Acer Aspire Revo R3600, £159.95 delivered to Ireland from Ebuyer

vibe666

you could still get more powerful antenna pretty cheaply to boost the signal if it isn't good enough for your needs.

various online wifi stores do them and there's plenty on ebay, altho i wouldn't fancy your chances on getting reliable kit from ebay these days.

Wossack

M450 wrote: »

DO IT! You won't regret it

they look brilliant

that plus a 30gb ssd, and openelec.tv version of xbmc sounds like the way Im gonna go (been talking about it for years!)

vibe666

Wossack wrote: »

they look brilliant

that plus a 30gb ssd, and openelec.tv version of xbmc sounds like the way Im gonna go (been talking about it for years!)

i'm currently running win7 x32 on it and use a combination of WMP, VLC, XBMC & Boxee (still undecided ) but that openelec.tv thing looks interesting. does it do anything fancy that the standard XBMC live distro can't do?

my current needs/wants for my HTPC are

• torrent downloads
• playing video (avi, x264 etc.) streamed over smb from my nas
• web browsing, youtube watching etc.
• possibly home security, IP camera etc.
• skype video calls

if openelec.tv is up to those tasks then i could be persuaded to switch if i can use my Rii remote/keyboard.

Wossack

I believe the openelec.tv build is essentially just a fancier xbmc live - has more drivers built in, and needs a lot less configuration (most remote support out of the box etc). Could also have tv tuner support built in..

So from that, I dont think it'd be of use for anything other then your video playing - you'll be very reliant on the scripting side of xmbc to get anything more. Thats not to say it's not possible - I've very little experience of that side of xbmc

vibe666

yeah, i've been using xbmc for about 5 years now on xboxes, but never really got into the scripting side of things.

i've kinda got too reliant on win7 to move to any one front end now though i think, so i might just stick with that for now.

Voodu Child

Ebuyer have the Revo 3610 Windows 7 model with wireless keyboard/mouse for £195.

48 left in stock.

Thats a good price, normally it is only the Linux model (with wired keyboard/mouse) you'd get for that price.

DavyD_83

Ok, I've been working up to getting one of these for at least a year now. So its now on the Santa list I just need to give specifics.
So, what is the real difference between the 3610, and the 3700?
And is that difference worth the extra £50/60.
Better to spend extra money on higher spec 3610, or on the similar 3700?
Any help seriously appreciated.

Voodu Child

The 3700 has
-Ion 2 (better in some cases, worse in others)
-Slightly faster Atom.

Also I think the 3700s all have b/g/n standard whereas most of the 3610s were just b/g

DavyD_83

Voodu Child wrote: »

The 3700 has
-Ion 2 (better in some cases, worse in others)
-Slightly faster Atom.

Also I think the 3700s all have b/g/n standard whereas most of the 3610s were just b/g

Fair enough, think my setup will only allow b/g anyway. Although considering the current iBood for "Netgear 5GHz Wireless-N HD Gaming & Networking Access Point"

Think i'll go for this one:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225756
3610, 3GB Ram,
I just realised the 3700 comes with wired keyboard/mouse, whereas the 3610 is wireless.
Right, decided!!!
Thanks:D

vibe666

make sure you get the right R3610 as mine (the linux one) was wired keyboard & mouse.

i also happened across a thread on one of the revo forums that says that due to hardware restrictions on the mobo (or possibly the iON gpu) that even with 4gb ram on x64 only 3gb (more or less, depending on gfx size) is recognised.

thinking of upgrading to at least move from 2-3gb but still not sure if it'll be worth it or not just for the 1gb extra.

DavyD_83

vibe666 wrote: »

make sure you get the right R3610 as mine (the linux one) was wired keyboard & mouse.

i also happened across a thread on one of the revo forums that says that due to hardware restrictions on the mobo (or possibly the iON gpu) that even with 4gb ram on x64 only 3gb (more or less, depending on gfx size) is recognised.

thinking of upgrading to at least move from 2-3gb but still not sure if it'll be worth it or not just for the 1gb extra.

I'm going to go for one of the windows 7 options, I just think it'll be easier for me to deal with. Have checked and it definitely 'says' wireless

I used to be pretty techy but thats clearly fading n i'm just looking to make the whole thing as integrated and easy to use as possible.
Also, want my girlfriend to be able to get her head around stuff, think Linux might be pushing the boundaries of understanding a wee bit.

Amalgam

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225755

Voodu Child wrote: »

Ebuyer have the Revo 3610 Windows 7 model with wireless keyboard/mouse for £195.

48 left in stock.

Thats a good price, normally it is only the Linux model (with wired keyboard/mouse) you'd get for that price.

The_Conductor

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Although considering the current iBood for "Netgear 5GHz Wireless-N HD Gaming & Networking Access Point"

Seriously- don't bother with it. The whole point of Wireless 'N' is that it melds multiple 2.4 and 5Ghz channels together to achieve its stated speed (in addition to MIMO). The Netgear on iBood- doesn't even have 2.4Ghz channels at all- so any laptops or other computers operating on either wireless b or g will be incompatible with it (somewhat ironically- ancient business grade 802.11 'a' devices are supported- as they also operate in the 5Ghz band (the original 802.11 along b and g, is solely 2.4Ghz).

S.

lordgoat

Ordered one at last. Can't wait to set up xmbc on this.

BArra

thats where a dual band wifi router comes in

i picked up a netgear 3700, runs 2.4ghz on one band, and 5ghz on the other, both working at the same time

hurray

Voodu Child

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225755

Just FYI, when I ordered this, they automatically added some free crapware to my order... except the crapware is out of stock, so it seems to have prevented my order from going to the payment stage until the crapware is back in stock. Which it wont be, because it is discontinued :rolleyes: And there is no way to remove the free software from the order using your account tools :mad:

DavyD_83

Voodu Child wrote: »

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225755

Just FYI, when I ordered this, they automatically added some free crapware to my order... except the crapware is out of stock, so it seems to have prevented my order from going to the payment stage until the crapware is back in stock. Which it wont be, because it is discontinued :rolleyes: And there is no way to remove the free software from the order using your account tools :mad:

Hmm, mine also did that at checkout. Does it cause actual problems, as in hold up dispatch? How did you get around it? Enough just to send them a mail saying you don't want their free crap n to send it ASAP?
Cheers
D

DavyD_83

smccarrick wrote: »

Seriously- don't bother with it. The whole point of Wireless 'N' is that it melds multiple 2.4 and 5Ghz channels together to achieve its stated speed (in addition to MIMO). The Netgear on iBood- doesn't even have 2.4Ghz channels at all- so any laptops or other computers operating on either wireless b or g will be incompatible with it (somewhat ironically- ancient business grade 802.11 'a' devices are supported- as they also operate in the 5Ghz band (the original 802.11 along b and g, is solely 2.4Ghz).

S.

oops:(, ah well sure i'll see if its any use to me.
Cheers for the feedback, pity i didn't check for it before buying

Voodu Child

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Hmm, mine also did that at checkout. Does it cause actual problems, as in hold up dispatch? How did you get around it? Enough just to send them a mail saying you don't want their free crap n to send it ASAP?
Cheers
D

Yeah, it seems to prevent the order status from moving to the payment stage.

I'd imagine they'll be getting a lot of calls about it in the morning, so hopefully they can fix everyone affected automatically. If they don't, i'd give them a call to get it sorted.

vibe666

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Also, want my girlfriend to be able to get her head around stuff, think Linux might be pushing the boundaries of understanding a wee bit.

the first thing i did when i got mine was stick windows 7 on it, i don't think i even looked at the linux based os that was already on it more than once.

lordgoat wrote: »

Ordered one at last. Can't wait to set up xmbc on this.

the new version is just out as well, with some extra bells and whistles. not sure if they sorted out the USB installer for the live install tho or not, i tried it a while ago when i got my revo and could never get it to work properly.

Kernel

Purchased one of these about a year ago and have been happily running XBMC on Ubuntu. Anyone got any tips on improving the speed of the coverflow browsing on XBMC? Is it a processor issue or is there a trick I'm missing?

DavyD_83

Voodu Child wrote: »

Yeah, it seems to prevent the order status from moving to the payment stage.

I'd imagine they'll be getting a lot of calls about it in the morning, so hopefully they can fix everyone affected automatically. If they don't, i'd give them a call to get it sorted.

Feck!
Got a mail about the order being delayed this morning. Just tried ringing (10p a minute), and was told there was 47 ppl ahead of me. Might just try emailing.
Nice one for the heads up.

Voodu Child

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Feck!
Got a mail about the order being delayed this morning. Just tried ringing (10p a minute), and was told there was 47 ppl ahead of me. Might just try emailing.
Nice one for the heads up.

Mine moved to payment stage this morning so I would say they have been made aware of the problem and are sorting any affected orders this morning. It affects other things like laptops so i'd say they got plenty of calls already about it.

Wossack

Kernel wrote: »

Purchased one of these about a year ago and have been happily running XBMC on Ubuntu. Anyone got any tips on improving the speed of the coverflow browsing on XBMC? Is it a processor issue or is there a trick I'm missing?

maybe an ssd might speed things up?

Kotek Besar

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Feck!
Got a mail about the order being delayed this morning. Just tried ringing (10p a minute), and was told there was 47 ppl ahead of me. Might just try emailing.
Nice one for the heads up.

Try +441430433605 @ €0.008 /min.

vibe666

Kernel wrote: »

Purchased one of these about a year ago and have been happily running XBMC on Ubuntu. Anyone got any tips on improving the speed of the coverflow browsing on XBMC? Is it a processor issue or is there a trick I'm missing?

did you use a generic build of XBMC?

unless you're actually using Ubuntu for anything else, you'd probably be better using an iON optimised XBMC live version to get the best performance? http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=53888

as mentioned in that thread, 2gb of ram is also preferable for the bext performance, so would be a good investment if you don't have it already.

also worth noting that the new Dharma release of XBMC is now officially out and there are plenty of different skins and you might find that some of them perform better than others with regards to coverflow.

DavyD_83

Kotek Besar wrote: »

Try +441430433605 @ €0.008 /min.

Got this today, and confirmation that its shipped, so its all sorted, hopefully...


"Thank you for your contact with our Customer Support Team.

Despite the item showing out of stock we do have plenty available, the email was a system error. I apologise for any inconvenience or annoyance caused."

zuroph

Its http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225755

£179.95 today :eek: dear lord I wish I had money on my card

peckerhead

Don't suppose anyone has a promotion code?

zuroph

or a spare £180 to buy me one for pointing the offer out! I'll pay ya back.. honest!

Voodu Child

zuroph wrote: »

Its http://www.ebuyer.com/product/225755

£179.95 today :eek: dear lord I wish I had money on my card

Great price considering thats the model with Windows licence and wireless kb/mouse. Also, I got that one and it seems to have b/g/n wifi card and not just b/g as stated.

zuroph

Im hoping this offer will come up again next month, as I plain can t afford it this soon after xmas

Can you guys detail what's got you so excited about it? I mean you just run XBMC on it. You can't watch Blu Ray or Live Tv. I already have XBMC on an old XBOX and since I don't bother with HD I can't see what the fuss is about! I'd love to be enlightened though? I must be missing something

zuroph

Deleted User wrote: »

Can you guys detail what's got you so excited about it? I mean you just run XBMC on it. You can't watch Blu Ray or Live Tv. I already have XBMC on an old XBOX and since I don't bother with HD I can't see what the fuss is about! I'd love to be enlightened though? I must be missing something

theres your problem. bluray scmhu ray, downloading HD is the way.

machalla

zuroph wrote: »

Im hoping this offer will come up again next month, as I plain can t afford it this soon after xmas

The only problem there is that the vat in the Uk rises from 17.5% to 20% as of Jan 4th so if it does it may be that little bit more expensive.

CourierCollie

machalla wrote: »

The only problem there is that the vat in the Uk rises from 17.5% to 20% as of Jan 4th so if it does it may be that little bit more expensive.

Do they not charge the Irish vat rate when you're getting it sent here? If not, I'd assume you're going to get charged on delivery

Also, tried setting up a google checkout account for this. Keeps asking for a postal code, though I can't see a box to put it in. (I'm probably doing something retarded, or losing my eyesight:eek:)

Kotek Besar

CourierCollie wrote: »

Do they not charge the Irish vat rate when you're getting it sent here?

It's UK VAT with Ebuyer. AFAIK they don't sell enough to ROI to cause them to have to pay Irish VAT.

CourierCollie wrote: »

If not, I'd assume you're going to get charged on delivery

Na, VAT is only payable to one EU country. You're thinking of when you import from outside the EU.

vibe666

Deleted User wrote: »

Can you guys detail what's got you so excited about it? I mean you just run XBMC on it. You can't watch Blu Ray or Live Tv. I already have XBMC on an old XBOX and since I don't bother with HD I can't see what the fuss is about! I'd love to be enlightened though? I must be missing something

I have win7 running on mine and use it for pretty much anything you'd use a regular PC for, just on a 40" LCD TV.

i do run XBMC, but I also run Boxee, Hulu, youtubeHD, the RTE player, BBC iPlayer, ITV player, 4OD and more and all in glorious HD where available. there's even HD pr0n out there too apparently, or so I've heard.

as zuroph says, blu-ray is old school, digital downloads and HD streaming are where it's at.

there's even a bit of room for some gaming too thanks to the iON gfx if you don't push the detail levels too much.

I had an old xbox running XBMC for years and even invested in the component cables to get upscaled 1080i video out of it, but i wouldn't dream of going back now, XBMC is only a small part of what I do with my TV now thanks to the little Revo sitting under it and I'd hate to have to go back to a grotty old xbox.

next up is an extra 1gb of RAM to 3gb total (they won't take 4gb thanks to some sort of hardware limitation ) and a nice 60gb SSD that i'll be whipping out of my main PC once I've replaced that with a faster one, then it should fly.

Kotek Besar

vibe666 wrote: »

BBC iPlayer

How?

ThunbergsAreGo

Interested in this.

Was thinking of a new laptop, but would i be better with this and a netbook?

Are the main uses for this streaming tv off the internet? Could the same not be accompliushed with a laptop and a cable connecting to tv?

Or am i missing something?

vibe666

Kotek Besar wrote: »

How?

there's a bunch of ways if you google it.

epatshield is one which is free, altho ad supported it is free and works well for the SD broadcasts. you could also use tor & mgeni. browsing is pretty slow but streaming works okay and usually works for any region specific content anywhere globally if you choose to browse from that country, altho its really meant for people in china etc. to get around the great firewall of china rather than for people like you and me to catch up on episodes of top gear.

there's a bunch of them tho and google as ever is a great resource for finding and trying new things.

The_Conductor

Deleted User wrote: »

Can you guys detail what's got you so excited about it? I mean you just run XBMC on it. You can't watch Blu Ray or Live Tv. I already have XBMC on an old XBOX and since I don't bother with HD I can't see what the fuss is about! I'd love to be enlightened though? I must be missing something

I watch bluray on it- using Nero 10HD for decoding, no issues whatsoever. I also use a DVB-T stick in it, no issues encountered (other than a crap reception).

There is a free mini-pci-e card slot on the motherboard of mine, which I'm debating how to utilise......

ThunbergsAreGo

smccarrick wrote: »

I watch bluray on it- using Nero 10HD for decoding, no issues whatsoever. I also use a DVB-T stick in it, no issues encountered (other than a crap reception).

There is a free mini-pci-e card slot on the motherboard of mine, which I'm debating how to utilise......

But whats the advantage over say a laptop?

The_Conductor

naughtb4 wrote: »

But whats the advantage over say a laptop?

Its like asking whats the difference between an apple and a banana. They are both fruit, and satisfy the same basic need- but are totally different.

This is a micro-desktop PC that you need to plug an external monitor into, alongside a keyboard and a mouse. It is incredibly compact and highly portable, but is not designed to be used away from a monitor and a power supply. Its major selling point is how small it is- thats it, fullstop. Its a micro desktop.

Kotek Besar

smccarrick wrote: »

Its like asking whats the difference between an apple and a banana. They are both fruit, and satisfy the same basic need- but are totally different.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_apples_and_bananas

vibe666

Kotek Besar wrote: »

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_apples_and_bananas

you've got to love our american cousins. :pac:

Badgermonkey

Kotek Besar wrote: »

How?

https://www.blackvpn.com/

Very easy set-up Kotek, discounted too if you use a code.

My code is BJGJEGU

slowlydownwards

Is it worthed stretching up to 199 to get 3700... ion2 + atom d525 @ 1.8ghz? Am not interested in bundled win7.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/236579

Quaderno

No, I wouldn't buy the 3700 instead of the 3610. The ATOM D525 chip alone is fairly new and would probably be around 15% faster than the ATOM 330. The Intel NM10 chipset however is completely different from Nvidia's "original" ION. The cpu is no longer sitting directly on the ION board, which is now rather an attachment to the Intel chipset. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes the whole setup a lot more complicated (technically as well as legally, Nvidia and Intel are infact competitors...) and so I do not expect any real perfomance benefit over the older ATOM 330 / ION package. Some early benchmarks even showed ION 2 to be slightly slower than ION.
The main problem of the older ATOM non-ION boards was rather the chipset than the processor and that was solved big time by the ION chipset. It's much harder to find any significant improvements now.

Given that the harddrive is smaller and you don't get a Win7 licence (even if you don't need it now) I wouldn't spend those £20 more, although the price itself is not bad.

The ATOM 330 together with the "old" ION chipset in the Revo 3610 might even have some overclocking capabilities which the Intel board would most likely lack: http://www.revouser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=283
So you could end up with an older, cheaper and faster system

eamon234

Deleted User wrote: »

Can you guys detail what's got you so excited about it? I mean you just run XBMC on it. You can't watch Blu Ray or Live Tv. I already have XBMC on an old XBOX and since I don't bother with HD I can't see what the fuss is about! I'd love to be enlightened though? I must be missing something

Yes, about four years apparently!:D