Acer Iconia Tab

[Crushdepth]

Saw the Acer Iconia tab in Fortune today (17,000, not sure if it was a 3G model). Looks like quite a slick little device. Honeycomb 3.0, screen is gorgeous 1280 x 800 and quite responsive (not quite as smooth as the iPad but close). It has USB and HDMI ports, a built in DNLA media server and a micro-SD slot.

Tempting, but I'm waiting to see what Samsung can do though.

Edited May 25, 2011 by Crushdepth

[dominique355]

I saw the ad in today's BP, but couldn't really make out if this tablet has phone capabilities. Acer's website inconclusive too. Does anyone know?

[lomatopo]

http://www.thaimobilecenter.com/spec/Acer_Iconia_Tab_A100.asp

There is also an A500, will be previewed at the Thailand Mobile Expo 2011 Hi-End June 2-5 Queen Sirikit Center

http://www.whatphone.net/acer_A500/

In general it might help if people could note the model number?

[tcris52]

I've had my eye on this one for some time. It's selling everywhere in Khon Kaen for 16,900 for the 32 GB and 14,900 for the 16 GB. Here's a link for info that my son sent me.

http://gear.ign.com/.../1160766p1.html

My sense is to hold off for a while to see if the prices drop a bit, but I'm having a difficult time controlling my hand; it wants to reach for my wallet whenever we pass the Acer store.

Edited June 18, 2011 by tcris52

[bkkmick]

I was tempted yesterday. I didn't really like the interface but I'm sure that could be changed? Anyone know?

What can I do with the Media center? Might go for one tomorrow...16,900 for the 32GB system.

[tcris52]

I was tempted yesterday. I didn't really like the interface but I'm sure that could be changed? Anyone know?

What can I do with the Media center? Might go for one tomorrow...16,900 for the 32GB system.

Remember, it is available in either Android 3.0 (A500) or Windows 7 (W500). Same price.

[Sam Drucker]

If not mistaken, the A500 is a WiFi model and the only version out now. The A501 is to follow, and that will be a 3G version. Not sure what band though?

[lomatopo]

If not mistaken, the A500 is a WiFi model and the only version out now. The A501 is to follow, and that will be a 3G version. Not sure what band though?

Yes, the A500 is WiFi only, the A501 will add GSM (voice/2G data): 850, 900, 1800, 1900; not sure about UMTS variations, I've seen references to quad band: 850, 900, 1900, 2100, but also to tri-band versions 850/1900/2100 and 900/1900/2100. AT&T, in the U.S., is supposed to launch this tablet. http://thedroidguy.com/2011/06/acer-iconia-tab-1501-clears-fcc-with-att-bands/

[lomatopo]

There was some pricing in the recent Mobile Expo flyer...

http://www.thailandmobileexpo.com/2011/

[tcris52]

The 16,900 they are selling for here is actually a bit better price than they are selling for in the US. Oddly, the 16 GB at 14,900 is slightly higher.

[Sarathi]

I have the acer iconia A500 - been playing with it for a month already.

Yes, the interface is highly cusomizable, no problem there.

But Honeycomb 3.0 is very very buggy. Constant program crashes (no hanging, just have to restart the program). Pretty disappointing. And most of the decent software is paid-for only. The price is cheap, but the software is pretty crap. There is no word processor yet that has a built in spell check.

2 factors made me get the iconia, other than it not being an <deleted> mac.

1) the USB port

2) the removable Micro data card 32 GB

The USB is useless. Does not support many keyboards/mouse. Does not support USB speakers. Does not support air cards (so NO internet). Does not support NTFS hard drives.

Some of this will be fixed with ensuing versions of Honeycomb, but expect a year or more before things really work. This is not Acer's fault of course. Otherwise the tablet is quite nice. Good battery, good for ebook reading etc, and unlike the ipad (I might be wrong) but you can connect to W$ or Linux and browse through the 64 GB of storage on the device as normal.

[tcris52]

What I really want is the Micro SD. I have a lot of ebooks, and one main purpose is a reader for PDFs, especially scanned that won't render well on most ebook readers. I'm amazed that iPad doesn't have that option (I guess I'm not really, knowing that Apple stays pretty proprietary).

I guess the options for the Acer are to wait for Honeycomb to get the bugs worked out or go with Windows 7 (yuck). Also, the Motorola Xoom looks very good, but very pricy.

[Sarathi]

Yah - it is great on the ebook thing. Plenty of storage. I use Calibre to convert text based PDFs (not the scanned copy type) into epub, which displays beautifully.

There's no need to wait if this is your goal. The acer is fine, especially for this and regular use (email, maps etc.) , and Honeycomb will update continually. v3.1 is due and is reputed to have many improvements, such as extended USB hardware support. The PC access to all areas of the memory, both onboard and external, puts it miles ahead of the ipad.

[lomatopo]

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is shipping with Android 3.1.

You can connect any Android device to a PC, via USB or even WiFi and transfer files from the PC to the tablet, or vice-versa.

There are many PDF readers, free and paid, available for Android.

Expecting a tablet's USB port to power external devices seems overly optimistic.

[Sarathi]

The Samsung requires proprietary adapters, which are costly. There's no usb, no removable Micro SD, and I think no micro hdmi. Otherwise I would have got it, as it is significantly lighter than the iconia.

Curiously I can power usb speakers from the iconia, but no sound. The speakers that take sound from the hadphone jack and power from the usb work fine.

[lomatopo]

The Samsung requires proprietary adapters, which are costly. There's no usb, no removable Micro SD, and I think no micro hdmi.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 ships with a proprietary connector to USB cable, so not costly. Agreed no USB (unnecessary as you've discovered), and no uSD (nice to have but not required). HDMI does require an extra cable.

The Toshiba Thrive might offer a better set of options: Android 3.1, One USB 2.0, One Mini USB, One HDMI and an SD Card Slot and bluetooth.

[Sarathi]

I saw the Samsung usb cable included with the tablet, but it is from their port to a male USB, and so not useful for connecting usb devices, only porting to a PC via its female USB.

If you want to plug USB devices, such as mouse, speakers, keyboard, flash drives, hard drives etc.. you will have to buy special cables. Not a huge thing, as bluetooth will do many of the above. That and the SD card sold me on the iconia.

Still, the weight and size is a big plus for the Samsung - all my other devices are Samsung; I tend to like this brand. Toshiba also looked good, due to the replaceable battery (which ludicrously requires a screwdriver to change) but got sick of waiting for it. I had the iconia for over a month already.

I really wanted an Odroid, but too many drawbacks with that one too. http://www.hardkernel.com/renewal_2011/main.php

[tcris52]

Problem with the Samsung, according to a video I was watching, is that it has no USB or SD ports. That's a killer for me. It's why I won't get an iPad. I want to be able to carry around the extra storage and not be limited to the internal memory.

[Klaasvaak]

is the 10.1 tab for sale already in bkk?

[Sam Drucker]

I already saw mention of Android 3.2 in an ad this week.

Read about it here:

Android 3.2

Think I'm going to try and resist the tablet urge for 3-6 months; the market is pretty fluid out there right now, with a lot of new product getting ready to launch before the end of the year. Should have more mature tablets out there then, with more features and/or lower prices, and without all these nagging little issues we're seeing now. I'd also like to see more 3G versions (like the Acer Iconia A501) that aren't currently available. Hopefully they'll be 3G multi-band to work virtually anywhere that has 3G on 850, 900, 1900 and 2100 MHz bands.

[Sam Drucker]

I saw the Samsung usb cable included with the tablet, but it is from their port to a male USB, and so not useful for connecting usb devices, only porting to a PC via its female USB.

If you want to plug USB devices, such as mouse, speakers, keyboard, flash drives, hard drives etc.. you will have to buy special cables. Not a huge thing, as bluetooth will do many of the above. That and the SD card sold me on the iconia.

Still, the weight and size is a big plus for the Samsung - all my other devices are Samsung; I tend to like this brand. Toshiba also looked good, due to the replaceable battery (which ludicrously requires a screwdriver to change) but got sick of waiting for it. I had the iconia for over a month already.

I really wanted an Odroid, but too many drawbacks with that one too. http://www.hardkernel.com/renewal_2011/main.php

-my bolding-

You should be able to go to any of these IT malls and get a simple gender changer to deal with the male/female issues, or adapters to change USB to mini or micro USB (for example.) They would be cheaper and smaller than cables.

[lomatopo]

I too am holding off for 90 days. (I have a trip to the U.S. next week so was going to get a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1/16 GB via Newegg.) Mainly because the HW is so new, want to wait and let others discover potential display (main concern) issues, and see how the developer community coalesces around certain manufacturers. This aspect, developer support, is the most important to me. It indicates volume sales, market acceptance and a massive choice of custom software. Not worried about the Android OS, I can just upgrade, easy peasy.

The USB issues are more about software (file managers) and power, than physical or electrical interfaces. 16 GB seems like enough for me (~ 45 TV shows, or ~ 20 feature films, or a bazillion MP3s, audiocasts, audio books....) and I've got no issues using a connection to my PC (USB<-->Samsung connector, WiFi, Bluetooth) to transfer files.

On the 3G front I'm leaning towards not opting for that when it becomes available; maybe because of the incremental cost (~ + $100 guess), or the fact that I'll already be carrying a smartphone with/for voice and mobile broadband, so why have 3G on a tablet (for me). I assume you will not be able to use it as a GSM phone, or might at least look comical trying.

[Crushdepth]

I saw the Samsung usb cable included with the tablet, but it is from their port to a male USB, and so not useful for connecting usb devices, only porting to a PC via its female USB.

If you want to plug USB devices, such as mouse, speakers, keyboard, flash drives, hard drives etc.. you will have to buy special cables. Not a huge thing, as bluetooth will do many of the above. That and the SD card sold me on the iconia.

Still, the weight and size is a big plus for the Samsung - all my other devices are Samsung; I tend to like this brand. Toshiba also looked good, due to the replaceable battery (which ludicrously requires a screwdriver to change) but got sick of waiting for it. I had the iconia for over a month already.

I really wanted an Odroid, but too many drawbacks with that one too. http://www.hardkernel.com/renewal_2011/main.php

-my bolding-

You should be able to go to any of these IT malls and get a simple gender changer to deal with the male/female issues, or adapters to change USB to mini or micro USB (for example.) They would be cheaper and smaller than cables.

I read (I think, on Engadget) that the Samsung just *will not* support USB peripherals.

[Ponbkk]

I got my Acer 501 this week. The price seemed a good deal (look on the back side of the price sign) so I wonder if a new model in their new line (I see a 510 in the USA) is comig. I was a bit hesitant, and considered the Samsung. But in terms of old issues the 501 is preloaded with Android 3,2 and is up to 3.2.1 now and I will hold them to telling me it will upgrade to 4.. I have a USB NTFS drive mounted which is CONSIDERABLY larger than the 64 Gbytes memory (32Gb + 32 Gb micro SD) and it is indexed serving files over the wireless. I've played a number of 1080 files flawlessly and only noted a little stuttering on a '4K' movie I downloaded from Google. I've paired more bluetooth devices with it already than I have been able to pair with my Dell Windows 7 PC. The ICONIA supports things like HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps that you might be surprised (check the age of reviews of it). 3g! (Some reviews now hail it as the first with ATT 4G - I won't be using a SIM for a while). Elegant, slick, a better deal than the Ipad 2 in many respects. It's "massive" extra weight/thickness is insignificant and could just save it from sliding off an airplane seat tray some day.

I suppose I might pay too much at the SONY store, but does anyone have a GOOD idea where in Bangkok I can get the "micro hdmi type d cable"????????>

I hope my walk all over Panthip looking for a "micro hdmi type d cable" tomorrow will not be as unsuccessful as last weeks walk all over looking for a 6 (5.1) 0r 8 (7.1) channel audio switch. Anyone have ideas on that item either? I'd prefer for 3.5audio cables but can do the RCA input/outputs.

Edited April 27, 2012 by Ponbkk