[mythtvnz] Acer Revo RL100

[Kerry Baker]

Hi all,
I recently upgraded my Mythtv system with this nice piece of kit.  I
thought I would share my experience with you all.

My original Mythtv box was a Via EPIA SP13000 based system.  It was a bit
of a nightmare to set up but has provided great service since then. 
Unfortunately its getting a bit old and tired and it can't do high def.
After reviewing many options I decided to take a punt on an Acer Revo
RL100.  Here is the product page:
http://www.acer.co.nz/ac/en/NZ/content/model/PT.SES02.025

Features to note:  AMD K325 CPU (dual-core similar to Intel Atom D525 in
performance), 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, NVIDIA ION2 chipset, Blu-Ray drive,
HDMI, 802.11N wireless, DVB-T tuner card, a cool wireless
keyboard/trackpad and a case that doesn't look out of place next to my TV.

Because Linux Blu-Ray support isn't great I decided to keep the Windows
system (for playing BD discs) and dual-boot with MythBuntu 11.04 (for
everything else).

Installing MythBuntu was a breeze.  Just about everything worked straight
away.  I had a little issue with HDMI audio but solved it by following the
instructions here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1620926

TV:  I didn't realise when before I bought the system that the NZ version
contained a DVB-T tuner (AverMedia A330).  It was a nice surprise that
tuned to disappointment when I realised there is no Linux support. 
However I had bought a HDHomeRun because I'm sick of driver issues with
tuners and its been great.  Works like a charm.

Blu-Ray:  A I mentioned before Linux support isn't great.  The Windows
side however includes a Blu-Ray player in the form of Acer's Clear.fi
software.  I hired a couple of BD movies to test it out.  The first worked
fine.  The second caused me a world of pain!
The picture was there but I just couldn't get any sound out of it.  After
considerable research learning about DRM and HDCP I realised the problem
was the disc used DTS-HD audio.  This is a high def digital audio format. 
It requires a trusted (content protected) link all the way from the disc
to the speakers.  If this is not possible the audio is supposed to be
decoded to a lower resolution.
Unfortunately for me my home theatre amp is a few years old and doesn't
support DTS.  Clear.fi should then decode the audio but it doesn't because
its a free piece of crap.  My options are to buy commercial Blu-Ray
software (about US$99), not rent or buy DTS discs, buy a new amp (I've
already spent enough!) or (illegally) rip the disc and convert the audio
myself.  Grrr....

Wireless keyboard/trackpad:  This is a really unique and neat feature.  I
won't go into the details of it as its well described in reviews.  It
works just fine in Linux and makes a decent enough remote control.  I
wouldn't like to type large documents with it but then that's not what its
for.  I also use Mythmote on my phone as a remote.

Performance:  I like to keep my Myth system all on one machine so I am
using the Revo as a combined frontend-backend.  I cannot complain about
performance.  High def content up to 1080p is played flawlessly and looks
awesome on my 55" TV.  I don't need to do any transcoding.  The hard drive
isn't big by today's standards.  I save TV recordings to it but other
content I access via a NFS share on another machine.

Conclusion:  I took a bit of a gamble buying this machine and it has paid
off.  I'm totally stoked with it.  The cons are minor: I hope Linux
Blu-Ray support improves and it would be nice if I could get the internal
tuner working.
I highly recommend it.  If anyone has any questions feel free to ask!


Kerry.