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!
Similar Posts:
- Flash 10.1 Beta on Acer Revo 3610 testing Results
- New Acer Revo 3610 HTPC
- Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta Released for Atom Ion
- Acer Revo 3610 Atom ION-Video Demo
- Acer Revo 3610 Unboxed
Tags: Acer Revo 3610, AsRock 330, atom ion 330, Boxee, Fancast, flash, Hulu, nvidia, Review, XBMC, xbox, Youtube
Homer,
I’ve not gotten one yet. But I’d get the second one made for Win7 and Vista MCE.
Home,
Yeah pro does offer RD. I use Pro specifically for that so I can log in from my server and other PC’s remotely. Most people don’t use RD, so I did not bother mentioning it.
BTW NEWEGG has the 3610-u922 In Stock and ready to ship at $329.99 ! Get ‘em while you can, boys!!!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....6883103235
Thanks to Richard for the hook up!
Nice review,
Expecting my Revo in a few days. Can I use a USB stick to make a backup of Windows 7? If so, can somebody give the instructions.
Thank you.
Brad,
Thanks for the props on the review!
I don’t believe the Acer backup manager allows USB. It seems to list DVD or CD as the only option to make an OEM backup of the OS from the Revo.
Seems like a terrible idea to expect people to back up software that isn’t included with a drive that isn’t included as well.
I guess I could buy an external drive, burn a DVD of the backup and then return the drive. I would have no need for this drive unless I ever need a re-install.
I don’t have Windows Home Server Console that you mentioned. Can you think of any other way to achieve the backup other than what I mentioned above?
Thank you.
Brad,
I thought it odd that Acer did not include a DVD disc, but that has been the norm for most PC builders for years now. The only glitch with the Revo is that it does not have a DVD/CD drive built in, which is unusual by today’s standards. So, with that, most people NEED a DVD / CD drive, so I’m sure that most have no problem buying a slim DVD drive for about $50 to use on a daily basis. Hell, I don’t really need one on my Revo as I have no need to install a program that way …..yet….as I have my main rigs I would use that for. But, I would like to play a DVD movie via the Revo someday…maybe even get a Blue Ray DVD drive too. But I’m getting off base here.
I personally don’t fault Acer on this one myself.
But, to answer your question, No-I don’t know of another way to get nearly 7 gb of an OS made without a DVD drive. At least I don’t know of a way. Honestly, that built in backup on your Revo is not going anywhere. There is no need to rush into this. That seperate partiction just sits there holding the original install files. Get a slim DVD drive when you have time/money and do the back up then. 
On DVD backup for the Acer, see this little gem from CDW: http://www.cdw.com/shop/produc.....DC=1266325
It is a cable that gives you the ability to setup any internal drive as a temporary external drive. Cheaper than an enclosure with similar connectivity options.
Homer
(edited by Paul with new link and comment)
Homer: will this really solve your issue? Will it let you use this to burn the backup? It seems Paul is saying DVD or CD as the only option…
I did not think of the cable deal, which is an excellent alternate choice. Thanks, Homie!
But since it’s $30 +$8 shipping, may as well by a Slim DVD drive for $50-$60 and use it for back up OS burns, install of programs or play DVD’s. But I’m the type that says, “if I’m half way there, why not go all the way?”
Slim Drives @ NewEgg.com
http://www.newegg.com/Store/Su.....DVD-Drives
Anyone have an eSata drive working on this? I got a iOmega 400gb eSata external drive and it just freezes up the revo when I try to boot with it attached… any thoughts?
I figured it out by reading the manual, of all things!
Lately, I’ve been leaving my revo on overnight — I want to have it on all the time so my family doesn’t need to deal with turning it on and off all the time… this morning, the sound was no outputting until I rebooted. anyone else had this issue with the 3610?
Kaz,
I have the same freakin’ problem. Driving me nuts! You don’t have to reboot though. All you have to do is log off the user account and log back in….if you have it set up with a user/pasword. If not a reboot is necessary.
I’ll have to dig around and see if there is fix for this as it’s hit or miss on my machine.
Just got my Revo 3610 running on a 32″ LG HDTV. When I run it through HDMI it pushes the edge of the windows desktop into the bezel so I cant see the icons on the edge. Text looks fuzzy and playing movies in full screen does not look good. This is a brand new TV so I dont think the TV is the problem.
When I run the Revo through RGB cable I dont have the fuzzy text or icon on the edge problem.
Both RGB and HDMI cant stream youtube or stephen colbert without quality issues. I tested my wifes mac laptop and both movies and streaming content work perfectly.
Anyone have this problem?
Oulous,
Most often this is a result of settings on the Revo and the TV. It sounds as if you have the Revo’s video settings configured for VGA and not HDMI.
First, connect only the HDMI cable from the Revo to the TV. Remove the VGA cable entirely from both as well. Next, open the Nvidia video console and look for the resolution settings. There are two distinct settings, one for VGA and one for HDMI. You have to select one or the other. Both are not an option. Set the HDMI to either 720p or 1080p (native) and then try it. That should clear up the fuzzy look. Next, is the size of the screen and the edges running off. This is usually caused by the output of the TV format: Normal, Cinema, Zoom, and the dreaded Overscan. Try adjusting the TV to Normal and that should get your desktop to fit on the full width and height of the TV.
Believe it of not, many TV’s and audio receivers just don’t do a good job of interpreting the signal from a PC. Even with HDMI and PC’s designed for TV usage. But this is typically TV’s older than 2-4 years old. And some TV’s have poor size options or none at all! But in this case, your settings on both units should clear things up for you.
BTW, how are you testing the Revo with RGB cables? It does not have that connection type. Using a Conversion Cable?
I actually had to adjust the desktop size (there is a handy utility built in), as well. I also saw the fuzzy text and was told (here?) to just increase the font size… if there is a settings issue, let me know – I’d love to fix these issues myself!
Hello all, I just got my acer 3610 and I am more than satisified with it!!! awesome and energy efficiant. After instaling over the OS with windows 7 64 ultimate and following the other intructions on this web sit, It can run everything and i mean everything from my desktop to my acer. 1080P hurtlocker blueray rip with absolutly no problem. Love it. however just one hitch, when scroling through websites like fox.com, the scolling is very very jittery! almost un-useable. the werid thing is that when I click on the link to watch full eppisodes of 24, and after it buffers, it is jittery until i full screen it then it is perfect and complety watchable and perfect. Why the difference in not full screne and why the jitteryness when scroling up and down on the web site? please help. Thanks
another quick question – is there anything bad about setting my revo to never sleep? I use a Macbook for backing up dvds, and I have an external hard drive on the revo set to share… it would be easiest to just connect to the Revo from the Mac and push video and pictures out to it, but I lose the connection when the thing goes to sleep.
Also, I have moved my iTunes directory to this drive, and was considering having the Macbook connect THERE for iTunes. If it falls asleep, and I lose the connection, I am not sure I want to teach my family how to wake it and reconnect just to use iTunes…
Thanks!
How do I make a Windows 7 backup disc? I went into Acer Backup Manager and under tools, the Create Bootable CD/DVD is grayed out.
I called Acer technical support and they told me it is the eRecovery program rather than the Backup Manager. To make the backup requires 3 blank DVD discs. I’m in the process of backing it up now.
Well I tried setting it to 720 and 1080 via the nvidia panel and both look like crap. The text on the screen looks hyper sharp and chunky. Colors look terrible and movies play poorly. The best I can do is setting the resolution via the windows 7 control panel and put it on 768. It doesnt look anything like the movie that was playing on the demo TV in the store. Pretty bummed out about my acer purchase as I have this brand new high quality TV but no way to play movies on the acer to match the TV. Paul on the back of the TV is a cable input that says RGB, i just plugged it into the back of my Revo so I assumed its RGB… is it actually VGA?
Oulous,
I’m really not sure why your revo will not play correctly on your TV via HDMI. Most times it’s the TV itself or the surround sound system as they sometimes do not “interpret” the signal correctly. This can happen with any component you connect. Heck, I’ve seen DVD players get all strange on some HDTV’s. Even brand new TV’s I’ve seen these “interpretation” issues. Or, your Revo could be broken. Maybe return it for exchange and see what you get.
You should not have to mess with the DPI, desktop, or any other settings other than the 720p-1080p setting in the Nvidia panel AND the TV’s output settings of Overscan, Normal, Cinema, etc.
VGA is a squarish output/input with oh….10+ pins with a blue insert. Quality is almost as good as HDMI. If your TV plays that connection correctly with the Revo, then you may have to stick with it.
Hey, Paul – wondering if you ever found anything out about the sound cutting out..?
Kaz,
I was running a newer Nvidia release HDMI audio driver (sorry, I will have to find the versiion number later), but I found the one listed on the Acer site as being dated as 10/2009 and a version number of 1.00.00.55. The Nvidia version of that same driver is dated as 8/2009. So I installed the Acer approved version and I’ve had the revo running now for 5 days with or without boxee going. Allowing it to do the normal nightly hibernate. So far, it has woken up and the HDMI audio works fine! With both the Nvidia sites’ drivers, it would not keep the sound on after hibernating.
So, I’m not sure if there is a slight difference in the Acer specific build of the driver, but I know it seems to keep the sound on.
Hit the Acer support link on their site and scroll through Acer Desktops and look for the R3610. Then click the tabs on the various drivers. I would resist the Bios updates as they are for Linux and such.
Where can we get beta 1? Anyone have a link?
JJD,
I think you already found it since emailing me, but just in case:
http://www.pauljroberts.com/fl.....r-revo-ion
Hi My Revo 3610 arrived 2 days ago, i had some error when trying to create the backup disk. I called up acer and they are supplying cds for 50 pounds unless you give them the error code and then they will provide you the factory default cd for free!.
I have hooked up the acer to a western digital 2tb using raid 1 (1gb mirror) its a super client combination!
I plan to only use HDMI and my 720p HDTV (no other monitor) will the Revo 360 automatically detect the connection come up in HDMI mode?
Ed Taylor,
It should auto detect. If not, it will work good enough to open the Nvidia control panel and set the video to HDMI 720p as I have mine.
So im messing with my Revo and LG tv more. When I use VLC player and click off the scale option it shrinks the picture down to about 1/8th size on the screen. Of course this makes having a 32″ TV worthless but at this size the picture looks flawless, as good as the demo in the store.
So I wonder if for some reason my revo just isnt compatible with my TV. I really doubt its my TV but I would love to get a DVD player to test this out.
Hi Paul, I just thought I’d let you know that I just installed the flash beta 3 and it works much better than beta 2 (which I reverted after our last communication), CPU at about 13% in IE. I’ll see how it goes over the next few days of course. I also thought I’d mention that I’ve seen a few comments on your blog from people with the outside of the screen cut off (too big). They have been adjusting the resolution via the Nvidia settings but this is not the issue and instead they’re losing 1080 by doing so. I found this to be down to the “Overscan” setting of the TV, not to do with HDMI vs VGA. If you turn off overscan, which is something to with auto detecting ntsc, the problem goes away. I have a panasonic and it is a simple option from the settings menu. I assume overscan is suppressed on the VGA output.
Oulous,
I don’t use VLC as it does not support GPU acceleration of all file types. Also, I don’t know what the “scale” option does, so I’m unclear as to the problem.
As I and other posters have mentioned, try turning off Overscan on your HDTV and that may fix your size / resolution issues.
STeven,
Glad to hear beta 3 is better than p2. I’m interested in what you are using to get 13% CPU? Hulu, youtube, boxee…what?
Yeah, I’ve mentioned the overscan issue a few times, but each TV is soooo different and interprets the HDMI signal differently too. I try to encourage tinkering with the TV settings after setting the Revo to a specific size.
Thanks for the additional TV setting input. I’m sure it will help many others as well.
I’ve got a panny tv — I’m gonna try to overscan thing..
I’m using Internet Explorer to watch BBC iPlayer in the UK. Works ok in the browser but I still have issues with the desktop download iPlayer app. I guess that must be a bbc problem and I will raise it with them.
hmm.. couldn’t find an overscan setting…
Kaz,
These TV’s are all so different. Some have great setting options, some don’t. Some have these settings for each input and some don’t. Some interpret HDMI signals differently than others do. It can be a pain to get some things to view correctly on some TV’s. Mine was plug and play. My buddy’s TV was a nightmare of peck and check to get a good mix to get the thing to view normally like my TV does.
Hey, Paul – do you recommend updating to the new flash beta?
Kaz,
I just began testing Beta 3 a few days ago along with the new nvidia 196.21. Honestly, it seems to run well on the revo 3610. Hulu uses 10% less cpu on IE and hulu desktop. Boxee seems to run well with it too. So, with that, I feel it’s a go for the most part.
But there are few more things I’d like to test out before I give it the “dump 1p” certification.
Hi Paul,
Does the 3610 allow High Definition Audio be output as either LPCM or bitstream thru the HDMI connector when playing a Blu-ray.
If not so you know of anything simiar that can
John
question about the remote kbd/mouse: how far does the signal work? 20 feet ok? I have a large living room and would feel really stupid if I can’t even sit on my sofa to control the Revo.
John,
The revo has 5.1 surround via HDMI and the SPDIF out. I see no reason why sound would be any different for a Blue Ray movie with a Blue Ray player software installed.
Nicolas,
The included wireless mouse and keyboard seem to be good for 15ft, but have not tried it at father distances.
BH Photo has the Revo 3610 for $328.95 with free shipping so I placed my order. Amazon was showing a three to six week delivery.
In Reply to Ed Taylor’s suggestion to BH Photo having the Revo 3610 (never heard of this company)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/.....Search=yes
Newegg.com has it for $329.99 + free shipping (my personal fav e-shop!): http://www.newegg.com/Product/.....-_-Product
It only shows up in a search now as “acer revo aspire.” Do not use “3610″
Amazon.com does have it today: http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Asp.....amp;sr=8-1
They also have the Asus Eee units with the DVD rom, which is the same thing as the Revo hardware wise:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb.....=acer+revo
Speaking of Asus EB, Newegg has both the Asus EB1501 and EB1012 in stock for less than Amazon. But the EB1501 has a built in DVD rom/burner not BlueRay for $150 more than the Revo 3610! Hell, I can by an external Blue Ray & DVD combo drive for less than that. Then the Asus EB1012 is the same exact thing as a Revo 3610 for $399. Why pay more for the same thing as a 3610?
B&H Photo and Video’s a huge electronics store in NYC. I’ve ordered from them and never had a problem. At work we use them a lot (we’re a cable broadcast company). Their prices usually aren’t any lower than other stores, but I would say they are very reliable.
Just a note on Amazon – when I ordered mine, it shipped the next day and arrived within 5. I think they were saying 5-8 days until shipping at that time.
Hey, Paul – I am going to check the boxee forums, as well, but I thought I’d run it by you first..
When moving animated movies/shows (e.g. The Simpsons), I create mp4 (and the same is true if I use mkv) files and move them to the Revo. On the source computer (Macintosh using Handbrake), they seem to play out fine.
In Boxee, however, I see a lot of horizontal lines, especially during movement. The playback appears to be smooth (i.e. no dropped frames or stuttering), but I get these lines.
Is this a Boxee and/or video card setting?
Thanks!
Kaz,
You can check the boxee forums, but I’m one of 4 Smod’s there, so I’ve got the same answers. Or I’ll just answer you there.
Boxee ID: judgeschambers
I assume you have boxee running on the REvo with Windows and this is not boxee running on Mac?
I was helping a guy earlier with this similar situation the other day. First, make sure in the Boxee Settings you have hardware acceleration turned on. If already done, I did seem to find a correlation between the way Handbrake does the encoding vs. other software if done on a Mac. Not quite put my finger on it yet. Now, when I use handbrake to encode something on Windows, it plays fine on Windows using Boxee.
Can you upload a file to Google Docs and give me access to it? I’d like to test it on my Revo. I’ll email you my junk google email account info.
Hey, Paul – I looked around, but was unable to find where to set hardware acceleration within Boxee…
Hi guys,
The reason I asked about HD audio over HDMI is in relation to this article http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3411 . Most HDMI cards can’t handle HD audio 7.1 LPCM over HDMI. When it’s sent out the SPDIF out it is not proper HD audio, but a compressed version. Sometime when it’s sent out the HDMI it is also comprerssed or doesn’t pass audio at all. It would be great to know if someone has been able to get 7.1 HD audio LPCM over HDMI from the Revo. You would need a Home cinema amplifier to test with that has HDMI. (Receiver doesn’t have to have HDMI 1.3 to get LPCM). appreciat any feedback on this
Thanks
John