2009-04-08, 00:20
http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/acer-...spirerevo/
Finally a smal form platform able to run 1080p?
anyone?
Finally a smal form platform able to run 1080p?
anyone?
2009-04-08, 00:52
im running an atom 1.6 itx at present for testing and gui stuff sucks under aeon 6fps 
im still dubious 
im still dubious
2009-04-08, 00:53
gah, spose we have to wait till they build one with a dual core sticked into it then ._.
2009-04-08, 01:26
I've been patiently waiting for the ION to be released. I won't jump on quickly, but down the road this technology can be very promising. Imagine small netboxes that are quiet and powerful enough to run any 1080p content you throw at it.
Well, at long last our dreams are coming true. The first ION based net top is coming to market. Brought to us by our friends Acer it is dubbed the AspireRevo. The design looks pretty sleek and the footprint not much larger than nVidia’s reference ION design. Some features are missing like optical SPDIF but from the looks of the pics here - http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/acer-.../#comments
It has most of the rest of the goodies.
I suspect that this is just the first of the ION platforms to be coming to market this month so stay tuned for updates.
Now if only a company would screw it’s head on straight and implement one of these with a Windows Vista MCE IR receiver for out of the box compatibility with XBMC under Linux. This is no doubt the most cost effective VDPAU platform.
Slice
It has most of the rest of the goodies.
I suspect that this is just the first of the ION platforms to be coming to market this month so stay tuned for updates.
Now if only a company would screw it’s head on straight and implement one of these with a Windows Vista MCE IR receiver for out of the box compatibility with XBMC under Linux. This is no doubt the most cost effective VDPAU platform.
Slice
My apologies, I guess I was so excited I forgot to check for a posting before I started the thread sorry, we all have out stupid moments, please close the thread.
Slice
Slice
2009-04-08, 04:22
Looks pretty nice. A bit odd that 7.1 is just available through HDMI. I had hoped that there was either SPDIF or more audio ports to attach a 7.1 or 5.1 system. Especially if they target HTPC users.
2009-04-08, 08:05
Some impressions:
. No built-in optical drive. You have to go USB, which defeats the purpose of having a tiny box in the first place. Speaking of size, it looks to be a proprietary mini-ITX board.
. 1st-gen single-core Atom. I suppose the dual-core will be an upsell in a few months. Asus EEEBox followed this route, but that was last year. Tacking on a GPU to an obsolete CPU won't make general-purpose use any faster.
. No built-in WiFi or IR receiver, which means you'll have yet more USB widgets dangling from the box.
. Personally, I'm not a fan of the black/white motif. Either make it all-black or all-white, like Apple.
. It looks to be sold only in full-box config. But max storage of only 250GB (per the article) is pretty limited, considering that 2.5" drives already come in 500GB and above.
. Pricewise, I'm guessing that base config will be USD$300 at rollout, dropping to $250 and lower by year-end. This would be roughly equiv to the EEEBox, which doesn't have the GPU, but does have WiFi.
. I'm trying to figure out what the marketing angle is for this box. At $300, it's a little too expensive for an impulse buy (especially in this economy). It doesn't have enough functionality to be a HTPC, and it's too slow for a nettop driving a big-screen TV. It's worth pointing out that while netbooks are all the rage, nettops did not catch on, at least with the 1st generation. Solving the 1080p video problem is a good first step, but it's not the only issue.
. No built-in optical drive. You have to go USB, which defeats the purpose of having a tiny box in the first place. Speaking of size, it looks to be a proprietary mini-ITX board.
. 1st-gen single-core Atom. I suppose the dual-core will be an upsell in a few months. Asus EEEBox followed this route, but that was last year. Tacking on a GPU to an obsolete CPU won't make general-purpose use any faster.
. No built-in WiFi or IR receiver, which means you'll have yet more USB widgets dangling from the box.
. Personally, I'm not a fan of the black/white motif. Either make it all-black or all-white, like Apple.
. It looks to be sold only in full-box config. But max storage of only 250GB (per the article) is pretty limited, considering that 2.5" drives already come in 500GB and above.
. Pricewise, I'm guessing that base config will be USD$300 at rollout, dropping to $250 and lower by year-end. This would be roughly equiv to the EEEBox, which doesn't have the GPU, but does have WiFi.
. I'm trying to figure out what the marketing angle is for this box. At $300, it's a little too expensive for an impulse buy (especially in this economy). It doesn't have enough functionality to be a HTPC, and it's too slow for a nettop driving a big-screen TV. It's worth pointing out that while netbooks are all the rage, nettops did not catch on, at least with the 1st generation. Solving the 1080p video problem is a good first step, but it's not the only issue.
2009-04-08, 14:45
mjea, though i dont think the harddisk is that much of a problem, since everyone uses a NAS nowadays, and most hardcore htpc users already switched to gbit networks (so why a large hdd if you can stream, i'd personally be fine with a 20gb ssd to hold xbmc and my other apps..)
optical drives same thing, IMO they are overrated (but i do see that the main consumer market will not see it this way)
wifi/IR reciver, i think its np that it lacks the wifi, since its to slow to stream HD anyway, but the IR reciver IS a must.
its indeed fugly
i think if it had the ability to play 1080p, $300 might be a good aim..
optical drives same thing, IMO they are overrated (but i do see that the main consumer market will not see it this way)
wifi/IR reciver, i think its np that it lacks the wifi, since its to slow to stream HD anyway, but the IR reciver IS a must.
its indeed fugly
i think if it had the ability to play 1080p, $300 might be a good aim..
2009-04-08, 14:58
Continuing...
This is one instance where a small case size is worse than a larger case. The unit has ports coming out of three of the four sides, plus a USB at the beveled corner. The 4th side has a slot to be fitted to a stand. This means that it can only be mounted vertically, and it will look like an octopus. Crappy design.
One alternative is if it has a VESA mount, to be mounted behind the LCD. The problem with this is that if you use a USB WiFi stick for connectivity, reception will be crappy since the signals will have to go through the LCD (or the wall behind it). One solution is to get a USB extension w/ cradle and mount the WiFi on top of the LCD.
I'm coming more to the conclusion that the next small box I get will be a standard mITX board where most of the ports are in the back and hidden from view. The case will be bigger, but it won't look like an octopus. Small boxes like this (and the Nvidia ref design) just can't accommodate all the ports on one side.
This is one instance where a small case size is worse than a larger case. The unit has ports coming out of three of the four sides, plus a USB at the beveled corner. The 4th side has a slot to be fitted to a stand. This means that it can only be mounted vertically, and it will look like an octopus. Crappy design.
One alternative is if it has a VESA mount, to be mounted behind the LCD. The problem with this is that if you use a USB WiFi stick for connectivity, reception will be crappy since the signals will have to go through the LCD (or the wall behind it). One solution is to get a USB extension w/ cradle and mount the WiFi on top of the LCD.
I'm coming more to the conclusion that the next small box I get will be a standard mITX board where most of the ports are in the back and hidden from view. The case will be bigger, but it won't look like an octopus. Small boxes like this (and the Nvidia ref design) just can't accommodate all the ports on one side.
2009-04-08, 15:56
http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_69675.html
Acer's ION-based computer was announced on nvidia's website. I was excited at first, but after a closer look at the pictures, it looks like it only has VGA output?
I was really hoping for hdmi, if not just a DVI would do.
Acer's ION-based computer was announced on nvidia's website. I was excited at first, but after a closer look at the pictures, it looks like it only has VGA output?
I was really hoping for hdmi, if not just a DVI would do.
2009-04-08, 16:05
my mistake. Further googling reveals that hdmi (video/audio) is included. Hopefully someone can confirm that it works with xbmc/vdpau.
