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On 08/10/2010 10:24, Michael Holland wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:AANLkTi=kwjQL=xFK70hE9Xt7QZJy5BQap1imn=8NFOcM@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">On Fri, Oct 8, 2010 at 10:05 AM, Tim <span dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:weirdit@gmail.com">weirdit@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt
0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);
padding-left: 1ex;">
I'm trying to locate places in Australia that sell Nettops for
turning<br>
into a media centre at a decent price.<br>
In particular, nettops like the Acer Revo. I plan on setting
up a<br>
small computer for my inlaws to use as a media centre, running
XBMC.<br>
Ideally, it would have traditional TV out (Analog) as well as<br>
HDMI(DVI) out. And of course, it'll need a decent GPU and CPU
for<br>
running a media centre. </blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:AANLkTi=kwjQL=xFK70hE9Xt7QZJy5BQap1imn=8NFOcM@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div>Staticice show no local ones, but a few in NSW. With the
A$ high, I'd be tempted to use Amazon.<br>
<br>
Have you considered using a netbook hidden behind the TV? <br>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
I have had a Revo for about 2 years - since the original Atom 230,
single core, hyperthread ones came out. Its a lovely little box;
didn't come with the promised 8 or 16 GB SSD but a 160 GB HDD, so I
splashed out on a 1.5 T USB disk a while back, and am now
contemplating an extra 2TB of eSATA for a bit more space I/O speed.
Its using the NVidia ION chipset, and with processing of video
offloaded to this chip-set, it works a treat. Indeed, this mini
system is my primary development system these days; yes, it is
running MythTV with HDMI to my telly, but it is also:<br>
<br>
* Backing up my laptop with BackupPC<br>
* Serving file&print content with Samba<br>
* Serving media with DLNA (Mediatomb)<br>
* Serving Songs to iTunes, etc, with Firefly/MT-DAAP<br>
* My IPv6 router and tunnel end point<br>
* DNS server for my home network (as most DSL routers do not return
IPv6 addresses)<br>
* For a while, it was also my home print server with Cups<br>
* For a short time, an Urban Terror game server... :)<br>
<br>
And all this without any issues. And for those who know me, you'll
understand its running Debian. But, for the video performance, it is
running the NVidia closed drivers. I don't have a blu-ray on it, and
am not sure about the throughput there - perhaps a blu-ray would
have to be on the one and only eSATA port?<br>
<br>
VGA instead of HDMI - then youhave to play with additional cabling
for audio. Bah humbug! :) One cable to rule them all. HDMI can
handle surround, but getting the mappings correct from ALSA to
whatever AV receiver you have can take some play with - it seems
that while channels 1 & 2 for left and right stereo is pretty
standard, the rest of the 3-8 channels (for 7.1) is NOT standard, so
Sony may have the sub on channel 3, or the centre on 3 and the sub
on 4 or 5, etc....<br>
<br>
<br>
But anyway, the bigger news is the new Revo 3700 (SKU AR3700-U3002
with Win7 Home Premium) that came out last week, sporting the new
dual-core Atom D520 proc, and ION-2 chip-set, gig Ethernet (whereas
the older ones were 100 MB), and 802.11n:<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/08/acer-introduces-atom-d525-equipped-aspire-revo-3700-your-den-sw/">http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/08/acer-introduces-atom-d525-equipped-aspire-revo-3700-your-den-sw/</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/654732.html">http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/654732.html</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.techhail.com/gadgets/acer-aspirerevo-ar3700-nettop/8247">http://www.techhail.com/gadgets/acer-aspirerevo-ar3700-nettop/8247</a><br>
<br>
Like the older ones, it too can be VESA mounted behind your TV.<br>
<br>
The worse thing for this product is the clear lack of interest from
Acer to retail this device effectively. Their web site is almost
completely devoid of any product information. But its a dream to
use. I've blogged about it several times. It seems that, while the
original Atom 230 model had a Linux option (ie, no Win tax), this
seems to not be the case (yet??) that I have seen with this new
model. I'd love to have a bare-bones version, that doesn't even
ship with OS, a keyboard or mouse; just the box and power supply.<br>
<br>
One other tip for using HDMI: many (most?) TVs do "overscan", which
hopefully in a menu buried deep within your TV you can turn off.
Overscan discards the edge "n" pixels (5 - 15) and stretches the
resultant image back to FS.<br>
<br>
I'd agree about buying overseas. In the US the price for the new
unit is around $300 - $400, I saw a price here in Aus for $600.<br>
<br>
Happy to discuss this unit with anyone. See you all Tuesday evening
@ Futuresphere.<br>
<br>
JEB<br>
PS: Yes, back from London after 8 years. No, not taking on another
LCA at the moment! :)<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
<strong>James Bromberger</strong><br>
Aus Mobile: +61 422 166 708<br>
Email: james <i>_AT_</i> rcpt.to, Web: <a
href="http://www.james.rcpt.to/">www.james.rcpt.to</a><br>
MSN: james<i>_AT_</i>rcpt.to, AIM: JamesEBromberger, Skype:
james.bromberger
<small>(<i>_AT_</i> -> @)</small></div>
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