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Bargain Media Centre

Tricky_Dicky

By Tricky_Dicky
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CHR1S

CHR1S

Posted
Posted
I've just got one of these Sumvision Cyclone Micro Media Player Divx & ISO HDMI USB/SD Media player HDMI 1080p Upscaling - Ebuyer

 

Ok it doesnt play HD but it plays everything else i throw at it. Have a old 200GB portable hard drive plugged into it with all my movies / tv shows on there!

 

and for less than £30 it aint bad (although i only paid £23 about 3 weeks ago)

 

Real HD from the tinternets is the future... I use XBMC on a DC Atom Ion... wait a minute deja vou thick we aready have a thread on this!

Tricky_Dicky

Tricky_Dicky

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Just put a USB tuner in the side of it, it's what I'm going to do. Think a single tuner version is about £20 which is enough for a bedroom but if you wanted more the R3600 has 6 usb ports
burgemaster

burgemaster

Posted
Posted

Ive been using the revo with XBMC as a full hd media centre since the day it came out.

 

Its perfect for HTPC !!! handles 1080p MKV with the cpu running at around 3% !!!!

 

Mine is also the old single core 3600 not the dual core atom.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYGPcwzq_QI]YouTube- XBMC with Aeon Stark running on Acer Aspire Revo[/ame]

ful56_uk

ful56_uk

Posted
Posted
I've just got one of these Sumvision Cyclone Micro Media Player Divx & ISO HDMI USB/SD Media player HDMI 1080p Upscaling - Ebuyer

 

Ok it doesnt play HD but it plays everything else i throw at it. Have a old 200GB portable hard drive plugged into it with all my movies / tv shows on there!

 

and for less than £30 it aint bad (although i only paid £23 about 3 weeks ago)

 

what file formats you playing on that could get mine to pick up so i sent it it maybe a dodgy one

Chunky

Chunky

Posted
Posted

I bought my Revo 3600 (same as OP posted) back around 2 months ago, when they dropped from £169 to £144.

 

At £129 delivered - if you've light internet useage, or for a little media centre / PC to attach to the back of your living room TV, then it's a real no-brainer bargain.

 

I'm considering going for a 3610 with Windows 7 on it, 500gb hard drive and 4 gig of ram option for my main PC. (its got the atom 330 chip, which is dual core hyperthreaded, and shows up as 4 proessors, which is nice)

Acer Aspire Revo R3610 Desktop PC - Desktops at Ebuyer

It's gone up in price though - it was £259 a few days ago - now apparently "down to £299".

 

Chunks

CHR1S

CHR1S

Posted
Posted
what file formats you playing on that could get mine to pick up so i sent it it maybe a dodgy one

 

•Video format support: MPEG1/2/4(MPG, VOB, AVI), DivX(avi), XviD(avi), resolution up to 720 x 480 30fps / 720 x 576 25fps

 

 

•Upscale playback of standard media files to 1080p resolution.

 

Seems it cant support HD content, only upscale SD to a dodgey form of HD!

Hawkeyez

Hawkeyez

Posted
Posted
If anyone already has a main media centre or WHS and is looking for a simple client then this Acer Aspire Revo Desktop PC - Desktops at Ebuyer is a bargain.

 

Comes with Linux on it but you can put anything on it and it happily runs Media Centre and will stream hi def. Have just put one in the bedroom and the other half loves the fact she can now watch Desperate Housewives in bed.

 

Rich

 

I have one of these, they are very nice. I however, having used a USB drive for a while, setup a FreeNas box out the way to store all my Films and TV Series.

 

At that price, thought, tempted to get another for a 2nd room... (just in case!)

 

Gary

Tricky_Dicky

Tricky_Dicky

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I bought my Revo 3600 (same as OP posted) back around 2 months ago, when they dropped from £169 to £144.

 

At £129 delivered - if you've light internet useage, or for a little media centre / PC to attach to the back of your living room TV, then it's a real no-brainer bargain.

 

I'm considering going for a 3610 with Windows 7 on it, 500gb hard drive and 4 gig of ram option for my main PC. (its got the atom 330 chip, which is dual core hyperthreaded, and shows up as 4 proessors, which is nice)

Acer Aspire Revo R3610 Desktop PC - Desktops at Ebuyer

It's gone up in price though - it was £259 a few days ago - now apparently "down to £299".

 

Chunks

 

I looked at that one but thought for a little 20" bedroom TV it just wasn't worth it. I might upgrade the RAM in mine to 2 or 4Gb though to help it along a bit.

 

Any idea what RAM it takes?

 

I have one of these, they are very nice. I however, having used a USB drive for a while, setup a FreeNas box out the way to store all my Films and TV Series.

 

At that price, thought, tempted to get another for a 2nd room... (just in case!)

 

Gary

The FreeNAS is an awesome piece of software but I really like WHS, the extra plugins are lovely and the easy remote access is awesome.

 

Rich

Guest Guest

Guest Guest

Posted
Posted
Ive been using the revo with XBMC as a full hd media centre since the day it came out.

 

Its perfect for HTPC !!! handles 1080p MKV with the cpu running at around 3% !!!!

 

Mine is also the old single core 3600 not the dual core atom.

 

 

Is it fast enough then? Im really fussy about speed; if a computer cant keep up with me it usually gets thrown in the bin!

 

Whats the single core like as a media center? Or do i go for the 3610 dual core?

Tricky_Dicky

Tricky_Dicky

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It's reasonably quick, obviously not as fast as a full desktop but then it uses a fraction of the power.

If budget allows then the dual core and more RAM will be quicker so go for it.

Guest Guest

Guest Guest

Posted
Posted

Fair enough. Anything answer other than a "the single core has ran XBMC perfectly" and i was gunna look at the dual. Like i say, patience isnt one of my strong points.

 

Cheers

Guest Guest

Guest Guest

Posted
Posted (edited)
Blimey, that is cheap.

 

Didn't spot that one :(

 

What controller are people using for their media centres? Keyboard/Mice/Remote Control?

 

Rich

 

The Cyberlink Remote which was £5 on ebuyer. Not there anymore, but will be around somewhere. It isnt a proper MCE remote so in windows you need Eventghost to turn its buttons into events.... From what i remember it was alot easier for *nix users to change the output into something meaningful

 

 

cyberlink media remote - Google Product Search

Edited by Guest
SheldonCooper

SheldonCooper

Posted
Posted

So this outputs to HDMI and it's possible to connect via an adapter to a 3 x RCA (white, red, yellow) or SCART input to an older TV and achieve full video and sound? Is that correct?

 

What would I then need to be able to achieve remote control selection and playback of media files?

 

Sorry for the questions with, probably, obvious answers but I've never looked into setting up a media centre.

Tricky_Dicky

Tricky_Dicky

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I've not managed to find a VGA or HDMI to Component convertor, if you do then please let me know.

 

To play back the files in the simplest form you would just need them on the PC in the relevant folders (photos in photos, music in music etc) then when you start Media Centre (built into Windows Vista/7 Home Premium) then it will find them and allow you to play them.

 

You can then start to look at bigger and better systems, so attaching TV tuners to the Media Centre, using a Windows Home Server and so on and so forth.

 

Some great plugins for WMC is Mymovies and Media Browser.

 

Have fun

SheldonCooper

SheldonCooper

Posted
Posted
I've not managed to find a VGA or HDMI to Component convertor, if you do then please let me know.

 

To play back the files in the simplest form you would just need them on the PC in the relevant folders (photos in photos, music in music etc) then when you start Media Centre (built into Windows Vista/7 Home Premium) then it will find them and allow you to play them.

 

You can then start to look at bigger and better systems, so attaching TV tuners to the Media Centre, using a Windows Home Server and so on and so forth.

 

Some great plugins for WMC is Mymovies and Media Browser.

 

Have fun

 

Would this not do the job for playback on an older TV?

 

HDMI HDTV to VGA HD15 3 RCA Converter Adapter Cable - Wholesale Factory Direct

Jamo

Jamo

Posted
Posted
The thought of having a nice sleek looking media centre box and then having a huge nubbin out the side for TV tuner doesn't really appeal! Its really hard to find a good one of those :( I had a look at making one but getting a case is really hard plus its hard to find a decent TV tuner that will fit as well!!!
penfold

penfold

Posted
Posted
I've just got one of these Sumvision Cyclone Micro Media Player Divx & ISO HDMI USB/SD Media player HDMI 1080p Upscaling - Ebuyer

 

Ok it doesnt play HD but it plays everything else i throw at it. Have a old 200GB portable hard drive plugged into it with all my movies / tv shows on there!

 

and for less than £30 it aint bad (although i only paid £23 about 3 weeks ago)

 

Does it come with any cables? Looks quite good, but need it to be able to connect via a scart Cable...would I need to get a converter seperatly?

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