 "great deal" | 2009-11-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2Z81MYJ7JCNMW |
| This is a steel. So many people buy computers with a lot of extra stuff they dont need. This is priced great and will do any web surfing, Word processing and email for far less money. I watch netflix on demand and it works great. I added 1 gig more memory just for good measure and boosted the internet explorer priority in the processes screen and hulu is very watchable as well as the network tv websites. Add a wireless keyboard like i did and compute from the couch on your big screen tv. Its a great computer for an even better price |
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| "So far, so good" | 2009-11-01 |
| - Reviewed By User: A29LXH5R0FASQS |
I purchased the Aspire Revo R1600 for the sole purpose of replacing my original Xbox running XBMC. It appears to be very capable and has met all of the expectations I had. Hardware accelerated graphics on XBMC Live via VDPAU is working great. Content that used to choke the original Xbox and even the AppleTV running XBMC works flawlessly on the R1600. I did swap out the single stick of memory for a matched pair of SODIMMs but I actually installed slower DDR2-667 memory instead of the DDR2-800 that originally came with it because that's what I had lying around. PassMark performance tests showed a single module of the DDR2-667 to be almost exactly the same speed as the stock DDR2-800 and the two DDR2-667's definitely blew the single -800 away.
PassMark scores are actually lower on Windows 7 than they were on the default XP build but Windows 7 is much snappier than XP. I am using the 512 MB video memory setting in BIOS to boost the video performance but you wouldn't want to do that if you only had 1GB RAM installed.
The only complaint I have is that the box is so new Acer doesn't have any documentation online and the VESA monitor mount is nowhere to be found. I'd buy one if someone had them for sale but Acer doesn't even list them on their website so I don't even have a part number.
The R3600 / R3610 comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse but the mouse and keyboard included with the R1600 are very small and unobtrusive. I currently have the box configured to boot off a 4gb usb thumb drive straight into XBMC Live and only have a IR receiver attached - keyboard and mouse stored in a drawer just in case. The article on lifehacker sums things up pretty well - you almost don't need to dig through the xbmc or avsforums threads to get things up and running.
Size-wise the R1600 is thinner and lighter than the AppleTV. The pictures are deceptive because the keyboard and mouse, while smaller than "normal" are also angled oddly in the picture. The keyboard is actually about four inches wider than the R1600.
The case comes apart easily after removing a single screw on one side - just fit your fingers in the groove between the light and dark colored plastic pieces and gently pull, working your way around each of the sides until the side comes off. An integrated IR port would have been nice but for $199 I'm not going to complain.
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| "Second W7MC HTPC plus soooo much more" | 2009-10-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1FQ5BCO7GFDQ6 |
| This is my third Nvidia Ion setup and I am rather suprised. My other two setups are Atom 330s (which does run a bit faster) not Atom 230s so I was a little apprehensive. I purchased this unit as a second HTPC to hook to a 1080i/720p 36" LCD in our loft. My main HTPC has all of the music, recorded tv, and movies on it's hard drives. I purchased this unit to stream video to over my Home Group (Windows 7 lingo for your secure home network). To start I registered the unit and upgraded it to Windows 7 Home x64 with one of my upgrades from a family pack. This can be easily done by copying the setup disk to an external hard drive and making the drive active. Then just change the bootup options in the BIOS (DEL key) to "Boot from USB" and the rest is a snap. Don't forget to switch it back after your it's first restart. There are detailed instructions on the web if you need help. I upgraded the memory to 2gb for $18 which again was very easy. I really had to search to determine the memory setup out of the box for this unit. It comes with 1gb (all on one SODIMM card) of PC2 DDR2 800 memory. So the upgrade was just an additional 1gb SODIMM card. It took 5 minutes. I also changed the BIOS setting to use 512k of the memory for the GPU instead of 256k. While in the BIOS I set my computer to automatically bootup at 7:00 am. This is one of the big advantages of using an Ion setup, it uses so little power (less than 30 watts) so that you can leave it on all day. Of course, it drops into sleep mode (SP3) when not in use and I turn it off myself at night. I also added a 1gb flash drive and set it up to be used as a FAT32 Ready Boost drive for caching. Just helps it to run a little faster. So my total setup to a Windows 7 Media Center was about $80 and well worth it. It works great on my TV and streams all my content easily over my Gigabit wired home network. With the coming release of Flash 10.1 this system will have no problem with web based HD also. I didn't try 32 bit Windows 7 so I can't say much about it. And this system has to have the extra 1gb to run 64 bit. It is realllllllly slow without it. I did also order a media center remote control for $25 which works great. Get an external DVD drive (or Blu-ray drive), an external data source, and a wireless keyboard/mouse combo (I was perfectly fine with the wired version it comes with since my kids will trash it anyway)and you have a very good computer for very little money. These systems have no problem with web surfing or MS Office 2007 so they make great kid/dorm computers. Also, I have no problems with the HDMI output to a Visio LCD. Enjoy! |
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 "Lack of HDMI AUDIO Support with all LCD TV'S" | 2009-10-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2H8BVSR5OWQC |
Was excited to set this machine up with the sole purpose of being an HTPC. Inside the packaging it comes with a supplemental instruction page explaining how to change the AUDIO OUT from realtek to nvidia HD sound.
HOWEVER, this option was not visible when plugged into our Philips 52" Display.
A call to acer was a waste of an hour which resulted in a call routed overseas and was of no help.
A call to nvidia went to level 2 tech support and they had no idea either.
after searching around the internet for "nvidia no HDMI audio support" I learned this was a common problem, especially with Philips TVs.
Then, in the driver release for nvidia's ion LE version 191.07 (page 25) I found this excerpt
Using HDMI/DisplayPort Displays that do not Support Audio
Some HDMI/DisplayPort displays do not support audio, or have issues with current
NVIDIA graphics cards.
The NVIDIA driver attempts to identify such displays and automatically disables the
audio. For example, the NVIDIA driver disables HMDI audio for all Philips HDMI
TVs, as these have been identified as having issues with current NVIDIA graphics
cards.
There may be cases where either the driver disables audio even though there is no
problem, or does not disable the audio when in fact the audio does not work. The
following sections describe these situations and provides guidance for handling them.
Nvidia is aware of this problem enough to print this in a driver release but not enough to know over the phone or find a solution.
It would have been nice for Nvidia not to block philips tv's and let you try it for yourself. This EXACT TV works perfectly with an e-machines using an ATI board so it's 100% not the TV that is not working.
It is with this that I caution anyone looking to purchase this machine to be used as an HTPC to make sure your exact TV will support HDMI Audio Out with the nvidia board. |
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| "Great HTPC" | 2009-10-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1TOQHZ5495AH0 |
I purchased this to be my Home Theater PC using Windows Media Center. I figured if it didn't work, I could use it as an additional computer in the home. Comes installed with Windows XP which for normal web/email would work good. For what I wanted, Windows 7 would work better so I gave it a shot. Contrary to what some have said, this thing will run Windows 7 and run it well. The install went off without a hitch and after downloading and installing the Windows 7 drivers from Acer's support site, I was off and running. Connected to my Plasma, I am now able to access all of my stored digital content using Windows Media Center. Movies play in full 1080p without missing a beat. As noted on other sites, this unit does not play Flash video, used by YouTube and Hulu, very well. This is due the fact that Flash does not yet fully support video offloading to the GPU. This support is due out early next year with Flash version 10.1.
One word of caution here. If you plan on buying this for a HTPC, make sure your HDMI connected display supports HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection). |
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| "Great Value" | 2009-10-25 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3UZ6XKLTS3XGH |
| This is a great machine for what it's designed for. I was looking for a small form factor machine to replace several larger desktops that have reached the end of their life-cycle. I was just about to invest in a Mac Mini when I came across this machine. At 7" this machine is small, light, and quiet. It's energy efficient and is perfect for the new user who doesn't do any tasks that require large amounts of memory or processing speed. We connected the machines to our LCD TVs and added a wireless keyboard and mouse and away we went. I'm glad Acer decided to go with the XP OS because I have a Netbook and the Vista OS is horrible for that form factor. If you're looking for a high-end machine to do memory intensive tasks then this machine may not be for you. But if you're looking for a machine to surf the net, sent emails, write papers and prepare presentations, then you should seriously consider this machine. With 6 USB ports you will have plenty of room for expansion prior to adding a USB hub. It has gigabit Ethernet built in so if you have a wired network, you're all set. The only thing I would have liked this machine to have is wireless built in. I added a USB wireless card and it works well, but at the cost of using a USB port. Again, despite not having wireless, this machine is a "steal" for the price!!! |
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