I’ve been running an Acer Revo since it was launched; it sits on the back of a very hot running an LG LCD display streaming media all day long using it’s built in wireless, 24/7*365, and although occasionally it gets warm, it has never had issues.

I skipped the option of a keyboard and mouse and actually use an RDP client to control it via the iPhone (lol!)
If I need any more intensive use out of it I can RDP from any other machine on my network.

Overall very, very impressed – short of having an SSD drive, I’m sure the first failure is likely to be the 2.5″ Hard Disk or internal fan – but hey ho, cheap bits to replace considering what I need out of it… In fact I’m pretty sure the telly will go first ~

Odd that I really like this as I normally run a mile from anything Acer related…

Just my two cents.

HTH

Not really the number one reason you would connect it to your TV. The main reason, and the primary function of this little unit is to act as a media player. HDMI & SPDIF ports, and the nvidia ION chipset which allows the GPU to handle the processing of video playback instead of the cpu.

This box will play 1080p content smoothly and without issue if the right player is used.

As you already know there is a problem with this Acer Revo, it does not support 4GB of RAM. I recommend you to go on the website below and provide your testimonials:
http://www.revouser.com/forum/viewto…9&p=2555#p2555

As soon as we have enought testimonials, we will contact Acer and ask an official statement or solution.

Regards,
Didier

Steve

Can I ask which of the ION network/chipset drivers on the NVidia site you downloaded? Their list of operating systems is limited and I’m not sure which option would be most suitable to WHS.

Many thanks.

To me, something that isn’t running 24/7 in the home really spoils the point of an “always on, forget about it” device but anyhow..

As I am in the USA, ours is limited to a 160 gb hard drive and 2 gb of ram. Mine is completely silent even under full video rendering or high CPU usage. Literally, in a completely silent house, I cannot hear it at all. Temp of 60C =140 F is not really that high. But this sort of info does not surprise me either.

This sort of thing I’ve been seeing more and more between the units built for different worldly regions. Have not found a correlation outside of that either. Very odd the differences I’ve had users report to me over the past few months.

I see what you are saying with your observation and understand your obligation to your readers. I do the same with readers on my blog with the Revo as an HTPC and Boxee.

Not to obsess on this, but rather one last comment to ease the concern and add another point of view. As a long time user of the Revo’s, dismantling them and testing under loads; I personally don’t see any real issue with heat on these units over a 24/7 period. I feel the paradigm of a big case and fan does not carry over to these Atom/Ion units because of case size alone. Here’s why…..

As Rob mentioned above, there are vents at the top and bottom with a fan. There is a cross flow air pattern from bottom to top. The fan also has a variable speed sensor on it. I’ve used these under heavy loads for HTPC usage and seen normal CPU temps over an 20hr testing period and have not seen a danger in temps. Even at a 90% CPU hit ((with video not offloading to the GPU)), the unit never came close to it’s maximum temp. And the air coming from the top was barely warm. Now, I did not document the actual temps during testing as they were not even close to the unit’s max.

Under WHS, Demigrator.exe will most likely hit the CPU the hardest. As a comparison, my old 1.33 ghz AMD 233mhz WHS, the CPU never hits over 75% and runs about 140 deg F. And that’s only every few hours when demigrator.exe runs for 15 minutes. With the Revo being a duo core Atom, I suspect it would be comparable. I’ll leave it there.

Great review (especially the ” change the SATA interface mode from AHCI to Native IDE in the BIOS” and the USB link!) and thanks for chatting about this a bit more. Hope this helps out overall.

This is not the case – there are vents on the top and bottom such that hot air can escape from the top, there is also fans inside which pull the air in from the bottom so I would say its far from not air movements.

I don’t see any problems regarding the venting. I see what your saying about trying to do a fair review but equally just because you ‘see’ big fans on other cases does not mean they are going to work very well or enough for the scenario.

The R3610 is a great PC, but I feel a little uncomfortable suggesting that it is left on 24/7 as a Windows Home Server, as it is buttoned up pretty tight without any volume of air moving around inside.

I have a responsibility to people reading this review, and they could follow the suggestion that this could make a cheap WHS box (and the prices of the R3610 are pretty cheap at the moment). I only test these devices for a few weeks, so dont get to see any long-term issues that might arise with the server.

The R3610 might run happily as a WHS server 24/7 without any issues, but then again it might not; all I can do is express my opinion based on experience of building and using PC’s, and in this case I wouldn’t feel happy personally using the R3610 as my own server 24/7.

I would use it as a boot-when-needed server though, no problems, which is the conclusion I suggest.

I hope that casts some light over my suggestion. Not dissing the Revo at all, in fact I am looking to buy one as a home PC as I was so impressed with it.

Why do you feel there is an airflow issue with the Revo? Why do you think a Revo should not be left on 24/7? How does running WHS vs. say Boxee and using it all day as a HTPC with the CPU pegged? Is there a temperature issue you’ve seen or something?

I’m just curious as they are meant to be left on 24/7 like any other PC.

I know that’s a lot of questions , but I own both WHS OEM and Revos. Just want to understand what’s behind your suggestion that may help me down the road.

But as an occasional server, boot when you want to serve media or run backups, I think this will be a very strong contender; it is small, runs quiet with low power consumption and plenty of ports to expand.

Steve

Andrew

I’ve had a few regulars at my blog state that they have installed WHS on the Revo 1600 and worked well, though I’m with you on using a 3610.

Most of my blog reviews on the Revo 3610 have been for HTPC use and Boxee. But I too have been looking into using a 3610 as a replacement for my home built OEM WHS. Though all those usb drives and wall warts I’d have just concern me. Too cluttered and power hungry.

May be best to built a WHS box with a Atom/Ion Zotac Mobo in a traditional case to hold all the drives. Something to consider some day down the line.

Tell Phil “the judge” says hi.

Paul