Ad:
Acer Iconia A500 video review
#236 | 7:21 |
Monday May 9, 2011
Gadget TV
Monday May 9, 2011
Acer's first Android tablet, the A500, is an impressive showing from a raw specs perspective. It's got a dual-core 1GHz processor, a gig of RAM and 16GB of internal memory, expandable via microSD card. Its 10-inch capacitive touch screen is responsive and reasonably bright. Acer has kept its modifications to Android to a minimum, which is a good thing. That said, we'd still rather see stock Android with few if any modifications. If it ain't broke, as the old saying goes.
On the build side of things, we're a little less than impressed. The tablet feels like it may have been a little rushed in that phase of the R&D. That and / or less expensive materials were used in the construction in an effort to keep the price down, which Acer has succeeded in doing. The Acer Iconia A500 goes for $450; $50 cheaper than the base level iPad.
On the build side of things, we're a little less than impressed. The tablet feels like it may have been a little rushed in that phase of the R&D. That and / or less expensive materials were used in the construction in an effort to keep the price down, which Acer has succeeded in doing. The Acer Iconia A500 goes for $450; $50 cheaper than the base level iPad.
Download this episode now
Quicktime 
Mobile 
Windows Media Subscribe to this show 
iTunes Show Notes
Acer Iconia A500
$450
Inside, we have 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal memory and a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor with GeForce GPU for pushing crisp graphics. In other words, it's a powerful tablet on par with the current cutting edge. It weighs 730g; too heavy to hold comfortably in one hand for any length of time.
Front: A 10.1-inch capacitive touch screen dominates the front of the device (it is a tablet, after all). A front 2 megapixel camera sits off to the left of the screen. We'd have rather seen this camera on the top of the device when it's in landscape mode, but this is a small complaint. There are no buttons on the front of the device, owing to the fact that software "buttons" for core functions like getting a menu, going home or performing a search are built in to Honeycomb, negating the need for hardware buttons.
Back: A 5MP camera with an LED flash sits on the back. Also, the stereo speakers sit behind grilles on the left and right of the A500's back. The 3260 mAh battery is not user accessible... and also not really sufficient for a tablet.
Top: A cover for the microSD card slot as well as another slot that's covered with a "warranty void if seal is broken" sticker. Presumably, this is where the SIM card will go in a version that connects via cellular as opposed to Wi-Fi only. We also have the volume rocker which feels cheap and the orientation lock switch.
Bottom: A single connector for attaching to a keyboard, dock or other as yet unannounced A500 accessory.
Left: A USB port, recessed reset button and a Micro B USB connector plus a power input.
Right: The power button and a headphone jack plus an HDMI out for connecting to your HDTV for movies, music and games.
$450
Inside, we have 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal memory and a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor with GeForce GPU for pushing crisp graphics. In other words, it's a powerful tablet on par with the current cutting edge. It weighs 730g; too heavy to hold comfortably in one hand for any length of time.
Front: A 10.1-inch capacitive touch screen dominates the front of the device (it is a tablet, after all). A front 2 megapixel camera sits off to the left of the screen. We'd have rather seen this camera on the top of the device when it's in landscape mode, but this is a small complaint. There are no buttons on the front of the device, owing to the fact that software "buttons" for core functions like getting a menu, going home or performing a search are built in to Honeycomb, negating the need for hardware buttons.
Back: A 5MP camera with an LED flash sits on the back. Also, the stereo speakers sit behind grilles on the left and right of the A500's back. The 3260 mAh battery is not user accessible... and also not really sufficient for a tablet.
Top: A cover for the microSD card slot as well as another slot that's covered with a "warranty void if seal is broken" sticker. Presumably, this is where the SIM card will go in a version that connects via cellular as opposed to Wi-Fi only. We also have the volume rocker which feels cheap and the orientation lock switch.
Bottom: A single connector for attaching to a keyboard, dock or other as yet unannounced A500 accessory.
Left: A USB port, recessed reset button and a Micro B USB connector plus a power input.
Right: The power button and a headphone jack plus an HDMI out for connecting to your HDTV for movies, music and games.
Tagged:
A500
,Acer
,Acer Iconia
,Acer Iconia A500
,Android
,Android 3.0
,Android tablet
,Honeycomb
,Honeycomb Tablet
,tablet
App of the day
40 hadiths (An Nawawi) Android
v1.4.1:no screen off when playing audioContains the forty hadiths of the...
