Acer Revo 3610: Still the best choice?

[mlb5000]

Is the Revo 3610 still a good long-term solution for a Boxee box? Based on the official 10.1 release of Flash and the number of websites switching to HD streaming it seems like some people are having stuttering problems they didn't have with the Flash RCs. One of the memory slots on my HTPC went out yesterday so I'm debating whether to put money into:

1. Rebuilding the jacked HTPC (purchase a new motherboard, CPU, memory, Hard Drives)
2. Getting a Revo and re-purposing an old Full ATX machine into a WHS box with a bunch of HDs for network storage. (purchase a Revo, several hard drives, and WHS)

My requirements are:

• HDMI output capable of 1080p/60 output (possibly 24Hz in the future, but my current set doesn't support it) and 7.1 audio. Currently my Radeon HD 4850 handles all this no problem.
• Playback of 1080p MKV (HD-DVD backups; damn obsolescence!), and HD H.264/M2TS (up to 1080p), all possibly streamed from a remote server over Gbit LAN.
• Good Boxee support with decent CPU reserves while running idle (i.e. at home screen).
• Quiet

So what do you think? Fix my HTPC and get less remote storage, or get a Revo and make EVERYTHING remote storage?

[bmoura]

Is the Revo 3610 still a good long-term solution for a Boxee box? Based on the official 10.1 release of Flash and the number of websites switching to HD streaming it seems like some people are having stuttering problems they didn't have with the Flash RCs.

So what do you think? Fix my HTPC and get less remote storage, or get a Revo and make EVERYTHING remote storage?

I'd lean more to one of the i3 or i5 based HTPCs coming out vs. the Revo 3610. I tried a Revo and returned it. Not enough horsepower for HTPC use in my view.

[mlb5000]

I'd lean more to one of the i3 or i5 based HTPCs coming out vs. the Revo 3610. I tried a Revo and returned it. Not enough horsepower for HTPC use in my view.

Do you have any specific models in mind or do you mean that I should use an i3/i5 chip in my build?

[judgeschambers]

Works fine for me and most others I've dealt with on here and my forums. I've got YTube video of boxee and browser playing flash smooth as pie. Same for DVD, DVD ISO, 720P or 1080P.

There are some that have had issues even playing flash in a browser and it seems to be caused by a bad install of the OEM OS. It would be frustrating.

But there are outside influences:
Boxee uses a lot of CPU just to run, until boxee reduces this it can be borderline with some flash content. If boxee cannot reduce it's CPU usage and more Flash content goes from SD to HD and the content providers can't improve their encryption.....then yes, I'd agree that an i3 to i5 may have to be the next step.

But over the past few weeks, I've seen CPU usage of Flash and NetFlix reduce in a browser and Boxee. NF alone has pushed out a player mod this week and playback in a browser has improved dramatically. So, I'm optimistic for the future of the 3610.

I'm confidant to recommend the 3610, but with the OEM OS install warning.... Those that have had that trouble will say don't buy one...and I don't blame 'em.
I'd say if you have about $549, get a dell 580s with the i3 and you should have zero issues.
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/s...=us&l=en&cs=19

[mlb5000]

Works fine for me and most others I've dealt with on here and my forums. I've got YTube video of boxee and browser playing flash smooth as pie. Same for DVD, DVD ISO, 720P or 1080P.

There are some that have had issues even playing flash in a browser and it seems to be caused by a bad install of the OEM OS. It would be frustrating.

But there are outside influences:
Boxee uses a lot of CPU just to run, until boxee reduces this it can be borderline with some flash content. If boxee cannot reduce it's CPU usage and more Flash content goes from SD to HD and the content providers can't improve their encryption.....then yes, I'd agree that an i3 to i5 may have to be the next step.

But over the past few weeks, I've seen CPU usage of Flash and NetFlix reduce in a browser and Boxee. NF alone has pushed out a player mod this week and playback in a browser has improved dramatically. So, I'm optimistic for the future of the 3610.

I'm confidant to recommend the 3610, but with the OEM OS install warning.... Those that have had that trouble will say don't buy one...and I don't blame 'em.
I'd say if you have about $549, get a dell 580s with the i3 and you should have zero issues.
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/s...=us&l=en&cs=19

Hmm, that's definitely one to consider. I used to hate Dell but I understand their quality has improved since I shunned them 6 or 7 years ago. May be worth it. Right now the total I'm looking at with just buying new components for my HTPC (and reusing good old ones) is $508.97 at Newegg.

* MSI P55M-GD41 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
* Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz Quad-Core Processor
* Windows 7 Home Premium OEM
* G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 SDRAM

Comparing them side by side they look to be about the same. The biggest difference is the two extra cores in the i5 chip, but I won't be running any backup or encoding tasks from this box (it will simply be playing it back), so I think the dual-core i3 should work just fine. Then I can re-purpose the three existing HDDs that are installed in my current HTPC into the (hopefully) soon-to-be WHS system I was taking about.

Is it worth the extra $50 to have it 'just work'? Or will I get more longevity out of something I've built myself?

[judgeschambers]

The i5 is the way I'd go for more power and longevity for the $, but you've selected no video card for that set up.

The i3 is the minimum I'd recommend over the Revo.

WHS works very nicely. I've run it on a home built rig since the old beta test days several years ago.

[mlb5000]

The i5 is the way I'd go for more power and longevity for the $, but you've selected no video card for that set up.

The i3 is the minimum I'd recommend over the Revo.

WHS works very nicely. I've run it on a home built rig since the old beta test days several years ago.

Oh ya, I have a Radeon HD 4850 that still works great and I wouldn't have to replace. It's running in my current rig (the one I'd be rebuilding).

[Tom B]

So, apart from possible OEM OS issues, do you see anything that would (now or in the near future) make the Acer Aspire Revo an inferior choice? I was about to pull the trigger on an Acer purchase, but after this thread I thought it might be good to doublecheck...

Are there any tweaks to the Acer that would enhance it's ability? (More memory?) Can the graphics be upgraded? (I don't remember if they're integrated or on a separate card.)

[judgeschambers]

Adding ram does noting to improve video over the 2gb installed. Doing so would just allow it to better multitask, which it's not really made for.

Upgrading the video? Not really. Sure, you could remove the wifi card and install a broadcom card, but there's been no real proof it performs any better either.

The main thing any Atom/Ion box has an issue with is CPU headroom and buss speed. If you get a video or program playing a video (boxee) demanding over 60% CPU it may lag. Browser is perfect. Boxee currently uses a fair amount of CPU at times. But so can Flash. It's a mixture of both really that affects any lower power CPU.

The flash RC 5-6 & 7 were a hog and would peg Hulu and Fox at over 65% cpu in boxee and 30% in a browser. That resulted in Boxee sometimes lagging Flash and a browser playing flawlessly. But with the final release of Flash 10.1, I found that now Hulu and fox in Boxee are about 45% or less! Wow, which is great as there's no lag! Then Hulu and flox and Youtube are tinkering with their players and encoding to improve picture quality and demand on the CPU and GPU. So, just over the past few weeks, I've seen flash RC5-6-7 go from crap to Flash Public 10.1 and reduced CPU 20%! So, over the past few months, Atom/Ion users have seen performance fluctuate up and down with each development of flash and boxee beta release....

Look, if you want a cheap HTPC that really does work well then get any Atom/Ion 330 dual core machine with Windows 7. It will work well. But know its limitations, run it lean and dont expect it to run Adobe Video editor or some crazy video encoder. But if you want a more powerfull unit that has more room for demand, then build or buy a $500-$600 i3 or i5 machine.

If you want info on the Atom/Ion platform, read my blog posts, forum and see my youtube vids with the Revo and Boxee in action.

[judgeschambers]

Oh ya, I have a Radeon HD 4850 that still works great and I wouldn't have to replace. It's running in my current rig (the one I'd be rebuilding).

Ok good. .....