Update Aug 18 2010: The Aspire is virtually worthless for streaming Hulu and Netflix via Boxee – the play back is so choppy it’s unwatchable. Watching downloaded movies works great fine, but if you are hoping to run Boxee for Hulu and Netflix, I would stick with the MacMini (even an older one). Overall the Aspire Revo can’t touch the smoothness of the MacMini (which I still miss dearly). – END UPDATE

I have been obsessed with watching the internet TV for the last 6 years – and during this time, I have managed to experience virtually every type of Media Center on every platform. Windows MediaCenter, MediaPortal and Ubuntu/Myth on a personally built set-top box, as well as Boxee, Plex and XBMC on a MacMini.

I recently purchased the Acer AspireRevo from Frys for $329.99 – this is a little thing with 2gigs of ram, HDMI, Wifi (n), 160GB HD and a nice graphics card (NVidia Ion) with Windows 7 installed. The only reason I was looking for a new computer was due to the fact that my MacMini (with 1gig of ram, and a 80GB HD) “seemingly” broke while I was trying to replace the hard drive.

The Acer is super tiny, hides very well and most importantly has an HDMI output. While the AspireRevo is seriously really thin, it’s a bit of an eye sore compared to the minimalistic and clean style of the MacMini. The Aspire is also without a CD drive, where the MacMini offers a DVD player.

Overall the performance of the Aspire is acceptable, I do find that I wait significantly longer for movies to start playing compared to my MacMini – both using Wifi (n). Additionally, the AspireRevo video playback stutters while watching TV with Hulu – which is something I do almost everyday. On my MacMini, Hulu and NetFlix streaming was instant and smooth.

So, if you have the coin for the MacMini, do it – no questions asked. But if you need to save some cash and you want it now the AspireRevo is a great way to start your liberation from cable TV.