REVIEW >> Acer Iconia Tab A500

 

For now, there's a single Iconia tablet, and it's a 16GB Wi-Fi-only model. AT&T has announced a 4G version, coming this summer, and Acer has confirmed that there's a 32GB version hitting the U.S. soon. But for now, there are no carrier models, and no options for more than 16GB storage (though you do get a microSD slot that accepts up to 32GB cards). The $449 price is at the low end of the spectrum—at least, among the Android tablets that you should consider buying—bested only by the same-capacity, Wi-Fi-only Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101 ($399, 3.5 stars).

The 10.1-inch Iconia's spec sheet reads a lot like the Xoom's and the G-Slate's, with three major differences: it's a bit bulkier, it's Wi-Fi only, and, at $449 (direct), it costs less. If that combination sounds good to you, the Iconia A500 might be your cure-all tablet.

Solidly constructed, the Iconia isn't the all-glossy-black, sleek beast the Xoom and G-Slate are. Instead of opting for an all-around black bezel, Acer added a pewter-color brushed aluminum frame above and below the screen, which also covers the tablet's back panel. The Iconia is also larger than the Xoom, despite the same-size 10.1-inch screen. The tablet measures 10.25 by 7.0 by 0.56 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.65 pounds—each of those numbers is higher than the Xoom, G-Slate and the Apple iPad 2 (4.5 stars, $499). That said, it's not so big or heavy that it feels unwieldy.

The tablet's front is pleasingly minimal—there are no logos or buttons, only the 10.1-inch, 1280-by-800 LCD, and a small dot on the upper left side for the front-facing camera. The screen is just slightly higher than 720p resolution, but the omnipresent black bar at the bottom limits it right to 720p. It's a capacitive touch screen, and, in my tests, was extremely responsive to presses, pinches and swipes. I only had one real issue, and it was the aspect ratio. A 16:9 display is nice when you're watching a movie or playing a game, but when trying to browse the Web in portrait mode, the screen is just too narrow—you need to surf in landscape.

The back panel is also sparse, all blushed aluminum except for an Acer logo, camera with flash, and stereo speakers. Elsewhere, ports and buttons abound: on the bottom (if you're holding the tablet in the landscape view) is a proprietary connector for docking the A500, and on the right panel, you'll find both standard and micro-USB ports, along with a Reset button and the port for the AC adapter. On the left are the headphone jack and a micro-HDMI port. On top, there's a volume rocker and an iPad-esque rotation lock slider to disable the accelerometer, The microSD card slot hidden behind a door, accepts up to 32GB cards. Connectivity options abound with this tablet, especially compared with the iPad 2, which is notoriously stingy with ports. You can't hook up a keyboard or a mouse via the Iconia's USB port though. Acer claims that support will come in a future update.

The A500 has 802.11n Wi-Fi inside, as well as Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. There's the aforementioned accelerometer, plus a gyroscope. Battery life is rated at eight hours of video playback or 10 hours of Web browsing. We're running battery tests now, and will update this review with the results shortly.



Source : pcmag.com