Anyone using an Acer Revo currently?

[Thrush]

Hummmm, we will have to disagree then.

Do you want a machine that works with windows installed or do you want to mess around and tweek?

I'd rather save on the tweeking time and get right down to watching vids!

[maltloaf]

That's exactly what I've said a few times. Some people enjoy the fiddling, tweaking, learning. Some just want the end product. Horses for courses.

People are lucky in this particular situation as they can install xbmclive on a SD card leaving their HD alone. If it doesn't work nowt lost which is why I've said all along try both and see what's right for you. Not dismiss it purely because it's not what we're used to

[Thrush]

Well I think it is my right to dismiss a piece of software which doesn't do what I want it too.

We could harp on about "we if you like tinkering... etc etc" then it will be fine, but this isn't the case, I want something that works. Windows does this with minimal fuss, linux does not.

[maltloaf]

Dismiss it for YOU? yes you have every right to do that.

Dismiss it for everyone else? No you shouldn't do that.

Taking the same argument on a notch, there are people that wouldn't want all the tinkering etc you have done on windows (installing codecs, players etc.) and would rather buy a premade box that they just point a remote at (popcorn hour etc.)

none of it is right or wrong, it's different for different people and their individual requirements. I can play the same video as you with less CPU load and leas memory useage. Fact

[Thrush]

face-palm.

Ok,

If like me you have a dual core 2gb revo with a tv that does not support 1:1 pixel mapping, let me suggest you install windows 7 32bit or 64bit with the latest nvidia ion drives and windows media player classic. You will get perfect hd play back you machine will run perfectly without the need to tweak, wireless will work, sound via hdmi will work, your graphics card drivers will not tell the cooling fan to turn itself off and thus cook your revo. Windows remotes will work out of the box, ummmm there is no need to mess with config files or worry about having to install programs via a special repotary(sp) you can just download the exe and it will run, no sweat.

I'd also like to suggest windows 7 if your tv does support 1:1 pixel mapping.

If however, you fancy a challenge, then please go ahead and give ubunto a try, like I did... don't worry if you have problems at first, the ubunto forums are quite useful if not a bit messy, oh and trying to setup xbmc live is a bloody nightmare and you don't get wireless support.

Good day.

[maltloaf]

My wireless works btw. :-)

I think my real point is that on my dual core machine, my CPU sits at about 2% playing 1080p and yours will be at 30ish. No big deal but when you start adding extra services such as webserver, nzb downloader, bit torrent, etc etc etc. Then a windows user will run out of resources first. Fact

as I've said, if it's not right for you use something else



malty

[tombott]

AS I have said before I really don't get how people find this so hard.
First off Linux isn't designed with Windows users in mind, and frankly why should it be. It's its own OS, it's not trying to be Windows.
Now this is fact, it took me 20 mins to setup my revo with Ubuntu, Boxee and XBMC.
Its not rocket science! Download ubuntu, burn to CD or make bootable USB drive.
Install ubuntu.
Install updates.
Enable Nvidia driver, which takes about two clicks of the mouse and Ubuntu prompts you that its available to install.
Download Boxee deb file. Double click and install.
Add XBMC repo's then install through Synaptic or sudo apt-get
How anybody thinks thats hard is beyond me.
If you going for the XBMC based distro, then yes things are going to be more tricky as you are using a cut down version of Xubuntu thats not supported by Canonical.
And as Maltloaf has said, you can install Windows 7 and get XBMC working or use Windows Media player, but you start running Sabnzbd, dropbox, ampache, torrents etc and watch your machine grind to a halt.
The beauty of it all though is its a freedom of choice, so choice which OS you want.
What fucks me off though is people moaning to fuck about linux when it doesn't work for them!
There are hundreds of thousands of people out there who dedicate their free time to helping develop, bug fix, write guides etc and then you get Windows users moaning when Linux doesn't work the way they want it to.

[DejaVu]

I think I'll try Linux until I get frustrated and throw my remote at the TV. Then I'll probably end up back at Windows 7. Nothing against Linux, I'm just lazy and cant be bothered to learn a new OS - As are most Windows users!

With Linux, it's the downloading the correct version of an application for the correct Disto that does my head in.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/182588 @ £189
comapred to SimplyAcer's (same spec with Windows 7)
http://www.simplyacer.com/Acer_Revo_R3610_655101.html @ £240

This one says it has 2GB, but is expandable to 4GB, that says to me it has 1x 2GB SoDimm installed and has 2 slots. So I will just need to get 1 more to upgrade it to 4GB as opposed to ditching 2x 1GB SoDimms and buying a full set again. It even says the system is 'Expandable to 4GB'. I think that's the one for me if that's the case!?

As soon as my motor sells on eBay I'll be all over this!

[pheonixsingh]

My wireless works btw. :-)



malty

how did you get wireless working mate? got a pc in the bedroom with only wifi, would be great to have media streaming to it on xbmclive

Also it comes down to aesthetics guys when xbmc is fully up and running it works great, When I first installed xbmc I messed around for about a week tweaking it to exactly how I like, Its been about 2 months since ive had it now and its rock solid and super fast, simply turn on from remote, navigate, watch video, press off button to turn off and all with a sexy gui - its never crashed on me and Ive never had to fiddle with any settings since

With windows it takes a bit longer to boot up, would experience the odd crash once in a while, also wmc7 doesnt have all the fancy features of skins, scarping info for media etc. And if your using MPC then its fine if you dont care about the GUI, movie info etc and just wanna watch but I like to have all that extra info (especially comes in handy when looking at info for specific tv episodes) also not all remote functions work under MPC hence a keyboard and mouse will have to be used (my main xbmc machine has no keyboard or mouse installed - its just not needed after the tweaking is done, absolutely everything can be done from my remote )

As an alternative to xbmc you guys could try Mediaportal, its windows based and lets you use whatever codec you like for different file formats so you can easily get gpu acceleration for x264 media. Also it can run a tv server if you have lots of tuner cards to serve tv streams to various pc's around the home.

[maltloaf]

Will try and find the tut I followed but xbmc forum has been down for a couple of days

[tombott]

Will try and find the tut I followed but xbmc forum has been down for a couple of days

from what I hear a lightening strike has taken out their data centre.

[maltloaf]

I think I'll try Linux until I get frustrated and throw my remote at the TV. Then I'll probably end up back at Windows 7. Nothing against Linux, I'm just lazy and cant be bothered to learn a new OS - As are most Windows users!

With Linux, it's the downloading the correct version of an application for the correct Disto that does my head in.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/182588 @ £189
comapred to SimplyAcer's (same spec with Windows 7)
http://www.simplyacer.com/Acer_Revo_R3610_655101.html @ £240

This one says it has 2GB, but is expandable to 4GB, that says to me it has 1x 2GB SoDimm installed and has 2 slots. So I will just need to get 1 more to upgrade it to 4GB as opposed to ditching 2x 1GB SoDimms and buying a full set again. It even says the system is 'Expandable to 4GB'. I think that's the one for me if that's the case!?

As soon as my motor sells on eBay I'll be all over this!

I would have thought they're both 2 x 1GB tbh. 2GB is fine for xbmclive or xbmc under linux. I'm sure one of the windows people will tell you about the requirement for win/xbmc. I suppose if you max it out before you start it's a job that won't need to be done in the future.

I don't know if this was just rubbish but I did hear that they can only use 3GB of ram anyway, even if 4GB is installed. Again, hopefully someone will confirm/deny

from what I hear a lightening strike has taken out their data centre.

Yea I saw something on a redirect too. Hope they've not lost any data, that forum is very good.

[evilsatan]

The 2GB model is 2x1GB.

According to XBMC.org a lightening strike did take down their servers like tom said.

You can have DXVA in XBMC on windows (see the guide I posted in here). It's all down to preference, Linux was doing my head in so I ran XBMC in windows, then went back to attempt Linux. The second time round thanks to Malty and a few others in here it was a breeze. I mainly use my W7 one because I can close it and have a full OS to play games/use internet. But were it not for the PC element I would use Linux as it's faster and you can tweak to your hearts content.

My 4GB says on the Computer properties 4GB installed, 3GB in use. I assume the other 1GB is being used for something though... Otherwise they saw me coming!

[liveseytowers]

If your OS is x32 then it can only use 3 gig of RAM due to some calculation restriction with the amount of bytes, bits or whatever. Too many zeros or something along those lines. X64 can use the full 4 gig of RAM because it can calculate more zeros.

It may all be bollox though...

As for Windows vs Linux it depends on a few things. A straight forward install like tombott did is always going to be pretty straight forward but dual booting and Reading ntfs partitions, connecting to a NAS and using a PS3 remote on a PC is never going to be straight forward but if you are happy using Windows media player rather than xbmc then you'll probably not want to tweak anyway.

I've got a R3600 and it just can't cut it as a media PC with Windows so I had no choice about using xbmc.

[evilsatan]

If your OS is x32 then it can only use 3 gig of RAM due to some calculation restriction with the amount of bytes, bits or whatever. Too many zeros or something along those lines. X64 can use the full 4 gig of RAM because it can calculate more zeros.

I'm aware of that mate but mine is W7 x64 , I think all the Revos use 64 bit windows. Very strange but as it wasn't a fault I've not let it bother me. Although I would be annoyed if they are selling a 4GB version and 1GB can never be used! Any idea how to tell if Linux is using the full 4GB?

Cheers

[maltloaf]

have been fiddling (no one tell Thrush !) with the wireless config this evening and I can disable and enable the wired and wireless at will, so it's definately working. If I pull the ethernet cable I can still stream from all my shares and its connecting to my wep secured wlan

I've cheated a little as I'm using a gui network/wireless manager on my gnome install, but it can all be done from the command line (and survives a reboot straight into xbmc standalone) I just couldnt get the syntax quite right, I just wanted to prove it was working and not by accident lol !

[maltloaf]

found this too.. an explanation of the info on the 'o' key when playing video...

D[emux info (audio)](Audio: [codec], [samplerate], [channel count], [sample size]) P[layer info(audio)](aq:[decoded audio frame queue usage], kB/s: [decoded audio bitrate])
D[emux info (audio)](Video: [codec], [pixel format], [resolution]) P[layer info (video)](vq:[decoded video frame queue usage], dc:[codec in use], MB/s:[decoded video bitrate]. drop:[dropped frame count], pc:[pattern correction (3:2 pull, etc)])
C[general info (dunno WTF "C" stands for, probably an elupusism)]( AS: [audio sync delay], A/V:[sync error], edl:[edit decision list info], dcpu: [demux cpu usage] acpu: [audio decode cpu usage] vcpu: [video decode cpu usage])
W[indow]( fps:[render framerate] CPU0: [first scheduling unit usage] CPU1: [...])

[TheFincher]

Ordering one of these either today or tomorrow........ Instead of me reading through all of these posts can someone post the link to the XBMC download that i need to install it straight on to the HDD, I prefferably want the one that can be updated withough fucking about moving data afterwards.

Im going to leave a small partition for Windows 7 so that i can run iplayer, youtube and have a browser on the PC for the Mrs so she stops robbing my laptop all the time!

Ta

[maltloaf]

http://www.digital-forums.com/showpo...&postcount=161

install w7 first. Then xbmc. Xbmc/grub will handle the dual booting

you'll have to wait for xbmc.org to get their shit together before the links will work.

Basic instructions are...

Install minimal ubuntu (or full if it takes your fancy)

get and then execute the xci script

reboot and use

[MsDG]

I've been using my R3600 (2 Gig) to play all kinds of stuff with no problems. However last night I tried "The Pacific" (720p mkv) and was suffering terrible sound sync issues... any idea's chaps?