Paul J Roberts’ Acer Revo 3610 Review On Revision3 HD-Nation!

I know that a few of you 3610 Ion users are not getting fluid playback of Flash or DX in a browser or in Boxee even with the updates and all.  It is typically a high CPU usage that causes it.  I’m stumped. I really am. As I’ve had great, smooth playback with my unit since day one.  Though, it seems to be random that a few are having a poor experience. And the symptoms are very similar to 1600 ION LE users and this just should not happen on the 3610 with its dual core CPU.  So, here is a listing of my exact set up. It should be mostly complete.

My Personal Revo 3610 Set Up that works well

Revo Specs & Setup:

• Revo 3610 Ion 330 2 gb ram  With Windows-7 64 bit preinstalled.
• Connected via Cat-5 wire via a 100 mb network. (wifi sucks )  Wifi uses a lot of CPU and may hinder playback.  Especially Revo 1600 users with the  single core and ION LE chip.
• Windows Aero is still activated and SHOULD stay on! Turning it off will cause GPU acceleration to stop working and video will lag horribly
• Turn off UAC  This should be the first thing you do for annoyance factor alone
• Uninstalled all Bloatware to free up ram after boot.
  • Kept Acer Keyboard and back up programs
  • Configure Acer Backup not to run or prompt at start up
  • Can run MSCONFIG to toggle off anything else you want to at start up. Be careful!!!
• Currently, ram after boot is 1.1 gb!
• Updates- ALL MSOFT updates except Windows Live junk
• Uninstalled factory Flash 10.0.22
• Installed-
  • DX 11 update for DX 11
  • Installed Flash 10.1 1p Beta Flash RC-2 RC-7 add-in & activeX for Flash Player   (see download link below) For ALL windows platforms 32 & 64 bit systems.
  • Silverlight 3 4 via the MSOFT update center
  • Installed Nvidia 195.62 197 WHQL 257.15 Beta
    
  • Installed Nvidia Chipset 15.51 (see mega zip pack below)
  • Installed MPC-HC 64 for DX and MKV,MOV, WMV (HD) movies outside of Boxee
  • Installed FireFox
  • Installed Move Networks Player   For Boxee use No longer needed.
  • Installed the Nvidia HDMI audio update (cant remember version 8/2009)
  • No other codec packs or other junk installed.
  • Did not touch video card memory settings in Bios. Left it stock
    • Installed Microsoft Security Essentials
• Boxee Beta-every version that has been available
• Factory sleep and screen saver options-changed to 1 hr delay.
• This is strictly a HTPC for Boxee and to surf the net on a 40″ 1080P HDTV. No other software or programs or anything is installed!!!!

• Connections and settings
  • Directly to the HDTV via a 6ft HDMI cable with the audio.
  • Have Revo set to 720P 60 Hz
  • I feel that with Hulu and other streamed shows streamed in about 480P resolution anyway, the picture clarity is better at 720P rather than magnifying it further at 1080p and reducing picture clarity. When I do want true 1080P playback using the Revo, I change it back. The TV auto detects the feed. Video playback with the Revo set to 1080P is the same and fluid as 720P is.

• Video playback
  • Flash-Smooth as can be in Hulu Desktop and IE. In Boxee there can be juuuuust a hair of a stutter every once in a while. Heck, this varies depending on each Boxee Beta build.
  • DX/HD MKV Full 1080p file-Flawless in MPC-HC 64! Boxee does not yet support HD playback with DX, so it is way laggy. Soon to be updated.  Boxee supports GPU acceleration only with HD 720p & 1080P files that are H.264 .mp4 file containers! Any other file container (mkv, mov, wmv etc)  in 720P or 1080p may/will lag if played in Boxee.
  • Move Networks- Flawless and fluid in IE 8. Pretty good in Boxee, but this is due to Boxee and not the Revo. Again, can vary depending on the current build of boxee All Network TV sites have gone to Flash and Move Networks is no longer being used by any major show sites.  No longer needed.
  • Netflix- Flawless via IE. Flawless via Boxee. I watch this DAILY! I’m addicted….

Files to Download:

• Many users have had smoother playback with the older Flash 1p Beta version vs. the 2p version. It’s no longer available, but I made a Mega Zip Pack below.
  
• Beta 3 is now available and I am testing it now with good results so far…. More later.
• Flash RC is out now. I’m using RC-2 RC-7 as it is far better than RC-4 when using Boxee Beta
  
• Flash Beta 10.1 1p Flash RC-2 RC-7 Add-in & ActiveX, matching Nvidia vid driver 195.62 197.57 257.15 and Chipset 15.51. For ALL windows platforms 32 & 64 bit systems.  Flash Archive Download Zip Page
  
• DirectX Update DX 9 & 10-Here Just do it! (Win-7 users get this with Windows Update)
• Silverlight- Via Windows Update  There was just another update too!
• Install–FireFox 3.6 or Higher – Here
  
• Install–Move Networks Plug-in – Here (need this for IE or FFox or Boxee Beta to show NBC, ABC and Fox TV shows) All Network TV sites have gone to Flash and Move Networks is no longer being used by any major show sites. No longer needed.
• Media Player Classic HV 64 – Here
  
• Microsoft Security Essentials AV – Here
  
• Boxee Beta – Optional, but I’m biased Here
  

Test Video Files

• Test File MKV 1080P 24 fps- Here
  • Should play flawlessly in MPC-HC 64 or WMP!
  • Boxee will be laggy until the DX acceleration is enabled in future builds.
  • There are a few scenes in it that have some slight distortion, but that’s due to the quality of those shots not the Revo. The point here is that the file is full 1080P @ 24 fps and to test fluidity of playback.

• Test File H264 .MP4 hd720p 30fps – HERE
  • Revision3 HD Nation Episode #30 (direct download from their server)
  • This will play flawlessly in MPC and Boxee at under 15% CPU
  • Mentions my Revo blog at about the 19-20 minute mark. Shameless plug…

• Test File WMV hd720p & HD1080p – HERE
  • Microsoft WMV HD Content Showcase
  • You may have to log in with your Hotmail account to see the links to the files.
  • I seem to recall this plays well on MPC-HC 64. May pixelate at the start.
  • Boxee is laggy.

• Test File YouTube Flash hd720p & HD1080p – HERE
  • Youtube: YOKID37 Channel
  • This user has nice 1080p HD Flash files. Typically, movie trailers.
  • Due to streaming over Internet, bandwidth will affect smoothness. May have to pause and fully buffer before playing back video on FFox or IE or Boxee. Youtube’s bandwith sucks.
  • Use Boxee Bookmarklet for FFox to que files to your Boxee Que.
  • You can toggle the HD version in boxee once it starts, but it looks like it’s only the 720p option.

• My Flash Archive Page – Here For ALL windows platforms 32 & 64 bit systems.
• Nvidia Driver Download page – Pick your Ion and OS to see all drivers -Here
  • Update-Nvidia just updated their vid driver again to 196.21 WHQL.
• Official Adobe Flash 10.1 RC (release candidate) Is updated with the latest Flash downloads. For ALL windows platforms 32 & 64 bit systems. Here
  

UPDATED-Installed Programs, Free/Available Ram info

People have been asking for a complete list of the programs I have installed after removing the bloatware on my Revo 3610. Plus, how much Free/Available ram do I have left.  Well, here goes:

Installed Programs:

You’ll notice I have an MCE TV and WHS Connector program. That’s just for my usage, so most will not need them . I left out all the MS updates. That’s pretty straight forward as you should install all security, drivers etc. I left out all the Windows Live crap.I have a total of 37 programs installed. I could stand to kill off the Acer Screen saver and the Nero 9, but I’m not in a hurry to do so.

TaskManager:

This is after boot and the machine has had a few minutes to settle down.  Now, don’t freak out when you see Free 149 as that’s not all that is available after boot. With Win-7 combines and lists memory differently than XP.

• Total is the amount of RAM installed on your computer, listed in megabytes (-the 256mb ram for the video card).
• Cached refers to the amount of physical memory used recently for system resources.
• Available is the total of standby and free memory from the Resource Monitor. Set aside for instant use by programs, drivers, etc. (this is what you want to look at!!)
• Free is the amount of memory that is currently unused or doesn’t contain useful information (unlike cached files, which do contain useful information).

So Revo has the following:

• Total 1791 mb or 1.79 gb total ram after the video card takes it’s 256 mb
• Cached 1000 mb or 1 gb
• Available (+free) 1134 mb or 1.1 gb
• Free 149 mb or ….149 mb.

As you can see, I have 1.134 gb of ram remaining after boot to run all my programs and processes.  Not bad.

If you want a better breakdown of the total-cached-Avail-free, click the Resource Monitor button and mouse over the same words in the Memory section. You’ll get balloons with the a little bit more info on what each means.

Acer Revo Video Demos:

I’ve made three more videos since last November that highlight the Acer Revo using Boxee Beta with Flash.  Check my latest Blog Post link for the details and link to my YouTube Channel

http://www.pauljroberts.com/boxee-beta-on-acer-revo-video-review

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