Honeycomb Alternative! ( vgp-bps13b/s Battery ) Acer's tablet presence has so far been fairly restrained, but is beginning to gain more and more traction with every new model. The Iconia Tab A500 offers an Nvidia Tegra 250 multi-core CPU/GPU, 32 GB of memory, a high resolution WXGA display, ( ibm Thinkpad T61 Battery ) and the brand new Android 3.0 operating system. What can be expected from the slim 500 Euro device was tested by us.
As with the netbooks, ( Dell xps m1530 battery ) Acer appears to be approaching the booming market for tablets in a relatively casual manner. While several manufacturers have already experienced some flops with their quick releases, Acer has taken its time. This can actually only be good for the quality of the products, since this can provide for a good basis, whereby it is possible to learn from the mistakes of others. ( hp probook 4710s battery ) Since a few weeks there are now two new interesting devices in Acer's portfolio. The Iconia Tab W500, which runs Windows 7, AMD-Fusion, and an interesting docking concept. And the Iconia Tab A500 in our review, which despite of the similar name,( hp elitebook 8730p battery ) is equipped with an Nvidia Tegra 250 and runs the new Android 3.0, and thus ventures an entirely different way. Our tested model is currently available from about 490 Euros, and thus only lies a fraction below the RRP of 499 Euros.

Inaccurate manufacturingThe case of the Iconia Tab A500 has stylish similarities with the Iconia Tab W500. The aluminum look on the back, chrome colored operating buttons, and the large black display frame with the WXGA display.( hp Compaq CQ40 Battery ) The rigidity of the case is very good, the materials are solid, and the robustness of the surfaces is in line with the usual sensitive standard thanks to the glossy display. What's not so convincing is the precision of manufacturing. This may only become apparent when looking in detail, ( hp Compaq 8510W battery ) but the badly aligned components are certainly not beautiful.( HP 6545B Battery ) The iPad makes a generally high quality and robust impression in this case, thanks to the unibody case and the glass display surface.

The big advantage of our tested candidate compared to the previously tested W500, ( lenovo Thinkpad T60 Battery ) is the lighter weight of 750g, which is almost 200g less. Holding this without support is possible for a relatively long time,( ibm 40Y6795 ) whereby the lightness of the iPad 2 with 601g is not quite reached. The AC adapter is also very light with a further 120g, and can also be tucked away neatly thanks to the removable plug. More on the theme of cases can be read in our comparison of different tablets.

The available interfaces barely provide the standard sizes, but instead require micro-variants.( battery hp probook 4510s ) A regular USB 2.0 port is the exception to this. Otherwise there are Micro-USB (for connecting a hard drive to a PC for faster data transfer), ( battery HP Compaq 8510P ) Micro-HDMI, and a MicroSD card slot. Included in the delivery is merely a special USB cable, HDMI will have to be acquired separately.( battery Compaq CQ42 ) The important interfaces are located on the sides, and are easy to reach, with the exception of the Micro-SD slot with its fiddly cover. The latter of these appears to be more suitable for a permanent memory expansion in any case, ( battery vostro 1520 ) since the swapping of the small memory cards can become very fiddly due to the difficult to reach slots. The transfer of data is therefore better carried out via a cable or a USB stick. We were able to transfer pictures, videos, and music without problems using a USB stick, or data transfer cable from a PC and from an external hard drive. ( battery VGP-BPS13A/B ) Even videos could be played back directly from a USB stick. A simultaneous use of both of the USB ports is only possible with narrow USB cables, since the distance between the two is very close at 3 mm.

The big disadvantage of Android and iOs compared to Windows tablets,( battery sony VGP-BPS13 ) is the missing usability of common USB peripheral devices, such as DVB-T sticks, DVD drives, or UMTS sticks.( vgp-bps13/b battery ) In these cases it is either necessary to resort to expensive specialty solutions, such as for example Equinux` tizi DVB-T or WLAN hotspot for iOs, or to completely omit these options. What is also not exactly ideal is the long reaction time of 5s when switching on and off, ( battery sony VGP-BPS13 ) which is not possible with the usual short press. Changing this setting is also not possible.

For wireless communications there are WLAN 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR available.( sony vgp-bps13b/s battery ) An additional GPS module supports the usual locating services. Variants of the A500 with UMTS are currently not available,( battery vgp-bps13b/b ) however, should be offered soon as with the W500.

The Iconia Tab A500 has 2 cameras,( sony vgp-bps13s battery ) just like most smartphones and in the meantime also the iPad. One 2 MP front camera for video telephony, and one 5 MP camera with autofocus and flash on the back for taking pictures. ( battery vgp-bps13as ) A comprehensive evaluation with a comparison to the competition can be found in our tablet comparison test.

The accessories for the Iconia Tab A500 are easy to oversee.( apple a1185 battery ) These primarily include a docking station with a remote control (LC.DCK0A.001) for about 70 Euros, and a special protective case which functions as a holder (LC.BAG0A.011) for about 35 Euros. The docking station provides a charge function, ( hp 452057-001 ) as well as an audio output, and a remote control although this is a matter of preference.

The manufacturer's warranty lasts for 1 year, ( battery sony vgp-bps13a/s ) and can be extended via different bolt on packages. It is for example possible to extend the warranty to 3 years bring-in + 1 year international travel insurance for 79 Euros,( sony vgp-bps13/s battery ) and 3 years bring-in + 3 years accident cover + 3 years international travel insurance for 99 Euros.