Acer Iconia A500 Tablet

April 18, 2011 — tdroid

Once again, the A500 makes the Samsung Galaxy Tab look pretty shabby.

If you’ve been waiting for Android tablets to catch up with Apple’s iPad, the wait might be over.

I wasn’t overly impressed with the first batch of Android tablets. They reminded me of the early Android smartphones like the HTC Dream – brimming with potential but not quite ready for the big time. After spending some time with the sleek new Acer Iconia Tab A500 running Android 3.0 “Honeycomb”, I feel it’s safe to say Android tablets have come of age.

The 10.1-inch A500 is a thing of beauty and makes a striking first impression. It’s just as slender as the original iPad and is only a tad heavier at 765 gm compared to the iPad’s 680 gm. The A500’s tapered edges help emphasise the feeling of slenderness and the extra weight isn’t really noticeable at first. After a while I found myself resting the A500 on my lap more than I would with the iPad, so I guess you start to feel the weight after a while. That doesn’t bother me too much because I’d say the A500 is designed more for using on the couch than the train. If you’re looking for a smaller and lighter travel companion, keep in mind Acer will also offer a 7-inch A100 – unlike Apple’s one-size-fits-all approach to tablets. The A100 features a pretty meagre 8GB of storage, but the other specs are good and it will most likely be the cheapest entry-level Honeycomb tablet. The wifi-only A100 will be available in June and the 3G/wifi A101 will be available in July.

For now Acer is selling the 16GB wifi-only A500 for $579 and the 32GB wifi-only for $678 – impressive pricing compared to the first-gen Android tablets. The A501 wifi/3G models should be available in June.

Posted in Acer Android Tablets. Leave a Comment »

Acer Iconia Tab A500

April 8, 2011 — tdroid

“An Android 3.0 Honeycomb device in a dual-core Tablet for $450 at Best Buy…”

Acer has officially unleashed its Iconia Tab A500, a 10.1-inch tablet poised to defy the likes of Apple and Motorola. Unsurprisingly, Acer is billing its new creation as the ultimate companion device for Web browsing, accessing social networks, reading e-books, listening to music, watching videos, playing games and so on.

Like Motorola’s Xoom, the Tab A500 is powered by Android 3.0 Honeycomb and a dual-core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 250 SoC, which is quick enough for 1080p video playback and mobile gaming. In fact, Acer is shipping the slate with free copies of Need for Speed: Shift and Let’s Golf installed (the former is $5 via the Android Market).

The slate carries a 1280×800 display with 80-degree viewing angles and the ability to register input from all 10 fingers. You’ll also find 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage (a 32GB model is in the works), a microSD card reader that can handle up to 32GB cards, a 5MP rear camera with flash and auto-focus and a 2MP front cam.

Posted in Acer Android Tablets, Android Tablet Reviews by Manufactuer, Techspot Reviews. Leave a Comment »