Setting up the Acer Revo 3610:
Getting the Revo up and running is simple. The unit has only a power cord, a wireless key board and a mouse. Then hook up an HDMI or VGA cable to your HDTV or computer monitor. Done! I chose to hook it to a RCA 40″ full 1080p HDTV.
Set up of Windows-7 took just a few minutes. You can select the name of the PC, region, password, and network settings. Afterward, the setup goes through a 2 minutes process before you are presented with a log on screen and finally the desktop. See both CRT screen shots below. As you can see, there are some bloatware icons on the desktop to contend with:
After logging in, the Revo prompts you to make a Windows-7 OS backup disc set. Take note, this is because the Revo does not come with a Windows OS re-installation disc! Since I do not yet have a Esata or USB CD/DVD rom, I promptly installed my Windows Home Server Console program and set up a user account for the Revo. From there I did a complete OS image back up, which took about 40 minutes to complete. That way I could restore my Revo to factory specs should something go dreadfully wrong. You can later use the Acer Backup program to make those restore discs once you get a DVD rom connected, but the sooner the better. Fortunately, I have WHS.
Initial Updates, Software Installation and Adobe Flash Fixes:
First off, I headed to the MS Update site and updated everything except for the Windows Office Suite. The Nvidia video driver needed an update as well to 191.07. The Revo already had Flash 10.0.22 installed (more on Flash later).
I then installed MPC-HC video player, Boxee Alpha and Hulu Desktop. I played a 720p 30 HD H.264 file and it played flawlessly on the Revo via WMP 11 adn MPC-HC. I then tried some files shared (.avi & .mkv) via WHS through Boxee and they too played flawlessly. Next up, Hulu Desktop and Hulu via IE.
Now Hulu plays video, like many on line video sites, with Adobe Flash. This wreaks havoc on slower CPU’s and is just the same on the Revo using the installed Flash 10.0.22…for the moment. Here is how things shook out with Hulu playing a 30 Rock episode.
Flash 10.0.22 out of the box
Hulu via IE 86 was a almost perfect, but skipped. CPU was 79%+
Hulu Desktop was almost perfect, fewer skips. Better than IE. CPU usage was 76%
Boxee was almost perfect too! Same as IE. Surprised. CPU usage 59%-66%. (odd how it’s lower than IE)
All three results had high CPU usage (as expected), but was surprised by the quality of Hulu using old Flash, which does not support GPU acceleration and off loading!
Flash 10.1 Beta to the rescue!
The new Flash Beta 10.1 now allows for GPU acceleration to the video card! (Even for non-ION PC’s. As long as your card and any video player being used supports this feature!) This is the update all Atom ION users have been waiting for!!!! Now lets see what this Revo is made of.
Flash 10.1 installed: For this test I installed the Nvidia Beta ION video driver vs 195.55 11-13-2009, developed just for the Flash 10.1 Beta. This further reduced the CPU usage below my initial tests done last week! Today, Nvidia released the final version that is WHQL certified vs 195.62 11-27-09. So, I’ll be updating again and so should you!
Hulu via IE 86** worked flawlessly! CPU usage was down to 16%!
Hulu Desktop worked flawlessly! CPU usage was down to 16% !!
Hulu in Boxee was the same as 10.0.22 test above. CPU 60-80% Some skipping as it has Flash 10.0.22 that is built in.
As you can see, the GPU acceleration usage of the Flash Beta works superbly with Hulu Desktop and any Flash media streamed via IE! The only real skips seem to come as a result of low download buffer. So, pausing at the beginning to build the buffer eliminates this.
Installing the Flash Beta does not update Boxee’s Flash version. Boxee does not trigger or utilize GPU acceleration of any sort. So CPU usage will always be high with any video played through Boxee. Flash is very poor unless you have a quad core CPU to handle the duty. This will change when Boxee Beta is released on December 7, 2009. Watch out!
**Flash is not supported at all in IE 64 bit**
Video Players:
This has nothing to do with the Flash update. Only how the players utilize GPU acelleration with Ion as expected.
I played a .wmv HD file and a 720p 30 h.264 files with the MPC-HC 64 bit player and the WMP 11. Both worked flawlessly using 20% cpu +/-
Now, these tests do not cover all scenarios with Flash. Your mileage may vary based on Internet connection speed, HDTV resolution settings, and even Flash player types at different web sites. At the 1080p setting on the Revo Nvidia controller, some flash playback was just a bit off compared to setting it to 720p. But barely! And this varied by web site too. Example: YouTube HD is useless, but I found their encryption to be terrible and bandwidth from them is poor. But theirs was the only site that gave poor Flash performance.
HDTV Screen shots with Task Manager: With Flash 10.1 Beta
Desktop at boot
Hulu Desktop
Hulu IE x86
Hulu Boxee
HD Nation on Boxee -The encryption of Revision shows makes for flawless play in Boxee even with higher CPU usage. White screen because captured between scene changes.
HDTV Screen shots with Task Manager: WMP-11 & MPC-HC 64
HD Nation on WMP 11
HD Nation on MPC-HC 64 withVideo Stats
There’s MORE on page 3!!
Only tried boxee.. I didn’t see the newest nVidia update. I chose the ion card with a desktop. I’ll check again…
okay, found it and update both. youtube video looks fine in browser, but choppy in boxee (not the latest boxee release, but the previous one.. does that matter?)
Kaz,
Yeah, it could. The current boxee build is 11487 and had a ton of bug fixes. I’ll tell you though, I’ve found that some TV shows play better than others on boxee. It varies from episode to episode depending upon the encryption they used.
Lastly, boxee has not had a build release since the flash RC releases. I’ve asked the dev’s if they have anything coming in a future boxee build that may address this. We’ll see,…
I got an Acer Revo back when they first came out and I love it. Like you said, it seems to play back anything with total ease, and no noise or heat.
My only complaint about your site is that I didn’t see a date on the article – did I miss it. Given the fast changing technology word, it is crazy to not have a date, clearly displayed, on a review of a technology product.
Tom,
Welcome, glad you like the site.
All posts have a date on my blog. The date is at the top of the post on the main page of the blog with each posting. Once in the post itself, the date disappears. Most WP themes are this way. Good idea to have it on the post itself though…I’ll look into it. Thanks.
Have configured a couple of these and performance improved markedly after the included McAfee Internet Security trial was removed. Some lighter free antivirus like Avira allows the system to perform reasonably, but on any Atom based machines I seriously consider running without any antivirus software at all to save performance.
There seems to be a bug or something on this page or some fonts are not installed on my PC. Somehow not everything is displayed correctly. Any ideas?
Keyboard,
Works for me on FFox & IE on 5 different PC’s. Must be your system.
MKK,
Yup, I have this laid out on my set up post. Most any low resource AV works fine and does not impede the Revo. I’ve tested several and found the MS Security Essentials to work the best at not lagging the Revo.
They are great little boxen, are they not, Paul?
We got a single-core 3600 a year back, and it works just fine on our 720p TV. Got a couple of the 3610s a month back, cheap.
The trick that worked for us was to try Sabayon Linux (amongst many others) – cannot recall which revision it was, sorry – but it had the ability to launch XBMC from the main menu for Media Stuff, and then revert back to Sabayon for surfing etc. Not ideal, but it worked.
So I tampered with Ubuntu 9?? until the interface was what we wanted for TV and we could do enough of the XBMC stuff without using XBMC.
The Ubuntu Netbook version worked fine on the big screen – and the Ion/Atom environment worked fine.
It’s a similar problem, visually – the tiny netbook screen can be as hard to read as a distant TV – but it has big icons and so forth just like a Meeja Center.
Would not willingly use Win again, am too lazy to do the weekly repairs to its defences and forever fiddle with the b***** Registry.
Big Ben,
Glad to hear your revo works with Linux with XBMC.
I don’t talk or troubleshoot either on this blog or forum.
Weekly repairs to use Windows? Fiddle with the registry? Huh? Dude, I don’t know anyone that has to do that….
Besides, Windows environment works more smoothly for media than ANY other OS.
I’m about to pull the trigger on a AR3610-U2002, but I need some info about the Ion chipset: Is the Ion chipset in the U2002 (250G hdd version) the HD 1? I’ve been reading some not so nice things about the HD 11 Ion. As soon as I get a reply, (assuming U2202 is HD 1) I’m going to buy. Thanks in advance!
I’ve never heard of anything called “HD1″ or “HD11.” There’s a lot of hype out there on these boxes, so beware what you bank on.
The Revo 3610 is the dual core 330 atom with the ION Chip & CHipset. It’s all there is, there’s nothing else
The older 1600 single core (no longer made for almost 2 yrs) had XP and had the ION LE, which was limited to DirectX9 or less due to licensing issues that XP had. Direct X is mostly for video games and has nothing to do with HD playback. That’s the only Ion LE vs. Ion I’ve ever heard about and it has nothing to do with video playback.
Just about to pick up this PC for home office use(word, pdf, stocks, currency exchage, etc). What do you think?
Definitely. It handles all those programs just fine. May not be the best Adobe Photoshop editor, but everything else should rock.
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Have you tried Apple’s Quicktime player with the .mov H.264 1080p files on their site? I’m just curious. I see that you have had good results with VLC. That’s encouraging, but what file times does it not support GPU acceleration on the R3610?
Although the R3610 is on sale right now, I am considering the AR3700 instead, which has D525 and ION 2, for a little extra CPU and GPU speed.
Mind you, considering the R3610 is only CAD$320 at the moment, and I’m guessing the AR3700 will come in at $400, I wonder if it’s really worth the extra 25% in price and the extra wait. (The AR3700 is already available in the US, but is nowhere to be seen in Canada.)
Eug´s last [type] ..iOS 4 is very- very slow on the iPhone 3G
Revo plays all video container types with gpu acceleration. The player is the key here with regard to Itunes Player. I’ve never tried quicktime player ( I hate it and most times never works on any pc I’ve installed it on). But the revo plays H264 mp4 files perfectly on WMP or MPC-HC 64 and on Boxee.
I’d not bother with any Ion2 machine. There has been no proven increase in performance or speed and there is a bottle neck with the Nvidia Ion placement on the mobo that lags most video on Windows OS.
Better off getting one of the Zotac mobo combos with the Intel chip (AU4100). It has only 1.3 ghz but the cpu speed is 33% faster than the regular Atom/Ion 330 or that Ion 2.
So, I’d get a 3610 or build the Zotac.
Read your interesting review of the Revo R3610 running Win7. Can you let us know what Windows Experience Index Score, and the various sub-scores you got – preferably the initial one that is automatically done/saved when you first install.
The WEI seems a good SIMPLE yet comprehensive, consistant? benchmark to compare machines without the complications of eg PCMark-which year etc – a continually shifting BM ‘standard’ – have been searching for a good database of WEI scores for diff machines, but so far not much success.
Re. your recent comment about ION2, I also was curious to see it benchmarked against the one used in the R3610. See conflicting reports, but the Notebookcheck.net review of the Asus 1215N that uses a D525/ION2 combo indicates no gain over the R3610 – yet D525 rated at 10W more than the 330. BTW is your 330 definitely clkd at 1.66 – as I heard 1.60GHz is its default ?
Hi Paul. Welcome to the blog and forums.
Answers:
The WEI score? Heck, I don’t recall, but I know it does not change. The hardware is the hardware, so it can’t fluctuate. I’ll post it once I log in and see.
WEI as a benchmark? I guess, but I’d rather look at buss, ram and cpu speeds to determine that.
The 3610 and 3700 have almost a null difference in performance. That’s the truth.
The 3610 has a 1.66 or 1.60 ghz? It’s 1.60. A .06 ghz difference is negligible and not worth concern at all.
If you want an Atom/Ion machine performance and more power, get the Zotac Z mobo with the Intel SU4100 1.3 gzh CPU. It’s lower ghz, but the cpu clock speed is 36% faster than the 3610 or the 3700 machine. That’s where my money is going next!
http://www.zotacusa.com/zotac-zbox-zboxhd-nd21-u-intel-pentium-su4100-1-3-ghz-dual-core-all-in-one-mini-pc.html
I will look forward to seeing your Windows Experience Index score as soon as you can.
Although useful, I found the problem with JUST looking at raw hardware specs – not that raw data is always easily published, is that they are no guarantee of overall performance; eg. as you point out, the slower clkd SU4100 is 36% faster than the 330; Likewise, the problem with reviewers, is they use a varied mix of commercial benchmark programs, often of different vintages eg 3DMark05 or 06, or Cinebench – often omitting to state version and/or was it single or multi mode, etc etc – and so cannot compare a machine in one publication with another machine reviewed elsewhere. Just recently I saw the same Asus 1215N laptop get a different result using the SAME ‘Benchmark’ on 2 diff websites. Unlike the traditional commercial benchmarks, the WEI benchmark seems to have no user ‘adjustments’ and so should be more consistant and reliable benchamrk. As a number of review sites eg Notebookcheck.net have started publishing the WEI of each model tested, I was thinking it a good, uncomplicated benchmark measure, simple, (et revealing the weakest part of a machine) to quickly compare overall performance of systems.
I would have prefered to see a WEI type of benchmark independant of MS, (who, I heard, tightly control it, not making it available for WinXP) so one could install a WEI anywhere to test/compare older hardware with new. Maybe MS will release it later !
Re. your comment on the future, saw article on a ‘nano ITX’ (at 12x12cm, smaller than Revo) using the 2011Q1 AMD ‘Atom’ competitor, with integrated DX11 GPU. Am disappointed with recent Atom releases – think D525 & N550 poorer than 330. If Acer needed to upgrade Revo this year, should have used one of the better SU series like, as you say, Zotac.
Well, I don’t put much weight in any benchmarker. Windows gives a single score based on the lowest one on the list.
Anyway, here’s what mine says.
More details about my computer
Base score determined by lowest subscore 3.3
Component Details Subscore
Processor Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU 330 @ 1.60GHz 3.3
Memory (RAM) 2.00 GB 4.7
Graphics NVIDIA ION 4.3
Gaming graphics 895 MB Total available graphics memory 5.2
Primary hard disk 40GB Free (67GB Total) 5.2
Windows 7 Home Premium
System
——————————————————————————–
Manufacturer Acer
Model Aspire R3610
Total amount of system memory 2.00 GB RAM
System type 64-bit operating system
Number of processor cores 2
Storage
——————————————————————————–
Total size of hard disk(s) 134 GB
Disk partition (C:) 40 GB Free (67 GB Total)
Disk partition (D:) 44 GB Free (67 GB Total)
Media drive (E:) CD/DVD
Graphics
——————————————————————————–
Display adapter type NVIDIA ION
Total available graphics memory 895 MB
Dedicated graphics memory 256 MB
Dedicated system memory 64 MB
Shared system memory 575 MB
Display adapter driver version 8.17.12.5896
Primary monitor resolution 1280×720
DirectX version DirectX 11
Network
——————————————————————————–
Network Adapter Atheros AR5B91 Wireless Network Adapter
Notes
——————————————————————————–
The gaming graphics score is based on the primary graphics adapter. If this system has linked or multiple graphics adapters, some software applications may see additional performance benefits.
Hi great review
Now that you have some expirence with this Barebone I hope you can help me.
I have a normal computer in one room, on this i have my Itunes with libery’s ratings and all that. Now i would like to get this avaible in my living room (Wireless or cable) without having my Normal PC turned on.
Therefore I was thinking having a NAS server with my Itunes libery on, get the Acer Aspire Revo 3610 to sync with libery folder on the NAS and still have ratings and all that just as my normal pc.
Is this possible?
Hope you or someother can help me.
Best Regards
Soren Sorensen
Ive had my 3610 for almost a year. I read about the next Gen Ion2 platform but it does seem to have its drawbacks vs. the original, thanks to how Nvidia implemented the new Atom Pinetrail CPU without a license to use the memory bus on the CPU.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3702/zotacs-zbox-hdid11-review-next-gen-ion-better-worse-than-ion1
That said, other the the flash issue, if you are using it mainly for a HTPC, either will work, and if you do the odd bit of browsing from the couch the Ion2 might be a bit better as the CPU is faster for most tasks but gaming.
If you need more performance than this out of your HTPC you are better off looking at a Core i3 CULV solution like the ASRock:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3824/asrock-core-100htbd-bringing-htpcs-to-the-mainstream-market
Buddy,
Welcome to the blog. Thanks for the insight.
I have a Revo forum too that you may be interested in posting in.
http://www.pauljroberts.com/forum/
Nice review Paul. I am in the process of ordering a Revo right now. I am excited to get rid of cable!
Pete,
Thanks! Swing by and look at my setup guide: My Setup That Works.
hi. what’s the difference in performance between the 3610 and the 3600? In specs all I can see is that the 3600 has a single-core Atom 230 processor while the 3600 has a dual-core Atom 330. They both have 2 gb of memory and hard disk is not important for me as I’m going to replace it anyway with a 500gb WD scorpio black I already own.
I need to chose between them, at similar price, 3600 is new with 2 years warranty, 3610 used, no warranty. Would the 3610 perform significantly better as an HTPC to justify the lack of warranty as compared to the 3600 at the same price?
Thanks
Oh, hands down the 3610 is the way to go…period. That single core unit will CHOKE on flash content via a browser. And if it has XP on it will utterly fail at dealing with any flash or HD content due to lack of GPU acceleration in XP.
The dual core and Windows Vista or Windows 7 make all the difference in performance. Don’t bother with the 3600 at any cost.