Revo HTPC

The Many Flavors of Acer Revo (AR3700, AR1600, RL100)

Motz — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:41:35 +0000

As you know Acer has put out a lot of different flavors of the Acer Aspire Revo and some are now discontinued and some are still in production.

Let's begin with the one that started it all the Acer AspireRevo AR1600

This little guy packed a punch and was why I started this website. It featured:

Windows XP
1GB RAM
1.6 Ghz Atom 230 (single core) + ION LE Grpahic

You can actually still find this on Amazon for around $200 from third party sellers.

Then came the Acer AspireRevo AR36XX and Now the AR3700. This guy is no slouch. Acer upgraded the machine to Windows 7 Home Premium, 2GB RAM and a 1.8Ghz Atom D525. You can still find it online for around $360

However now we are on the next generation of Acer Revo's with the Acer Revo RL100-U1002 and the Acer Revo RL100-UR20P

The RL100 line brought tons of changes including design, processor, physical drives, and even a cool wireless touch keyboard and mouse. Here are their features

1.3GHZ Dual Core Athlong II Processor
4GB DDR3 RAM
750GB Hard Drive
ION Graphics
Windows 7 Home Premium
DVD Player (U1002) or a Blu-ray Player (UR20P)

Forum + Cleanup

Motz — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:21:04 +0000

If anyone is looking to sign up for the message board please email me your sign up name and I will activate your account.

I will also be cleaning up the site with new information over the month of February

Ceton InfiniTV 4 USB now available on Amazon.com

Motz — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 07:51:59 +0000

If you subscribe to Cable television and own a Revo or other HTPC that needs a USB tuner well the time is now to pick up a Ceton InfiniTV 4 USB. It is now available on Amazon.com for just $299.99. This will allow you to plug in a cable card and record 4 shows at 1 time!

How to get TV on your Revo

Motz — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:46:00 +0000

A lot of people have asked me how they are able to get Television (including cable tv) onto their Revo. Under equipment in the Guide I list a bunch of options for over the air television (ATSC) including network attached and also USB powered. I use 3 USB ATSC tuners for over the air television. I don't pay for TV, but I also only get 13 or so channels...HD though. Now if you are a cable subscriber then recently there have been a few nice solutions that have come out to get your Revo recording Cable Television.

Step 1.) Pick the device:

You still have 2 options here. First is to go with a network attached tuner. This is a device that connects to your wired network via ethernet. These are great because you can put them anywhere in you house, and you can share them between multiple HTPCs in the house. The obvious choice is the SiliconDust HDHomeRun PRIME which offers 3 tuners built in. This will allow you to record 3 shows at the same time!
The second option here is to go the USB route. There are 2 USB devices now that offer this functionality. First is the Hauppauge WinTV DCR-2650 Dual Tuner Cable Card TV Tuner. Hauppauge is a trusted tv tuner maker that has been in the game for some time. This is a dual tuner which means you can record 2 shows at the same time. It is a bit cheaper than the HD Homerun Prime and will only run you $150. You can read a full review over at The Digital Media Zone.

Lastly, Ceton is coming out with a USB Quad tuner! Ceton is a big name in the tuner game now because they released the InfiniTV PCIe tuner which offered a quad tuner for HTPCs. This has by far been one of the most successful tuners to date. The Ceton USB tuner will be released September 19th for $300.

Step 2) Get a cable card
You will need to call up your cable company and get a multistream cable card. You can usually rent these from your cable company for about $3-$5 a month. This is still a savings over the $10+ that you pay to rent a cable box with a horrible interface.

Step 3) Cable card install.
You will literally need to have the cable card installed into the new device. You are now allowed to do a Self Install, however you can simply have your cable company come out, and type in some codes to handle this. Check out a nice article with pros and cons over at The Digital Media Zone

Step 4) record awesome television Just remember that you will not get "Premium content" like cable on demand or VoD. However now you have an awesome interface with Windows Media Center.

I hope this was helpful. If you have questions feel free to contact me.

Hillcrest Labs Release new “Scoop” Pointer

Motz — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:18:41 +0000

I had already reviewed, raved, and given away a Hillcrest Labs Loop Pointer, but today Hillcrest Labs has introduced a brand new Scoop Pointer. This looks like a great update to the Loop Pointer. Here is their official description:

"The Scoop Pointer is a third generation, in-air mouse and six-axis motion controller that interfaces wirelessly to any PC, Mac, or USB HID compatible device through a USB antenna. This OEM product is a reference design that includes numerous enhancements such as: a smaller and lighter form factor; new chipset and firmware for lower costs and better performance; nine programmable buttons and a scroll wheel; and full six-axis control to enable better gesture or game play. There are two versions of the Scoop Pointer, one optimized for TV viewing and one with a red laser pointer designed for business and educational presenters."

This think looks extremely stylish and could be a great add on for your HTPC. Hillcrest "MotionEngine" technology is now used in many devices including the Roku 2, LG TVs, and their remotes are designed for their HTPC web browser: Kylo. Additionally today Hillcrest has announced a OEM version of their Kylo browser which can be completely customized by manufacturers. While Hillcrest does not plan on selling the Scoop pointer directly to consumers, we can always keep our fingers crossed. Perhaps Acer will catch on and include one of these in the next version of the Revo.

Source: Hillcrest Labs

Getting Netflix HD to work on your Revo!!!

Motz — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 02:01:46 +0000

Let's get down to it, Netflix HD on the Revo has not been very great at all since it was introduced on PC and inside of Windows media center. For a while now Netflix has allowed you to manually adjust the quality of video that receive. If you are using Netflix 100% on your Revo then there is a simple work around which is to manually adjust the bandwidth on your netflix account to the "Better" setting. This will allow all netflix to stream silky smooth onto your Revo. Now be warned though that this effects all of your netflix devices. Which means that if you do use an Xbox 360, PC, or any other device it will also limit your bandwidth on these devices. Here are the simple steps.

1.) Goto http://www.netflix.com

2.) Select:

3.) Down a bit on the page you will find:

4.) Then just set it to "Better":

And there you have it, you should now be able to stream netflix just fine on your Atom powered machine.

Source: The Digital Media Zone

Great deals on the Acer Revo AR3700

Motz — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 21:31:35 +0000

Since the Acer Revo RL100 has come out it looks like both Amazon and Newegg.com both have the Acer Revo AR3700 on sale for $299.99 with free shipping. Overall for what you are getting this is a pretty nice deal. If you see any other deals post them in the comments!

Acer Revo RL100-UR20P With Blu-ray now available on newegg.com

Motz — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:03:25 +0000

The blu-ray model of the Acer Revo RL100 is now available on Newegg.com for just $569.99. This will net you the 4GB Ram, 750GB Hard drive, b/g/n wifi, Dual Core Athlon II, Windows 7 64bit with Ion Graphic, but more importantly a Blu-ray Combo Drive. The
Acer Revo RL100-UR20P is on Newegg.com right now!

Acer Revo RL100 Now Available on Newegg.com and Amazon.com

Motz — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:44:16 +0000

I knew it would happen eventually, but Newegg.com and Amazon have both officially added the Acer Revo RL100 DVD model. Both are available for $499.99, however on Amazon you can get free Amazon Prime shipping. I plan on picking up the Blu-ray model as soon as it becomes available so check back for my review as soon as those come in.

Acer Revo 100 In Stock and Shipping at CircuitCity.com & Tiger Direct & eCost

Motz — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:46:42 +0000

That is right people the Acer Revo 100 is finally shipping from CircuitCity.com. For $499 it will net you the DVDRW version officially titled: Acer Revo RL100-U1002. It includes an AMD Athlon II Neo K325 1.3GHz, 4GB DDR3, 750GB HDD, NVIDIA ION, HDMI, DVDRW, Wireless Touchpad, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. The only question now is if the ION/Athlon II combo can surpass the Atom/ION Combo. From my hands on in Munich it was looking like it could. The Wireless Touchpad is simply fantastic. Go check it out now right here. Additionally eCost.com has the Revo 100 for $490, but it is only the DVD version as well. I will post when it hits newegg and amazon, which will hopefully be soon.