Should I get the dual core Acer Revo?

rudeboymcc

rudeboymcc

rudeboymcc

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Hi. I've just noticed that the new Acer aspire Revo is available with the dual core atom.
9606805x.jpg

pretty cheap at only around £250 for the newversion which can now handle 1080i without gpu acceleration

will be used for XBMC to replace my Xbox.

Just wonderin is there an alternative if I'm prepared to build the computer myself? I would have no trouble doing it but any computer system I build would cost at least £300 and won't be as small.
 
Is that the new Acer Aspire Revo Desktop R3610 PC ?

at 300 quid looks pretty powerful, considering it myself might make a perfect surfing/media rigg + looks like its fixed the previous flaws with gigabyte ethernet and dual core. Should be more then powerful enough for surfing/hd viewing and the basics.
 
Myself and a few people at work have been waiting for these to become available over here, I'm glad they have finally arrived! I've been umming and ahhing over buying OEM vs. building my own, and now that the out-of-the-box spec is 4GB memory, 500GB hard disk, Gigabit Ethernet, Draft-N WiFi, and W7HP, I don't really think it's worthwhile messing around for £300 to be honest. The only downsides for me are no optical drive, and that I have heard reports that Atom/ION devices don't handle Flash video all too well due to some offloading issue? That could be a bit of a pain for things like iPlayer and 4OD. Would be very interested in a review if you do decide to get one! :)
 
1080i? So i'm guessing you try to play 1080p and it dies? I'm sorry for being cynical, but I have a 330 Atom in an ITX box at home and it doesn't exactly set the world alight. I have it doing audio playback duties - which it handles fine. But if you want a video player, specifically 1080p and flash, have a look at this:

316c2q.png


I built a very similar box last week (I used a blu ray player, added a sound card and swapped the 80mm case fan for a noctua), and would recommend it. Just watched Gladiator in 1080p last night - and it was superb. BBC iplayer is also silky smooth.

Admittedly the above option is bigger, more power hungry, hotter and noisier (unless you add an aftermarket heatsink/case fan). However, it costs the same and has orders of magnitude more performance than the above Acer. It all depends what your needs are and how you plan to use the system. If you think you will be playing HD video, Flash or any computationally intensive programs (eg. the above build would eat photoshop for breakfast and handle pretty much all popular desktop applications very well) then definitely go for the self-build. If your tasks aren't as demanding and you want something smaller/quieter/cooler - then get the Acer.
 
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atomiser said:
Myself and a few people at work have been waiting for these to become available over here, I'm glad they have finally arrived! I've been umming and ahhing over buying OEM vs. building my own, and now that the out-of-the-box spec is 4GB memory, 500GB hard disk, Gigabit Ethernet, Draft-N WiFi, and W7HP, I don't really think it's worthwhile messing around for £300 to be honest. The only downsides for me are no optical drive, and that I have heard reports that Atom/ION devices don't handle Flash video all too well due to some offloading issue? That could be a bit of a pain for things like iPlayer and 4OD. Would be very interested in a review if you do decide to get one! :)
Click to expand...

The next version of Flash Player (10.1) will have hardware acceleration built in and will support the ION.

As it is, SD stuff on iPlayer and the like works fine, but it would struggle with streamed HD stuff.
 
rudeboymcc said:
andi - you're saying the 330 won't play 1080p? I thought that's why everyone was so excited about the new ion cpu??
Click to expand...

A 330 on its own can't do a whole lot. Here is a review of a non-GPU accelerated 330 dual core atom.

The ION is a bit different as it has an Nvidia 9300 GPU/chipset - that plays the Blu-Rays and properly-encoded HD video fine. However, if you use a non-accelerated video file (or HD streamed video) the Atom simply can't do it on its own. Also, ION costs more than buying a s775 m-itx board + a E5200 - so it doesn't make much sense economically. Also, with the current quad core + m-itx case deal on OCUK - ION does seem a bit useless (unless you really need the benefits of the cooler/lower power chip.
 
cmndr_andi said:
1080i? So i'm guessing you try to play 1080p and it dies? I'm sorry for being cynical, but I have a 330 Atom in an ITX box at home and it doesn't exactly set the world alight. I have it doing audio playback duties - which it handles fine. But if you want a video player, specifically 1080p and flash, have a look at this:

316c2q.png


I built a very similar box last week (I used a blu ray player, added a sound card and swapped the 80mm case fan for a noctua), and would recommend it. Just watched Gladiator in 1080p last night - and it was superb. BBC iplayer is also silky smooth.

Admittedly the above option is bigger, more power hungry, hotter and noisier (unless you add an aftermarket heatsink/case fan). However, it costs the same and has orders of magnitude more performance than the above Acer. It all depends what your needs are and how you plan to use the system. If you think you will be playing HD video, Flash or any computationally intensive programs (eg. the above build would eat photoshop for breakfast and handle pretty much all popular desktop applications very well) then definitely go for the self-build. If your tasks aren't as demanding and you want something smaller/quieter/cooler - then get the Acer.
Click to expand...

I agree much better to build your own.
 
Am starting to think for my needs an atom isnt the way too go, I do tend to do some hardcore surfing with many websites open and msn/usualy a 720p/1080p mkv running on the 2nd screen (dual view) and mp3 player in background, shame we cant have beauty of a silent/energy efficent baby pc over a slightly bigger more energy/noisier pc !
 
HighlandeR said:
Am starting to think for my needs an atom isnt the way too go, I do tend to do some hardcore surfing with many websites open and msn/usualy a 720p/1080p mkv running on the 2nd screen (dual view) and mp3 player in background, shame we cant have beauty of a silent/energy efficent baby pc over a slightly bigger more energy/noisier pc !
Click to expand...

I think the Atom/ION based systems are only really practical when being used for pure HTPC duties. My one is plugged into a single screen (TV) and tends to be used for recording/watching TV in Media Centre, watching Blu-Ray/DVD/1080p MKV files, streming iPlayer/SkyPlayer and surfing the web.
It will happily record a TV program and play a movie file or surf at the same time, but I wouldn't want to put much more activity through it than that.

The major plus point for me is that I can leave the thing running without either super heating the front room or losing sleep over nighmares about hyper spinning electricity metres. Even overclocked at 2GHz, I doubt the thing uses more that 40w or 50w and most of the time, a fraction of that.
 
Nope, R3610 :)
Dual Core Atom 330 with SPDIF output power!

I'll take a picture later if I must. Might be worth searching HDUK though because we're not allowed to link to competitors here.
 
Clown said:
Nope, R3610 :)
Dual Core Atom 330 with SPDIF output power!

I'll take a picture later if I must. Might be worth searching HDUK though because we're not allowed to link to competitors here.
Click to expand...

The cheapest I can see the R3610 for is £250, care to elaborate where you got it for £150?
 
I am thinking about getting one of these and debating whether to get the dual core R3620 or single core R3600.

Single core does looks attractive with its low price point at the moment but not sure if it will cut it.

Has anyone tried running sopcast or any other p2p video streaming application with a revo on win7? Really interested to know if these are up to this task.
 
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