Acer Aspire Idea 500 Windows Media Center

Yeah ok, we missed the press release on the Acer Aspire Idea 500 last month but she's still worth a quick double-back on this fully-spec'd, Viiv Windows Media Center PC. At just 2 3/4 inches thin, this low profile living room media center generates a mere 28 dBA under heavy load (23 dBA idling) yet packs in a Core Duo T2300 CPU, 250GB disk, 1GB DDR2 memory, a dual-layer DVD burner, 7-in-1 memory card reader, 4 x USB, Firewire, 802.11b/g WiFi, an RF keyboard and mouse, and not one, but two mini-PCI tuner cards for viewing and recording digital and analog television broadcasts. It also features a complete range of connectivity including HDMI, DVI-I, 2 x SCART (RGB?), 7.1 audio with S/PDIF digital out with support for High Definition audio, Dolby Digital Live, and DTC Connect. The Idea 500 should hit the cobbled streets of Europe any day now with an expected VAT-inclusive price of €1299/$1671. See, now aren't you glad we told you?

[Thanks, Liam B]

[Dave @ Jul 8th 2006 4:37AM]

Ive got the Acer Aspire iDea 500.

I cant get the HDMI port to work with my SONY BRAVIA 42" LCD Screen.

The user manuals are rubbish!

I cant get the IR Blasters to recognise SKY or SKY+ remotes!

All-in-all, ive not had much success at the moment!

Oh and Tech Support is only open mon-fri 9 to 6!

[Patrick @ Aug 3rd 2006 4:28AM]

I got the Acer Idea 500 as well. The TV picture quality is tremendously UGLY !!! I had to buy another Tuner card via USB (Hauppage) and the image is now watchable.
If you plan to buy it for watching TV, go away from it (or buy another tuner card like me)...
I cannot understand why Acer does a "HDTV" Media Center (with HDMI, etc.) with so crap tuner cards inside.

[TShill7 @ Sep 5th 2006 6:32AM]

I have this box as well. TV quality is watchable but nothing like live TV quality which is a shame. The tuner card is made by Yuan(?) who recognise the problem and have brought out some new beta drivers.

My box recognised my SKY remote without problems so I guess its luck of the draw!

To sum up - a beautiful machine, lots of conectivity, too small a HDD and TV quality definitely "iffy". 7/10 I'd say...

[keith @ Sep 13th 2006 6:56PM]

I've had to abandon the HDMI interface as it's impossible to see all the XP desktop. It cuts off part of the bottom task bar and the left hand column of icons are only partially visible.Acer say it's a Microsoft problem and to revert back to a component or scart connection.What is the best way to connect this to a typical widescreen plasma ?

[mikey corner @ Sep 17th 2006 8:20AM]

I have had one for 4weeks, complained about the hdmi connection they took back for repair changed the board, still the same. ive managed to sus out that if its botted up wait untill system says welcome to acer(front of unit) then put hdmi lead in it reconises it, or put the system in standby it will reboot, but if you shut down or restard the sytem refuces to boot, (untill you remove the HDMI lead. looks as if the bios wont reconise the hdmi cable? I am at a loss, phoninhg the help line next week 18 Sept, i agree the picture on the tv is Rubish, I have updated the intel drivers from intel site but no avail,

[mikey corner @ Sep 17th 2006 8:32AM]

Just a word about the twintuner, YUAN PVR MPC 718, there is a beta driver for this, I tried it it dosnt work Not on mine had to system resore media centre couldnt find tuner.
Im Running it on a hdmi lead to a pioneer 43" plasma at 1280x960 1125i there is a black band round cant get it to fill screen. its an expensive toy at the moment bough on the review of cnet.

[Khaled @ Oct 30th 2006 11:46AM]

Anyone who wants to sell their Acer Aspire iDea 500 Let me know!! email me at [e-mail]

[mappy @ Dec 13th 2006 12:21PM]

I have an Acer idea 500 and have also had problems. In theory this device should be good, but it produces a lousy picture using SCART (no RGB) and does not work properly with HDMI. In HDMI mode, the best result is to set the resolution to 1280X720, but this does not display the whole picture. Ideally we need to display 1360X768, but this option is not available with HDMI - how ridiculous is that?

If you have an LCD/plasma that takes PC input (VGA) (like my Samsung), then the Acer does display 1360X768 and does so automatically! The only problem with this route is that you get no sound through the TV. I am still working on that one though - will report back soon.

[mappy @ Dec 15th 2006 12:11PM]

Don't buy the Acer IDEA 500 unless you are PC literate, or know someone who is. The manual is hopeless as is Acer support. As a Freeview PVR it is an order of magnitude more complicated than the dedicated hard disk PVRs that are available. It is also considerably more expensive, but much more capable.

The SCART output is not RGB and of very low quality, and I could not get a decent picture using HDMI on my Samsung LCD TV. The only useable output is the standard PC VGA. If you use this, you will not get sound without a converter cable (not supplied). I used Belkin cable F8V3013B1.5M, which converts the RCA output from the Acer into a 3.5mm stero jack plug, which will plug into my TV. You could of course use an external audio system. Once properly setup, the Freeview reception looks as good as, if not better than dedicated freeview receivers. The MCE software seems quite good and intuitive. The TV guide (downloaded from the internet) goes forward 2 weeks, is comprehensive and easy to use.

[James Hartt @ Jan 27th 2007 9:04AM]

I have read the comments about the outputs for the idea, and i agree, the only perfect way of doing it is having a monitor, or televisions that allow for DVI, HDMI is a waste of time and offers nothing more than DVI does. I know that my samsung 23" tele/monitors DVI is not PC compatible meaning you have to find some good third party sowftware to create the right lines etc. for it to fit in the screen (and most of the time it still looks awfull, luckly i wasent intending to use that TV and i'm using an acer 26" LCD tv conencted though the DVI port, wonderful TV btw, shame it isnt built anymore and i have forgotten what its called! The biggest frustration i have been through is trying to get the IR blaster on the acer to transmit the number to my NTL set top box, after alot of research i found the problem lies with a) microsoft for not allowing for complete compatiblilty in sending the IR code through media center or b) ntl choosing/samsung making a crappy set top box, all of these situations are equally possible. Scart outputs are awful, tried them, component is good, havent tried HDMI but i'm morally opossed to it.

After you get past these annoyances this is a wonderful dedicated media PC, the freeview reception, if its generally good in your area, is truely amazing. The ease of use of media center blows me away, the 14 day guide is better than any newspaper has to offer. Ease of recording, the dual tuner helps i think as this on one of the first real tries at making a media center PC things can only get better, hopefully acer will try and help with teh problems that people are having. I can't wait till the longhorn version of media center hopefully that'll fix alot of problems.

James Hartt

[Filmpie @ Jul 16th 2008 2:36PM]

It's now more than 1 year. (9-4-2008) I have sony kdt connected via hdmi on my acer aspire 511.
I managed to connect it properly. In windows vista.
a full desktop 1920x1024.
the sony tv has an option to meet high def connections in the menu.
However i did (not)manage to get sound via hdmi.
Standby it does not come back properly sometimes.
It (acer) comes back with a green screen.
I have to reset acer to come back.

My desire is... 2 get it wrk with linux MCE

[Wayne Alston @ Dec 28th 2007 9:29AM]

mikey corner.. i know it it some time ago, but did you resolve your hdmi bios boot problem.. i have exactly the same problem, but acer say it is a compatability issue .. so tough luck :-(

Thanks
Wayne