM

I havent seen ( or was able to see one when I purchased ) a spec with a fitted TV card and socket on it, so mine doesnt have one.

Can one be fitted? I see there is the micro pci-e slot available... Could one be fitted and run a cable and somehow fit a ariel socket on where the hole is?

These pics I took to help. You will see the soldered sockets, but naturally, I wont be "soldering" a socket in, if I managed to get one, but somehow there must be a way to fix one in... assuming I can get a card, cable and socket.

revo70_1.jpg

revo70_2.jpg


I was looking at something like this, ( Example only - TBS7610 DVB-C TV Tuner PCIe Mini Card ) but not sure how the cabling would work, or rather, if it is supplied... along with the socket for a standard ariel plug.

Also, I have the Microsoft Media Remotes, but these dont seem to work on the Revo. I thought it would...as it has a built in infrared reciever... For now, im using an external receiver.. just wondered if anyone had got around this? Having read Gingerbreads post, I thought id check, but my Onboard CIR Controller was already enabled. Hmmm.

Having checked the system devices, it appears to have one installed, but cannot get the remote to detect it.

revo70_3.jpg




Again, any help or thoughts are so much appreciated. If OC have such a device/solution... I'll be a happy customer.. ;)

On the other hand, If I can help anyone else or give any answers to any questions anyone else has... Im happy to answer them.

IXL
 
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