Acer's been on
quite the rampage of
late, pumping out
more machines during this
week before the Windows 7 launch than in the past few months combined. The latest rig to get the a-okay from the shipping department is the refreshed AspireRevo R3610-U9012, a machine which was originally
outed back at IFA. This one ups the ante over the former with a 1.66GHz dual-core Atom 330 (as opposed to an Atom 230), Windows 7 Home Premium,
NVIDIA Ion graphics, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB hard drive, six USB 2.0 sockets, an HDMI port, eSATA connector, VGA, multicard reader and gigabit Ethernet. There's also WiFi, audio in / out and a bundled wireless keyboard and mouse, though all that oomph in such a small package will cost you $329.99 to bring home.
posted Oct 16th 2009 12:10PM
Great deal!
$199 ion nettop at newegg already can play 1080p, so what's this extra core really for?
Single-core Atom struggles with fullscreen Flash. The dual-core Atom can handle it.
Although the 330 paired with ION can do full screen Flash, it still struggles with HD (try it with YouTube sometime). It's certainly not smooth as butter.
Once Flash with proper GPU acceleration hits, it'll be good...
http://www.rgbfilter.com/?p=2009
And it looks like that major roadblock is about to be breached... finally.
Ditto. Full screen Flash is NOT doable, dual core or not, at the moment while the Ion makes no difference. Anand Shimpi overclocked a 330/Ion combo up to 2GHz+ (ASRock I think) and it still couldn't handle it.
Sometime next year, supposedly in the first half, Adobe is going to enable GPU offloading for Flash. At that point, this thing should become a reasonably capable media streamer, including Hulu full screen...
Wow, that price is incredibly low. Using my windows 7 desktop to record tv and then using a homegroup to lan the recorded shows over to the nettop sounds like a great idea.
As long as the stuff isn't DRM'ed, I'd think this should be quite viable. Not so sure it will work if the content came off a CableCard equipped Windows 7 Media Center "DVR" and the channel in question is encrypted. I think you won't be able to play it back on a different PC... but I'm not sure. Obviously a Media Center Extender can stream it somehow, so maybe this can too...
Finally a proper media center ! great that it also has eSATA, something the mac mini really needs.
Why the heck is this comment rated low? It's someone's opinion and one with which many agree...including me. Is it because the comment mentions a feature that a Mac lacks and that they wish it had? Is that what mac Fanbois have become? Something akin to the red baiters during McCarthyism? Seriously, that is sad...and the OP's comment was valid.
Wow...fast action. You people have restored my faith in humanity. :)
cheers,
Steve
@ Scuba Steve:
I suspect those would be Mac Fanbois who have never had the pleasure of using Windows Media Center, or anything that has sprung from the fertile womb of XBMC. When Boxee merges with WMC, I'll be a happy camper.
For $329, I would rather get the Asrock 330 Ion.
It's quieter than wood.
Oh...and that comes with an OS? Oh, no? Well add in $100 more for Win 7 OEM for an apples to apples comparison. BTW, ASRock is going for 350 on newegg right now.
I would jump on this Acer box if I could find one for sale.
As far as I can tell, the ASRock doesn't come with an operating system. That's what makes this a compelling package, it comes with Windows 7 home premium. So, it's an ATOM/ION nettop with a $110 OS for $329 so it's a media center right out of the box. With the upcoming flash update to allow acceleration on ION chipsets, this becomes a perfect media center.
Hell, you could add a USB TV tuner and get an instant DVR without subscription fees. Once someone releases an updated USB cablecard tuner, this becomes a very compelling alternative to Tivo.
Asrock VS Acer
Asrock fails:
Generic black box, which cannot be mounted on the back of a monitor....
(This really isn't an issue for me, but it might be for some)
No wifi
No front usb ports
No eSata port
DVD-RW Drive
(Yes this may be good for some, but what it really needs is a blue ray drive)
$349.99
Asrock wins:
Overclocking
Asrock fails:
No OS
There is an option for Blue Ray, increases the price by about $200.
I would put DVD under the wins. Using this as a HTPC will get rid of
another box since people in my house still use DVDs.
For a HTPC I wouldnt want a huge keyboard so that makes something
like the Logitech DiNovo Mini a must, and it uses bluetooth. WIN for
Acer, FAIL for Asrock.
@ Edward: I'd say you can't make an apples/apples comparison between the ASRock and Revo, but the ASRock seems to have some merits of it's own...
http://www.rgbfilter.com/?p=1652
ASRock has SPDIF out for those who want it, and you can't knock the DVD drive, because it's easy to upgrade the DVD to BluRay when they drop in price. With the Revo, you'll have to use an external drive
Some of your 'Fails' contradict each other:
Generic black box, which cannot be mounted on the back of a monitor....
TOTALLY contradicts...
No front usb ports
After all, if you're mounting the Revo on the back of a monitor, by design there are no front USB ports there, either.
DVD-RW Drive (Yes this may be good for some, but what it really needs is a blue ray drive)
And if you WANT Blu Ray, it's easy to replace the existing DVD with one, when the prices drop. In either case, you still need an external drive for the Revo and listing DVD drive with the ASRock as a 'Fail' is just weaksauce.
Lack of WiFi and eSATA are either way, depending on your individual needs. Given the HD sizes in either machine, most people will be feeding their media off of a separate computer, so WiFi might be handy if you don't already have ethernet running to the room.
The only REALLY compelling point you make is the lack of an OS. Windows 7 Home Premium included makes the Revo really compelling, though the ASRock is a bit more flexible (with internal optical drive) for those that want to tinker a bit more, or play with Mythbuntu for example.
I think that whichever system one gets, it's a fantastic deal, and sounds the death knell for ultra expensive HTPCs.
I'd like to see one of these ION based systems designed to accomodate a half-height slot (and possibly include a tuner card). That and infra-red. It would be totally worth paying a premium for that.
If you want something quiet then build something from a zotac. Following the logic of noiseless is good you don't need a Dvd-drive. Also has built in wireless and OC.
@bull3964: I wonder if a Dual Core Atom can handle recording a show and playing back another (or a flash stream) at the same time without glitching. Does anybody have any experience with this?
Where is this selling? Can't find it.
http://www.expansys-usa.com/p.aspx?i=183737&partner=froogle
Be nice to see if its just selling Acer directly or in the store... I'm torn btwn one of these Acers and waiting on the Zino to get released...
how about audio out via hdmi?
I run Ubuntu and I had no problems with getting audio out of the HDMI port of a Revo.
No futzing with the BIOS was required.
The relevant howto's are pretty old. So Revos have been up to the task as shipped for awhile now.
This sounds great but --- I bought an Acer pc about 2 months ago with HDMI out and had zero luck getting sound out of the connection to my TV. I did a ton of googling and discovered other people having the same issue. Acer provided a firmware update which did not resolve the problem and actually disabled selection of alternative Sound Card/Codecs in the control panel. Yay! Good Times!
So I booted it back to Best Buy. I'll wait until I read some reviews from people who are having good experiences with this box with the HDMI before I waste any more time.
With all that said - between this and the Dell Zino, I'm thinking we're going to have some nice options for cheap htpcs now!
Now make this into a netbook with a 720p display!
> Asrock fails:
> Generic black box, which cannot be mounted on the back of a monitor....
OTOH, it can actually show itself. That "generic black box" looks like
more of an AV component than a mini does and plain blows a Revo out
of the water in this respect. The Revo looks like it needs to be hidden
behind the TV.
> (This really isn't an issue for me, but it might be for some)
> No wifi
> No front usb ports
OTOH, the Revo has it's audio out in the front. If you're deciding to not
use HDMI for audio output this is as crude as h*ll and looks like sh*t.
> No eSata port
> DVD-RW Drive
> (Yes this may be good for some, but what it really needs is a blue ray drive)
> $349.99
...as a nice little box that can sit next to the TV and play BD rips from
a central media server it's pretty good and better than a Revo on everything
but price and is very competitive with a mini. (The mini is still quieter than
either the Revo or the Asrock)
Asrock wins:
Overclocking
...comes with more CPU and RAM to begin with. You can use that extra
core memory to increase the video RAM to more than what the current revos
will allow for.
I have a REVO very similar to this. In Canada, we've had this model (minus the Win 7 and Wireless N) for a while now. It works AMAZING! The perfect solution for a Media Center PC. HDMI works great (I did have to go into Windows and set audio to HDMI out).
Highly recommended
Rob,
How is full screen 'HD' performance on Hulu. This to me is a main selling point.
Also, to others who call this a perfect box for an HTPC. How are you using your remote control to work this box?
@ Nicnac
Unfortunately, Canada don't do da Hulu.
As said below, I can't do Hulu in Canada (bastards!!!), but it will play 720P BluRay Rips no prob.
It does come with a wireless keyboard and mouse and they work flawlessly, no setup at all, turn em on, they connect. I have been trying iphone and airmouse, seems to work really well.
No TV Tuner?! Argh... would have been the perfect HTPC.
BTW,
This is the one I bought - http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=41924&vpn=PT.SCA0X.073&manufacture=Acer
I threw Win7 on it, runs great. Using iphone and air mouse also.
how does this compare to the lenovo Q110?
which would you prefer
I cancelled my Lenovo Q110 order when I saw this. Now, i tried looking but I couldn't where I can order one TODAY. Does anybody know?
try ebay. There are about a dozen XP chinese/english versions (shipping straight to you from Hong Kong or Taiwan), who are trying to sell it at a premium to those poor schlepps on the wrong end of the importing chain.
Or you can wait a week or ten days and buy it from the usual computer vendors with Win7. Probably worth waiting.
This probably won't actually ship to the US till after Oct 22 when Windows 7 goes live.
Too bad there's no SPDIF... I assume that without a receiver with HDMI there's no way of getting 5.1... is this accurate?
My sentiments exactly. Why don't any of these things have SPDIF? If this did, it would replace my current HTPC.
Time to ditch the Athlon XP desktop, i guess...
I have it, its a great little box. Consumes 30watts under use and powersaving makes it go to 0.0 watts when hibernating. When in that state the bluetooth keyboard can still wake it, which is pretty cool. Works fine with my Pinncale DVB_t mpeg4 tuner, win7 mediacenter is nice. There is a mount with it, adding about 1½ cm to the thickness of the whole package adding up to totally 4.5 cm, so you can place it pretty much anywhere. Dualcore or not, the only drawback with this device is the cpu, which makes more than one task produce some waiting times. MKV plays flawlessly in MPC.
I'd like to get one of these, but I'm not interested in Windows. Can someone shed light on how much performance Ubuntu is able to gain from the Ion chipset vs. the standard Intel? Do the windows wobble smoother, etc? thanks!
@ Scuba Steve .. well done. You got all the main points of running a successful propaganda campaign.
1: Accuse the 'other side' of actions your side is guilty of more often. (99% of poorly rated comments in threads about just about anything these days are those that praise Apple). Whether the praise for Apple is right or wrong, your belief is the complete opposite of the truth.
2: Compare these powerful entities to commies.
Next, work on the third step where they somehow become traitors to freedom.
i have a aspire revo and if anyone wants to know yes it can run as a hackint0sh
would you like to share the specifics on how to do that? I'm really interested.
I cannot wait for this to come out.
I will buy it!
hoping there's a netbook version of this.
This or the Asus EeeBox PC EB1012, the Asus one has a SPDIF out, but I am not sure how much it will cost or when it's gonna come out. Decisions, Decisions.
Don't know much about spdif but doesn't this spec page say it has it?
Interface Ports :
RJ-45 LAN
VGA
DC-in
Headphones
Microphone
HDMI™ (High-Definition Multimedia Interface™)
eSATA
Optical SPDIF
Six USB 2.0 (two front, four back)
http://us.acer.com/acer/product.do?link=oln85e.redirect&changedAlts=&kcond48e.c2att101=-1&CRC=2759084358#wrAjaxHistory=0
They both have spdif - the rca-styled one, not the toslink type. I'm leaning towards this as my HTPC instead of getting the newest Western Digital WD TV player.
That sounds great. I can't wait till you guys get one in house to give it a real once over but i gotta say, sounds great on paper.
ASRock ION 330 going for 285$ on ebay now. It's currently available, and hasnt got much competition, so I'm guessing it will be even cheaper once this launches. I'm just glad i have the option of not paying for an OS I'm never going to use. There are many good media-center distros out there to choose from.
Just noticed that is without Ram and HD. Point moot for now.
The added features sound nice, but I just recently got the $200 model from NewEgg and I think that's still got the perfect combination of price and performance. It comes with XP and PowerDVD 8 and can play 1080p Blu-ray rips. MPC-HC also handles that task fine. All with only 1GB of RAM. XBMC works well, but video playback isn't ION-optimized, so that's a no-go right now, but you can launch an external player (I haven't gotten around to trying that out yet).
I've also installed Ubuntu Desktop and am trying to get XBMC working well on that. XBMC for Linux is optimized for the ION, so 1080p Blu-ray rips play well there, but I'm having trouble outputting 5.1 on the HDMI out (I only get stereo). I suspect that these are issues where there's already a fix out there I just need to find, or that a future XBMC release will fix.
At $200, it's just barely at the price where I could justify buying a few for multiple rooms in the house. This new model, at $330, is above that threshold. Hopefully Acer won't drop the older, cheaper model.
I saw it on amazon today, there are 160G, 250G, 320G model.
looks not bad with the price.
Looks good and can be a potential HTPC but what happens if a BD Rip is not x264 optimized? you have to have a decent CPU then where the atom 330 is not enough...
Looks good and can be a potential HTPC but what happens if a BD Rip is not x264 optimized? you have to have a decent CPU then where the atom 330 is not enough...
I've been looking everywhere for this. Where can I buy it?
Is this coming to Europe?
These are now available at newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103234