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After reading lots and lots of threads, reviews, sites, I finally made up my mind and bought an Acer Revo 3610.
First thing I will do is clean 7 as much as I possibly can, then install XBMC.
I've read lots of things about hardware acceleration but my plan is to make everything work in Windows with the built-in player.
The good thing is that I only have 720p videos.
My TV does not support higher resolution and even if it did, 720p files take way less space than 1080p.
Everything I read so far said that a Revo 3610 under Windows would have troubles reading 1080p files without stuttering but since I have 720p files, I am really eager to give it a try and see how that works.
Last thing I'd like to add is that all my videos are stored on a NAS and I plan to stream through the wireless connection at first.
I'll post the results as soon as possible because I believe many people are looking into this nice little piece of hardware from Acer.
JoeB.
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So far it is not yet working in Windows 7 (if I read correctly).
I am planning to first try with the most basic setup possible.
If it doesn't work fine, I will make proper adjustments.
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First update.
It took me a couple of hours to first start the computer and get rid of all the pre-installed crap.
Now I have an almost vanilla installation of 7 and I am ready to begin the tests with XBMC.
Oh I also had that known issue with the HDMI overscan. Fortunately there is an option in the nVidia control panel to resize the desktop.
Now, I just hope it will work from within XBMC as well.
Stay tuned.
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Keep in mind that I have the Revo R3610, not the AR1600.
It's not the same hardware so I don't think my information will really be useful to you.
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Installed XBMC, MediaStrem Redux and Rapier.
Configured my library and set up my options.
I noticed it was slower than on my other system to switch menus.
Then I started to watch a tv show (last episode of Heroes).
1. I noticed a light stutter... nothing big but still enough to make it annoying.
2. At some point it stopped and buffered
3. The video quality wasn't great.
So I was using the wireless connection, which doesn't seem to be good enough to stream HD content so I'll give it a try with a cable.
As far as the video quality, I'm guessing it might be related to the fact that I had to resize the dekstop because of the overscan...
I'll try the cable connection first and we'll see.
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2009-12-01, 14:12
(This post was last modified: 2009-12-01, 14:14 by judgeschambers.)
The wireless stream of HD content over wifi, even with N, is not always great. Theoretically, wireless G should be enough bandwidth, but there are so many factors that affect wifi video performance. I use wired and have no issues with Boxee or MPC-HC player.
-Video quality? Was this through XBMC or using a video player?
-Does XBMC yet provide GPU acceleration? If not, then CPU usage will be very high and may stutter in XBMC and not in a stand alone player. Also, like you said, it may be your wifi connection.
-Overscan. Is this an XBMC issue/setting or is this using the Acer in general? My HDTV has the setting to turn off overscan, so I have a perfect fit with either 720p or 1080p with the Acer.
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I have wired my connection and now it works great.
I installed the Beta1 release, updated all drivers and added the network cable so everything is fine running 720p videos.
I'll have to check the CPU load while playing such content to see if I can go on or if I need to configure an external player.
With the network connection now at 1Gbs, the video quality problem has been resolved as well.
Unfortunately my TV is quite old and doesn't have a lot of options. But resizing the desktop in Windows within the nVidia panel does work, although it probably affects the video quality a bit, although barely noticeable.
I don't have the money to change my TV now and anyways I really can live with how it behaves right now.
The Confluence skin is awesome btw!
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I also have a r1600 ($199 off the Shelf - couldn't resist)
Using Windows XP and DSPlayer-XBMC by tiben20 and getting 4-5% CPU on all the 720 Videos I throw at it.
For those who are interested, Here are the specs on the r1600:
Atom 230 dual core
Nvidia ION LE (9800 Nforce)
1GB Ram
only have 2 complaints:
1. The E-SATA and analog audio connectors are on the front of the unit
2. As soon as i updated the Video drivers from the stock 185 to the current revision, the HDMI pass through audio stopped working. Doesn't even show up in the audio control panel.
I have a extra copy of win7 that i may end up throwing in, but i haven't decided yet
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I eventually ended up installing MPC-HC as the external player and what a difference, much much smoother!