Acer Revo vs. Cutom built HTPC - Suggestions?
#1
OK, so I've been playing with the idea of building a HTPC for awhile now, and while doing some research today (its been awhile since I last looked into building one due to financial reasons) I found out about this Acer Revo computer that according to all the review and write-ups I've seen on here is an amazing machine for the $200 price tag.

Since I'm not the most savvy individual when it comes to this kind of stuff I wanted to ask a few simple questions as to what I'm looking for in a HTPC and was hoping the community could point me in the right direction.

Here's what I'd like to accomplish:
-Stream my media from my 1TB drive on another PC in the house via a wired connection to the Revo and then my 50" 720P Plasma via HDMI.

-Since this is in my room I want a wireless keyboard/mouse solution and have found the "AirMouse" app on my iPhone to do exactly what I need as far as sitting in bed and queing up media. Will this app work with XBMC?

-What should I do as far as running XBMC Live vs. XBMC in Windows (its my understanding that XBMC Live is a direct boot setup and typically runs a bit faster but then you have no Windows OS backbone to do stuff like search the internet).

-Most of my content is DivX, rips, or downloads so I wont be pushing beyond 720P (especially since my plasma is only a 720P) quality. With this is mind would loading Windows 7 Pro on this machine (I just bought Win7 Pro) be a better solution since I do want the ability to search the web versus XBMC Live?

If the Revo can accomplish all of the above I think that'll be the direction I go. I appreciate the input!!
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#2
I have a Revo 3600 with XBMC and it works just fine. I use Windows XP and it will play most 720p films fine though 1080p is beyond it. I haven't tried using XBMC Live on it, though I see no reason why it wouldn't work. You'll need to put XBMC Live on a USB key as the Revo has no CD drive. The Revo isn't the most elegant PC around and it feels cheaply built; especially the power button. It works fine though and is almost silent. I use mine with a Microsoft MCE remote, or for the occasional bits of web surfing I use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. I haven't tried the AirMouse app.

JR
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#3
Hello,

You can achieve everything you want with a revo.

Nevertheless, a custom built ION box would be a better box, you could get solid state drives, fanless dual core. 100% silent. Very nice but you will seriously struggle to build one of these for the price of the revo.

It still suprises me how cheap a revo actually is, and it does what it says on the tin! Can't go wrong.
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#4
I use my revos daily and have done for several months now. You can do everything you want to do on Linux by following some of the excellent howtos on this forum.

One of mine is currently using the latest version of Live, while the other follows my setup that you can find under howtos, I think it may even still be a sticky.

You can, however, install Ubuntu as a desktop operating system and then put XBMC on it, leaving you with the ability to surf the net and do all the 'desktop' stuff you could want to do, avoiding the overhead of Windoze.

I stream 1080 to mine from a networked hard drive... these things simply rock.

Pete
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#5
Pete_London Wrote:You can, however, install Ubuntu as a desktop operating system and then put XBMC on it, leaving you with the ability to surf the net and do all the 'desktop' stuff you could want to do, avoiding the overhead of Windoze.

FWIW I used UnetBootin (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/) to make a bootable USB key from the current Ubuntu ISO, and that installed fine on the Revo. However getting the video drivers installed was a bit of a hassle, and would probably defeat a non-nerd. I switched back to XP because actually XBMC seemed faster on XP. This might just have been memory as my Revo only has 1GB.

JR
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#6
jhsrennie Wrote:FWIW I used UnetBootin (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/) to make a bootable USB key from the current Ubuntu ISO, and that installed fine on the Revo. However getting the video drivers installed was a bit of a hassle, and would probably defeat a non-nerd. I switched back to XP because actually XBMC seemed faster on XP. This might just have been memory as my Revo only has 1GB.

JR

IIRC the XBMC Live image comes with the Nvidia drivers already.

FWIW, compared to making a bootable USB disk, I thought the nvidia driver install instructions were simple.
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#7
The cheapo revo ($199 single core) is perfectly capable of running full 1080p blu-ray rips via VDPAU in Linux or XBMC-live. If you put ubuntu on it and install xbmc that way you'll still have web browsers and so forth, although flash video is a bit slow on the single core box (HD flash is hopeless).

I have it dual booting Windows 7 Ultimate and Ubuntu Karmic and only use Windows 7 to mess around with flash 10.1 beta2 which supports GPU accelerated flash playback. It's still a bit buggy, and isn't useful enough for me to warrant running Windows very often. The Revo basically sits running XBMC in Ubuntu 99% of the time and plays anything I throw at it wonderfully.

The only time I've ever heard it make noise is when first turned on (the fan cranks for a second or two). It doesn't make any noise when in use (even playing 1080p).
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#8
Wow, thanks for all the replies guys!

I guess from the further research I did last night plus your comments it would make the most sense to buy the Revo (base model $199) leave the existing version of Windows XP on it, and throw XBMC, tweak some things (I've found some great write-ups for that) and use that until it cant do what I want anymore and then I'll build a custom HTPC down the road.

My next question is, when everyone on here says "clean up or strip down all the junk in Windows" what exactly are you doing? I know what you mean regarding all the crap the manufacturers throw on there from the store. i've always just removed all the programs, trial offers etc. from the add/remove programs method then made sure nothing was running in the startup menu, and finally adjusted my regedit settings to ensure nothing was running in the background without my knowing.

Is that what everyone is reffering to when they say "clean it up?" Is there a simpler way to do this that may be less time consuming? Just curious, I dont mind doing it, but I know that when I used to work at Best Buy (years ago) the computer dept. (now called Geek squad) simply had a DVD disc they put in and let it run on a machine for like an hour or so and it did all this for them. Is there some sort of pre-configured disc that can be downloaded to achieve this kind of "clean up" ??

Thanks again for the input!
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#9
I must have installed hundreds of copies of Windows. Thousands if you count all the automated installs. I would say the best course is virtually always to wipe the disk and do a clean install from an MS, not the manufacturers, CD. Windows XP is pretty easy to install, and just accepting the defaults will give you a pretty lean installation.

Obviously there are two problems: first finding a suitable CD, and second that the Revo has no CD drive. If you can borrow a USB CD drive and a WinXP CD then I would reinstall. If you download the ION drivers from nvidia.com you'll get all the drivers except for the audio driver, and you can get that from the Acer site (or I've got a copy if you want).

JR
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#10
Thumbs Up 
I was recently in the same boat as you. Had been using a few XBOXs around the house in different rooms, and wanted to stream HD from hard drives on my home LAN to my 50" 720p plasma.

I went the Revo 1600 route and it works wonderfully. I am using the stock 1GB RAM as well... Haven't found the need to upgrade the RAM at all...

I too was wondering what to do about the XP install that comes with the system. Honestly, I booted into it to see that it works, and haven't booted back into it since. I installed XBMC Live to an SD card and I boot off that. One of these days I'll figure out what to do with the internal drive, lol.

In the meantime, the only thing additional I needed to purchase was the Turtle Beach Advantage Micro so that I could get an optical output pluggged directly into my receiver. I had problems with audio. I could get audio from the Revo to the TV via HDMI, but the audio being passed from the TV back to my receiver wouldnt allow for the proper pass through of DD and DTS. The USB adapter was only $30 and worked like a charm.

Good luck and welcome to the club...

Bobbo
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#11
I noticed that a few folks have mentioned running the Revo under XP, but my understanding is that the Revo won't do 1080p without VDPAU. IIRC, VDPAU will only work (for now) under Linux.
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#12
hartjo1 Wrote:I noticed that a few folks have mentioned running the Revo under XP, but my understanding is that the Revo won't do 1080p without VDPAU. IIRC, VDPAU will only work (for now) under Linux.

http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=1080p_playba...ses_frames

JR
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