Acer Aspire REVO R3610-U9012 - Ultra-slim desktop - 1 x Atom 330 / 1.6 GHz - RAM 2 GB - HDD 1 x 160 GB - GF 9400 - Gigabit Ethernet - WLAN : 802.11b/g/n (draft) - Windows 7 Home Premium - Monitor : none Review

The Acer Aspire Revo 3610 is a very small nettop computer that comes with 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium; a compact wireless keyboard (no number pad) and mouse; a small pair of USB speakers, six USB ports, single ports for Ethernet, HDMI, VGA, eSATA, and SPDIF; and a memory card reader. The rated capacity of the hard drive is 160 GB, but that comes out to 131 GB of space after NTFS formatting, of which 109 GB is available. The wireless keyboard and mouse use two AAA batteries per device, and connect to the computer through a single USB receiver. The computer has four usable USB ports if you use both the keyboard / mouse and USB speakers.

The "Window Experience Scores" of the computer are as follows:
- Processor: 3.3
- Memory: 4.5
- Graphics: 4.2
- Gaming Graphics: 5.2
- Primary Hard Disk Transfer Rate 5.3

I'm very pleased with my purchase of the Acer Aspire Revo 3610. Aside from processor speed, this computer compares fairly well with my primary desktop computer, which I purchased about a year-and-a-half ago at three times the price. Windows 7 on this computer boots quicker on this computer than does Windows Vista on my primary desktop computer. Out-of-box, my Aspire Revo did not work with my Wireless N network (though it connected with my Wireless G network), and Youtube videos were slightly choppy. However, driver updates from Windows Update immediately solved both problems. My computer now works on Wireless N and video playback is very smooth (I use Media Player Classic Home Cinema 64-bit Edition). Although I connected my computer to a spare monitor, I can see how easily the Aspire Revo 3610 computer can serve as an entry-level home theater PC. The computer has very small dimensions -- it is thinner and shallower than a Nintendo Wii (but has a wider footprint due to its stand), uses very little power, and is whisper quiet. One may add an ReadyBoost-capable USB flash drive to slightly improve performance for certain tasks, and an external slim DVD drive for enable DVD playback -- both inexpensive options.

There is little "crapware" on the computer, perhaps other than Microsoft Works, which is "advertisement-supported," and Microsoft Office 2007 Trial. Those who already have a copy of Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student are reminded that it may be installed to three computers. Microsoft Office 2007, albeit slow, is quite usable on the Acer Aspire Revo 3610, thanks to the computer's dual-core Atom 330 processor. I've had no problems working with spreadsheets 3 or 4 megabytes in size on the Aspire Aspire Revo 3610. A 60-day subscription to McAfee Internet Security Suite is included with the computer. Shop Amazon.com first if you decide to purchase a full subscription; chances are that Amazon offers a full-year subscription for this or other security software packages for less money. Acer also bundles some software meant to work with additional equipment. Both Acer's recovery disc program and Nero 9 Essentials are meant to be used with an optical media drive (such as DVD+/- RW, etc.), and the Acer Backup Manager should be really used with an external hard drive.

There is a lot of competition for the Acer Aspire Revo 3610 as of this writing in mid-December 2009. Notably, Dell's entry-level version of its Inspiron Zino HD is $100 less than the price I paid for my Acer Aspire Revo 3610 a few weeks ago (Black Friday), has a larger hard drive than the Revo 3610 (250 GB versus 160 GB), and includes a DVD+/- RW drive which the Revo 3610 omits. The base-level Zino HD however uses Windows Vista, and does not have a wireless keyboard or mouse. Although the Zino HD product line is more configurable than the Acer Aspire Revo 3610, the Revo 3610 combines a good out-of-box experience with a "no-brainer" purchase experience. This "no-brainer" purchase experience (provided you can purchase it at or less than retail, not sure why the Revo 3610 costs more on Amazon) is a value in itself -- there's no need to puzzle through online configurators or to search through E-Bay for a used computer.

Acer's Aspire Revo 3610 is a very good choice for a secondary computer for multimedia playback, light work, and small children.

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Product Description:
The AspireRevo R3610 is a revolution in computer size, shape, design and affordability. Whether tucked away in a corner of your desk or nicely concealed on the back of your monitor, the AspireRevo makes the perfect everyday PC for cruising the Internet, doing your daily work, staying connected via instant messaging, and enjoying photos, music, videos and more.

Buy cheap Acer Aspire REVO R3610-U9012 - Ultra-slim desktop - 1 x Atom 330 / 1.6 GHz - RAM 2 GB - HDD 1 x 160 GB - GF 9400 - Gigabit Ethernet - WLAN : 802.11b/g/n (draft) - Windows 7 Home Premium - Monitor : none now