Acer Revo 100

Acer’s Revo 100 is a Home Theatre PC (HTPC), capable of replacing most – if not all – of the devices connected to your television today.

We’ve looked at more than a few hardware media players – devices that bring your digital movies, music and even YouTube content to your existing TV. We’ve also seen internet-enabled TVs that provide with you with a basic browsing experience plus services such as Facebook, Twitter and video chat.

Putting the interwebs into your lounge has never been easier, and years have passed since it required a bulky PC... or even a PC at all. The downside? However good those dedicated hardware solutions are, they still can’t match the flexibility of a full-blown computer. Sure, your media player or TV might have its own app store these days. Even then, you’re talking about a limited range of applications for one particular platform – nowhere near the multitude of apps available for the most basic Windows, Linux or Mac OS X PC.

I have four devices permanently plugged into my TV: a nice DVD player, cheap Freeview decoder, outdated hot-pink PS2, and an old netbook for web browsing that can’t even manage to play 720p YouTube clips. All this is tied awkwardly to a universal remote and a little wireless keyboard/touchpad combo, which works well enough, most of the time.

The Revo 100 replaced all of these devices, with less than twenty minutes’ setup, and just two plugs to connect (power to the wall, HDMI to the TV). Network was helpfully handled by the Revo 100’s Wi-Fi, though gigabit Ethernet is also provided if you prefer a wired solution.

Acer’s Revo 100 runs Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) atop an AMD Athlon II Neo K325 dual-core processor supported by Nvidia’s ION graphics platform, so the Revo is not a hardcore performance PC. Its balance of performance, power consumption and quiet operation is, however, perfect for a lounge setting.

Because it’s equipped with a Blu-ray reader, the Revo is more than capable of churning out high definition video up to 1080p – with a suitably equipped TV, you can even watch the latest 3D movies (that can be said of any current Blu-ray player, to be fair). Those 720p YouTube clips I was missing out on before? No problem at all. Since you’re dealing with a PC and not a limited media player, you also get full support for all those flash videos beyond the walls of YouTube – assuming you install Adobe Flash Player, of course.

Chances are, your TV has its own Freeview tuner. If you’re like me, however, you might also have a separate decoder/set-top box attached to an older, Freeview-free TV. Either way, the Revo has its own built-in digital TV tuner. Even if your TV already has the functionality, you do get one advantage from connecting the Revo instead: Windows Media Center allows you to record your favourite shows to the Revo’s 500-gigabyte hard drive. If your TV does have its own tuner, you can of course record one programme with the Revo while watching another on your TV – just like MySky, only free.

Setup was easy, and Media Center happily picked up all of our local TV channels – even with my dodgy, dodgy TV antenna connection at home, that has defeated more than a few TV receivers. The only downside I found? You can’t get the full 14-day Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) through Windows Media Center without some serious workaroundery (which I could probably manage, but goes well beyond the limits of my patience). You can still see what shows are on now, but working out when Man vs. Wild is on so you can schedule a recording? You’re still going to need the TV Guide.

You might note that I mentioned the Revo could also replace my old PS2. Well... that was almost entirely true for me, but your experiences will vary. All I play these days is Lego Star Wars, the PC version of which will happily run on a machine of the Revo’s spec. Being Windows-based, the Revo will even let you use an Xbox controller (or any gamepad, for that matter) for a realistic game-console experience.

The Acer Revo 100 will not replace your high-powered PS3 or Xbox 360. You are not going to run Crysis 2 on it, no matter how hard you try (by all means, overclocking enthusiasts, prove me wrong). Minecraft? There you might have better luck.

The Revo can do a lot. But to get the most of it, do you need an unwieldy keyboard and mouse setup, tucked awkwardly beside the couch?

Nope.

Acer has put together the most novel controller I’ve ever seen ship with a PC. The “RevoPad”, about the size of a CD jewel case, slides out of the Revo itself (funnily enough, from right beside the CD drive). It’s a touchpad, keyboard, cheeseboard and coaster in one, though I don’t think Acer would approve of those latter two uses.
In all seriousness, the RevoPad is a slim and lightweight multitouch pad, similar in size and operation to the Magic Trackpad introduced by Apple last year. The RevoPad one-ups Apple’s offering with a dual-mode design: tap a button in the top-right corner, and a light-up keyboard appears. Tap-to-type and you’ll be browsing the web, tweeting and updating your Facebook page without a scrap of effort.

The RevoPad is a brilliant idea and a gorgeous piece of tech, but its execution is so-so. I found the touchpad not nearly as responsive as it should be, and the total lack of delineation between keys means typing is an awkward affair at best. Worse, though, is the lack of controls for Windows Media Player in the RevoPad’s keyboard mode. I spent five minutes looking for a “menu” button to return to the home menu of a DVD before being ordered by my movie-watching-compatriot to eject the disc and put it into the old-fashioned DVD player. (The words used may have been less appropriate for magazine publication.)

The Revo 100 is built around Windows Media Center. Acer’s Clear.fi software (essentially a DLNA server – check out our jargon buster on page 46) integrates with Windows Media Center. So why, when designing a totally custom controller for the system, did they not include the full set of controls found on a Windows Media Center remote? It’s an inexcusable omission, and the only thing that stops this excellent machine from earning a PC World Platinum award.