Guest christonge Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Acer Iconia A500 10.1" Honeycomb Review - Part 1 If like me you've been holding off getting a tablet then the new batch of Honeycomb tablets might well just be enough to tempt you... I wasn’t overly impressed with the first batch of Android tablets but after spending some weeks with the new Acer Iconia Tab A500 running Android 3.0 Honeycomb, I think it’s safe to say Android tablets have come of age. Here in Spain the 32GB and 16GB wifi-only versions are selling for 499€ and 449€ respectively - which I think are very competitive considering the specs and competition. The A501 wifi/3G models are expected sometime later in May. Hardware The 10.1-inch A500 makes a big first impression. It's slender and very well made with tapered edges that help emphasise that feeling. It's not the lightest tablet on the market, coming in at 766g but the extra weight isn’t really that noticeable. The A500 has an aluminium shell with your standard tablet design. You’ll find a 2 MP camera on the front, accompanied by a 5 MP camera on the back with an LED flash. On the left side you’ve got the power button and the headphone jack at the top and a micro-HDMI slot a the bottom. Along the top of the device you have the volume button, a rotate lock switch and next to this there's a plastic cover which comes away to reveal the microSD card slot and a gap which will take a SIM in the 3G-capable models. Across the bottom you’ll find a docking port, which works with the optional charge cradle. On the right hand you’ll find a USB2.0 slot (host), a micro-USB connector (slave) and the charging slot. The tablet provides an enhanced level of performance with its NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 mobile 1GHz dual-core processor and integrated GeForce™ GPU that lets you enjoy HD gaming, 1080p video and faster browsing, as well as running multiple applications, digital media playback and flash-based sites, games and applications. As soon as you turn on the A500 and you’re immediately struck by the bright, crisp screen. The 10.1-inch capacitive touch-screen tablet delivers a remarkable degree of accuracy and responsiveness. The high-resolution 1280x800 TFT WXGA display is crisp and clear, and provides an 80-degree wide viewing angle to ensure an optimal viewing experience. Designed for HD entertainment, the high-color contrast 10.1-inch widescreen display allowing you to enjoy HD 720p video in a 16:10 aspect ratio. You can also use the Acer Iconia Tab A500 as a media hub and share full 1080p video via the built-in HDMI port with other devices. Dolby® Mobile technology completes the entertainment experience with heightened audio. Full Specs NVIDIA® Tegra™ 250 dual-core Cortex-A9, 1 GHz •Ultra-low power GeForce® GPU •System memory: • 1 GB of RAM • 16 or 32 GB of flash memory •Google Android™ operating system Display •10.1” WXGA TFT-LCD capacitive multi-touch screen •1280 x 800 resolution •262K colors support Multimedia •Micro (Type D) HDMI output •CD-quality stereo output •Stereo speakers •Dual microphone with noise and echo cancellation •Dolby Mobile Formats supported: USB connectors •USB connector (host) •Micro USB connector (slave) Power •DC power-in (12 V, 1.5 A) Connectivity •Bluetooth 2.1+EDR & A2DP support •Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n WLAN (802.11n 2.4GHz only) •GPS Camera •2-megapixel front camera (fixed focus) Type Formats Audio recording AAC-LC, AMR-WB Audio playback AAC-LC, AAC, AAC+ (Not raw AAC), AMR-NB, AMR-WB, MP3, OGG Vorbis, WAV Video recording H.264 BP, MPEG-4 SP, H.263 Video playback H.264 BP, H.264 MP, H.264 HP, MPEG-4 SP, H.263 Specifications 59 •5-megapixel rear camera with flash (auto focus) Expansion •microSD memory card slot (up to 32 GB) Battery •Rechargeable high density Li-polymer batteries: 3260 mAh x 2 (24.1 Wh) Note: Length of battery operation will depend on power consumption which is based on system resource use. For example, constantly using the backlight or using power-demanding applications will shorten battery life between charges. Dimensions Height 260 mm Width 177 mm Thickness 13.3 mm Weight 765 g (with battery) The overall build quality of the A500 is great and it's surprisingly the best Android-based tablet I’ve seen to date and the only one that I’d consider a serious competitor to the iPad considering the price and quality, and it certainly sets a high standard for its Android 3.0 competitors. Tomorrow I'll take a look at the cameras, battery life, Honeycomb and it's apps (or should that be the lack of apps!!), multimedia and overall performance.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Blasphemous Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 (edited) Watch out Mr Jobs, Honeycomb is coming! Thanks for the info so far. Edited April 18, 2011 by Blasphemous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ptomic Posted April 22, 2011 Report Share Posted April 22, 2011 (edited) Acer Iconia A500 10.1" Honeycomb Review - Part 1 •262K colors support Can this be compared to Asus Transformer ? Someone said that Asus have 16M of colors and IPS screen, not TFT. Thank you. Edited April 22, 2011 by ptomic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest seanchk Posted May 1, 2011 Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 I played with one of these last week at Pantip Plaza in Bangkok. Really liked what I saw in the 5 minutes I fiddled with it. I've got a Samsung Galaxy Tab, so I think I'll wait to compare the 10.1 Tab with this Acer unit, although initial impression is that if there was no choice I'd buy this. I've been told by an inside source at Samsung that the 10.1 Tab will have phone functionality the same as the 7" Galaxy Tab does, for me that is the deciding factor, if the device can't be used as a phone then its a deal breaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bonzo1 Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 will we be getting an Acer Iconia A500 forum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bitbank Posted May 6, 2011 Report Share Posted May 6, 2011 Bought one of these at BestBuy last week. Had to buy a protective case on ebay. Mostly good experiences with the hardware. The little black plastic window around the camera came unglued :mellow: Battery life is good except when suspended. If I suspend it overnight, the battery is dead in the morning. I noticed that it sometimes wakes up from suspend without warning. Has anyone else seen this? Somewhat difficult to justify the cost. It feels too heavy and fragile to carry around outdoors. Right now it's mostly a way to play with Honeycomb. Anyone else get one? L.B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest deanholdway Posted November 10, 2011 Report Share Posted November 10, 2011 This looks great think i might go buy one tomorrow, Will give my views on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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