Many of you have been waiting for a full tilt review of an Acer Aspire Revo 3610 Atom ION 330. Well, here it is. Possibly the first one on the Internet with this level of detail. It’s taken a week of use to get the full impression of it’s power and abilities and this review should leave no doubt! So, here goes.
Some of you may already know that I’ve been on a quest for the ultimate “cut the cable” solution and save $70 + a month on crappy cable service with bloatware content. Well, it’s been a year now and I’ve looked at a lot of software, desktops, NAS items and network media players. I’ve run different programs on Windows and Xboxes too, like XBMC and Boxee. Both of which I love! But none of those items were yet able to give my family a complete media experience. So, what is that experience? None of those devices or media center programs offers BOTH network share (music, video, pictures) and complete Internet content. Though Boxee comes closest, and their new improved Boxee Beta arrives December 7,2009, but it still falls very short of fulfilling my needs with regard to Internet content. That will change over time as media companies embrace Boxee and alliances are forged with media and hardware developers, but that’s a whole other post.
Also, with so many media formats like; Adobe Flash 10.1 Beta, HD, h.264 .mkv, AVI, MOV, mpg4 and Blue Ray, there is nothing yet available with the ability and power to play such a wide diversity of content. Plus, Boxee & XBMC do not provide an browser to view Internet content as well as surf the Internet from your couch. Ultimately, I kept returning to a HTPC with Windows as the only solution. And that’s where the Acer Revo 3610 with Windows-7 64bit comes in! Oh, I can hear the Linux and Mac people just wincing and building up steam. You guys can get the same thing too, so if that’s your flavor go for it. But this is a Windows thing happening here. So, lets get down to business.
What’s Inside?
The Acer Revo 3610 Atom Ion boasts the Intel Atom 330 dual core 1.66 GHz processor, Nvidia Ion GPU that supports full 1080P via an HDMI cable and 5.1 surround sound. Comes with Windows-7 64bit Home Premium installed. Wow, that’s a lot going on there and all for $330.00 USD!
Operating System- Windows® 7 Home Premium
Processor- Intel Atom Processor N330 (1MB L2 cache, 1.60GHz, 533MHz FSB)
Chipset- NVIDIA ION
Memory- 2GB (1/1) DDR2 800 SDRAM installed in two of two memory slots
User upgradeable up to 4GB (one 2GB memory card in each slot)* subject to availability of 2GB card
Storage- 160GB* SATA hard drive, 5400RPM, Multi-in-one card reader supports optional Memory Stick®, MultiMediaCard™, Secure Digital or xD-Picture Card™
Video- NVIDIA® ION™ graphics VGA and HDMI™ (High-Definition Multimedia Interface™) ports
Audio- High-definition audio support Two external USB speakers Headphone and microphone ports
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)
Card Slot- Multi-in-one card reader supports optional Memory Stick, MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital or xD-Picture Card
Communication- Gigabit LAN, wake-on-LAN ready802.11b/g/Draft-N WLAN
Expansion Slot- One PCI Express® Mini
Dimensions- 7.1″ (180.0mm) W x 7.1″ (180.0mm) D x 1.2″ (30.0mm) H without bezel
User Interface- Wireless keyboard and mouse- Included
Power- 65W AC adapter with power cord
Compliance- Energy Star® 5.0PC2001
Security Feature- Kensington® lock slot
Warranty-One-year limited warranty*
Included Software- Acer® Arcade Deluxe, Acer® eRecovery Management, Adobe® Acrobat® Reader, eSobi™ *, McAfee® Internet Security Suite (trial version), Microsoft® Works 8.5 (full version), Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2007 (60-day trial), MyWinLocker®, Nero® 9 Essentials* ,Oberon Gamezone*.*OEM, not full-featured, version.
The Atom Dual Core 330 1.66 GHz processor does not consume a lot of power at all yet has enough oomph to push up to 1080p Blue Ray HD content with ease courtesy of its close integration ION GPU that supports graphics acceleration and offloading. The Intel Atom & ION is a single mobo unit that incorporates the use of NVIDIA’s GeForce 9400M chipset. All this provides a low power consuming, high end video device in a tiny package! The unit is, dare I say it, silent! Even while viewing 1080P content, when the fan is throttled up I have to put my ear up to it in order to hear a whisper of sound. Unlike competitors such as the AsRock 330, which is somewhat audible at 26+dB. Also, the unit is cold to the touch at idle and barely gets warm to the touch when under heavy use.
There’s MORE on pages 2-3!
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- Acer Revo 3610 Unboxed
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- Acer Revo 3610 Atom ION-Video Demo
Tags: Acer Revo 3610, AsRock 330, atom ion 330, Boxee, Fancast, flash, Hulu, nvidia, Review, XBMC, xbox
John,
The revo supports only 5.1, so I don’t understand how one can get 7.1 from the system then?
I received my 3610 from B&H Photo (sorry I said BH before). It did include the VESUS mount, but so far I haven’t looked into using it as I am having trouble getting a wireless router signal. I had to go to Paul’s unboxed page to find out what the tiny black plug was, still not sure it’s purpose but pulled off the tape and plugged it in.
I am using the Belkin N wireless router but have only limited access indicated and can’t get on line. I think my massive stone fireplace wall may be blocking the signal.