Asrock 3d vision and WHS (1 Viewer)

[dj_taus]

Just wanted to share my experience with the Asrock 3d vision 137. I've been a fan of the Asrock Ion series for some time due to the size, Nvidia Ion graphics, Blu-Ray, price and the name Asrock. It's not perfect though. HD movies play fine, but browsing the menus with streamedMP or running tasks in the background is just not smooth enough. Furthermore the lack of a front USB and SD card reader and the mediocre remote reception is just a constant annoyance.
Naturally I've been drooling over the 3D vision since the launch and finally I bought myself one.
It's an Intel Core i3 2.4 Ghz, 2x 2Gb DDR3 dual channel ram, NVIDIA GT 425M, 500 Gb HDD, Blu-ray drive,USB 3.0, eSATII Gigabit ethernet, WiFi-N AND front USB 3.0 and MMC/SD/MS/MS PRO card reader.

It looks MAC mini'ish with the curved black aluminum front and slot-in Bluray.
I've set it up with win7 32b and it's fast - A whole lot faster than the ion330. Everything is running smoothly with moving pictures and streamedMP. There's always some codecs issues apparently, but HD, Bluray, 3d is running very well. Without getting technical, the difference from the Ion/Eee/Zontac is the response. When you enter a menu or press stop/play you don't wait the second or two that makes you press the button again. Personally I want MP to work as a fancy DVD - Simple and intuitive. The 3d vision is good for this.
One other positive thing is the remote. I don't use it, but I exported the IR codes to my Pronto TSU9200 and it's perfect and even comes with discrete ON/Off codes that can start up the machine from the shut-down state. I've never been able to do this before. Just perfect.
I'm about to set up the TV using a windows home server as the tv server, but I'm having some difficulties with the hauppauge hvr-930c dvb-c usb receivers. It's almost impossible getting a decent reception. From the client side everything looks good though.

Before I get mistaken for an Asrock marketing representative here is some of the negative stuff:
The WiFi-n is crap. The system was set up using wireless, but the signal was unstable and slow. It might be a driver issue, but out-of-the-box it's crap. I use the LAN and don't worry about this, but still.

It's not completely silent. Actually I find it a bit loud. It's not a problem when media is running, but also in idle the fan is running at high speed.

At a price of 900€ it's expensive. Not unreasonable, but in the high end.

All in all I would recommend this fine piece of machinery for MP any day.

 

[TommySharp]

I'm drooling too! Wish they weren't so expensive....

 

[R300]

Have you tried to bitstream True HD or DTS MA? Success or know of any issues?

 

[dj_taus]

Not yet. At the moment I'm busy with upgrading to 1.2, but I'll look into it soon and post the result. Btw, I moved it to the bedroom the other day and watch a BD disc. To be honest, out in the open without the stereo blasting, it's very loud when playing discs. I'm browsing the web for a way to damp the noise now.

 

[lulsam]

One other positive thing is the remote. I don't use it, but I exported the IR codes to my Pronto TSU9200 and it's perfect and even comes with discrete ON/Off codes that can start up the machine from the shut-down state. I've never been able to do this before. Just perfect.

I am pretty interested in this tiny PC to build a MePo client for the living room: it seems that everybody reports smooth hd playback, but I have a couple of questions, maybe you tried:
1.- is it the remote full MCE compliant => does it work in MEpO out of the box? If it does it will be a big advantage for me as it means a clear set up without an extra IR receiver.
2.- Is it really noisy? Does not have any kind of BIOS smartfan support? Did you try any kind of smartfan sw? I really hate noise while watching TV or videos :-(
3.- Did you try it with 3D content in MePo => MP3D plugin? I plan to use a 3D Samsung TV but just in case it is able to play decently 3D content, otherwise I will save some € and gain a bit of WAF

Thanks in advance

 

[dj_taus]

The remote is working out-of-the-box with MePo and all relevant options are available with the remote. Especially the On-Off function is brilliant.

It's funny with the noise. The noise level is very directional - If you place it on the floor or on the lower shelve in your rack, the noise level is ok, but if it's placed higher then that the level increases dramatically. It is shipped with all sort of tuning and fan control applications, but the GPU tens to get a bit hot and therefore I haven't kept the settings as default.

I've only tested the 3D function briefly, but it worked fine. I've tried the red-cyan 3d version on my old fasion fullHD TV, and it plays very smooth. I'm convinced it'll work with MePo, but I haven't tested it yet.

 

[lulsam]

Sounds very promising, indeed.

I ordered a box a couple of days ago (I do believe 695€ is a bargain for such a pice of hw), cannot wait to put my hands on it!!!!!!!

A Samsung TV (LED HD) is waiting for it so I think I can test how it works with high def content (noise, CPU + GPU usage, temp, etc). I will report the results.

Cheers

 

[dj_taus]

That sounds like quite a bargain.

I'm looking forward to a second oppinion.

 

[cripellegrini]

Hi,
I find AsRock Vision a very good solution for MePo, but I have a problem... The trouble is with the remote... It doesn't work well (i.e. the start button doesn't start the MePo even if I have MPTRay active, the back command doesn't work, "i" doesn't work, and so on)...
In your post I see that you don't have any problem.... My version is the latest version 1.2.1 and I have XP Sp3... could you help me?

Thank you very much

 

[dj_taus]

Hi cripellegrini!

I haven't had any problems with the remote, but I've only used it a couple of time. Instead I use a universal remote with an IR extender and red-eye emitter glued directly to the box.
This works very well. It sounds like the problem is the remote, and this could the solution. I'm using a Philips Pronto TSU9200. It's a very reliable product, but unfortunately also outdated. Logitech also provides decent solutions.
Now that I have a fellow user: What is your opininon on the fan noises? I find it very loud when running at full power.