Experience using the Acer Iconia Tab A500 tablet. Acer Iconia Tab A500 (tablet). Description, technical characteristics and reviews Platform, speed of operation

Introduction

Sorry, I had the device in my hands for a long time, but never got around to reviewing it. And yet I want to tell you a little about Acer Iconia Tab A500, so there will be a short operating experience with the important features and “tricks” of the tablet.

Let's start with a short digression, which concerns the names of Acer products. And although the Taiwanese office is unlikely to pay attention to my next cry from the heart regarding the intricacy of letters in the names of products, and the Russian office can do little, I will still grumble. While I was typing the title of the article – Acer – Iconia – Tab – A – 500 – my hands were tired. Because the company really likes to give its devices “concise” and “understandable” names: Acer Iconia Tab A500, Acer Iconia Smart, Acer TravelMate 8372TG and so on. Why not just call the tablets Acer A500 and W500, for example, is a mystery to me. Obviously, the letters of the alphabet are quite enough to outline all product lines from Acer and even subclasses.

However, Acer adds the prefix Iconia to the names, and then Tab, just to be sure. In general, the problem of names has existed for several years and is typical for almost all manufacturers, not just Acer. But there were times when there were Nokia phones with simple and understandable digital indices, and everyone knew for sure that if Nokia starts with a one, it is an inexpensive device (1100), and if it starts with an eight, it is very expensive (8800). But that’s a completely different story, and now let’s return to our tablet, or rather the tablet, if we follow the logical abbreviation from Tab.

Design, case materials, assembly

On the background thin tablets from Apple and Samsung and the “original” HTC Flyer from the design point of view, the toy from Acer looks strange. Firstly, because the A500 is massive and heavy, and secondly, it seems to me that there is no design thought or torment here, the tablet was simply created based on the screen diagonal and the platform used. The result was a massive contraption with a metal body.

Dimensions and simple design are not disadvantages of the tablet, but simply its features. If we were talking about a device that is the only one with similar functionality, then it would be worth saying that it is fairly large and simple appearance- disadvantages, but there are now a huge number of models on the tablet market, and the user is free to choose between thin, light and plastic or thick, heavy and metal. It's simple additional choice for us, users, and it’s great that it exists.

Due to the use of a metal “back”, the tablet hardly gets dirty, and besides, the metal surface is laser engraved (thin, frequent stripes), so that no scratches or abrasions, even if they occur, are visible on the case. The screen gets dirty, just like any other large touch display.

Regarding the assembly, I have one complaint; in my sample there was a very large gap between the protective glass of the screen and the top end. “Large” is about one and a half millimeters. Naturally, dust and small particles quickly filled into this gap. If you don’t look closely, you won’t see any of this, but I don’t like the very fact that there is such a gap. Although, maybe these are problems exclusively with my sample.

Video review by Igor Soprun:

Dimensions

The dimensions of the tablet are impressive, as is the weight:

Acer Tab A500– 260 x 177 x 13.3 mm, 730 grams
Apple iPad 2 – 241.2 x 185.7 x 8.8 mm, 601 grams
LG Optimus Pad– 243.8 x 150 x 12.7 mm, 621 grams
Motorola XOOM– 249.1 x 167.8 x 12.9 mm, 730 grams

Holding the A500 with one hand for more than a couple of minutes is uncomfortable and your hand gets tired. Using two hands is more comfortable, but, in my opinion, reading from it or watching a two-hour video while holding the device suspended is still inconvenient. So there remains the option of using the included case, in which the tablet can be placed on the table and watch video from it. Or keep the “toy” on your lap if you decide to watch a movie during the flight. That is why the weight of the tablet cannot be called its feature. This is a clear drawback that limits the possibilities for using the model.

Control

The main control element is the display, it responds perfectly to touches, there are no problems with it. In addition, the tablet has hardware keys for volume, screen on/off, and a switch so that the tablet does not automatically change the display orientation. This is a convenient button, because it happens that when you hold the tablet in your hands and tilt it a little, the picture on it turns upside down. I would like to disable the auto-rotate function, but sometimes it is needed. So you either have to endure occasional random auto-flips or not use this function.

With a switch such as the Acer Tab A500, this problem does not arise. One thing is offensive: with a weight of 730 grams, you will almost never use the tablet when it is in weight, and when it is lying on your lap or standing on a table, the chances that the auto-flip screen function will work are zero.

Display

The tablet has a capacitive touch LCD display with a diagonal of 10.1" and a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. The physical dimensions of the screen are 136x218 mm. The screen is not bad, it has a reserve of brightness (although in the daytime in the sun the picture is still barely visible), the color rendition is calm, the colors are not rich , but not too dim. If I had to describe the tablet’s screen in one word, I would say “ordinary.” When you use the Acer Tab A500, you simply do not notice any pros or cons of the screen. The viewing angles of the display are maximum.

Cameras

The tablet has two cameras, 2 MP front and 5 MP rear with flash. During the month during which I used the tablet, I did not use a single camera. Perhaps when Skype makes a version of the client that will support the video calling function on any smartphone and tablet with a camera, and not just those that are on the list of supported ones, the camera in the tablet will become more useful. In the meantime, it seems to me that this is a completely unnecessary element in Android tablets.

Battery

The tablet has a non-removable Li-Ion battery capacity 3260 mAh. The A500 charge lasted me an average of 5 hours of use. If you watch the video, the time is reduced to 4 hours. At the same time, Wi-Fi on the tablet was constantly turned on, including while watching a video. These are averages.

Just for fun, I conducted a small experiment and checked in what mode the tablet should work so that its charge would be “enough” to watch three movies, that’s about 6 hours. It turned out to be simple: if you turn on the “airplane” mode and set the brightness level to about 20%, the tablet lasts for about 6 hours.

Platform, speed

The tablet is powered by a dual-core processor with a frequency of 1 GHz, on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 platform. We all remember the specifications of this platform, in particular support for FullHD video decoding

In practice, tablets with Tegra on board are still not very good at playing HD video, and the Acer Tab A500 is no exception. Videos in 1080p (1920x1080 pixels) are shown on the tablet with delays and frame drops. With 720p it’s better, the picture almost doesn’t slow down, but the sound delay in my sample was simply terrible (more than 10 seconds). In this case, we are not only talking about playing videos in a standard player, I tried playing videos in RockPlayer and MoboPlayer - the situation is the same.

That is, on a tablet you can watch various rips in average quality without any problems, but HD video is not. Otherwise, there are no problems with the speed of operation. The device has 1 GB random access memory and 16 GB (there is a version with 32 GB) of memory for data storage. There is also a card slot microSD memory, which is closed with a plastic plug, which, in turn, on my sample was very loosely attached to the body. There is a feeling that if you use a card reader and constantly open and close this plug, sooner or later it will simply fall off.

Interfaces

The tablet has Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b/g/n) and Bluetooth (2.1) modules. 3.5 mm headphone jack, HDMI output, microUSB for connecting to a computer, separate charging connector (via micro USB tablet does not charge), as well as a proprietary connector at the bottom.

And the Acer Iconia Tab A500 has a regular USB connector, which, in my opinion, is cool. I tried connecting to the tablet HDD With external power supply(detected and working), a couple of flash drives (working), your Logitech keyboard Illuminated (works immediately after connection, while virtual keyboard hiding). In addition, you can connect a camera to the tablet, in this case a utility is launched, with the help of which all pictures from the camera can be transferred to the device at once (tested with a Canon EOS 1000D - it works).

Software

Everything here is standard, and I really don’t know what to add. In the current version, the Android 3.1 system for tablets has become quite functional, my Acer Tab A500 did not glitch, did not reboot or freeze. The set of software in the tablet is standard, there are a couple of additional programs, but, for my taste, these are far from the best representatives of the genre, and I replaced them with other applications.

Conclusion

The cost of the 16 GB version of the Acer Iconia Tab A500 in Russia averages 14,000 rubles. You can find it for 13,500, the “white” price is 14,990. It is the low cost of the tablet that is the main argument for choosing this model. If the noticeable weight and dimensions, in particular thickness, do not bother you, then when choosing a tablet with a large screen, the Tab A500 should be considered among the first. This device, of course, has its drawbacks, but it is still a solid workhorse for those who have already found a use for tablets.

Artem Lutfullin ()

The expansion of tablets into the market continues, and every month more and more interesting models hit store shelves. One of the most promising new products is the Acer Iconia Tab A500 tablet, running the operating system Google Android 3.0.

The first thing that makes you pay attention to it is the Android 3.x operating system: the most current tablet operating system in 2011 (iOS 4.3, of course, is no worse, but it is inseparable from the iPad)! Secondly, and by no means less important, is the attractive price. In Moscow retail, Iconia Tab sells for an average of 16-17 thousand rubles, but if you wish, you can find it cheaper. Thus, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 will cost less money than the iPad 2, and is about the same as the first iPad. But is the functionality of the Iconia Tab comparable to that of an Apple tablet? Let's try to answer this question, but first, let's look at the configuration and design of the Iconia Tab. Note that we tested the Acer Iconia Tab A500 tablet with Android 3.0 OS, and an update to version 3.1 is currently available.

Contents of delivery

The tablet is sold in a massive box. But its size in this case is justified not only by the desire to impress the buyer, but also by its rather rich content.

In addition to the tablet itself, the kit includes six booklets (information about the first use, passport, safety information, warranty and quick guide; Russification is present everywhere except the passport), a cloth for cleaning the screen, Charger, a USB-Micro-USB cable and even (unprecedented generosity!) a case.

The case deserves special mention. It is made of a suede-like material. The material is quite pleasant to the touch, but easily soiled - after a short period of use and carrying in a bag, the appearance of the case becomes very unsightly. The slots in the case are made quite conveniently - all buttons, connectors and the camera are accessible. With two exceptions: the case must be removed, firstly, to remove the memory card, and secondly, to press the Reset button and reboot the tablet. But these are certainly not the most frequent operations that a user may need. A much bigger disadvantage is that the tablet is placed in and taken out of the case with great difficulty.

The cover that covers the tablet in the case immediately makes you remember the sensational case designed for the iPad 2. But there are actually no magnets there (and even if there are, they do not work in conjunction with the tablet). Consequently, when you close the case, the tablet does not turn off at all, and vice versa, it does not turn on when you open it. Why it was necessary to “borrow” the external side of the Apple solution without implementing similar functionality remains a mystery to us. The only explanation is the ability to place the tablet in a case in such a way that it rests on these “pseudo-magnets” and is in a position convenient for a person sitting at a table.

But in general, the tablet’s equipment deserves high praise. If you don’t find fault with the case, then the only criticism that can be deserved is the lack of an HDMI-Micro-HDMI cable, which the user will still have to buy if he wants to watch video from the tablet on a TV or monitor.

P.S. After the publication of the article, many readers wrote to us that they did not have a cover included. So, it is likely that the case is indeed not included as standard and must be purchased separately. In general, if the presence of a cover is important to you, before purchasing, check with the seller about its availability.

Design

Externally, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 makes a very pleasant impression. Finally, tablet manufacturers have realized that they don’t need to make iPad clones - they need to come up with their own, individual design. Acer has that personality.

The case has rounded top and bottom edges, and all corners of the device are slightly rounded. These edges, as well as the entire back surface, are made of metal painted bronze. There is an Acer logo in the center of the back cover. The speakers are located at the bottom near the left and right corners, and the camera and flash are located near the top right corner.

On the top edge of the device we see (from right to left): a volume rocker (very tight), a lever to block the change of screen orientation, as well as a microSD card slot hidden under an unreasonably long lid (in models with a 3G module, under the same lid next to The microSD slot is where the SIM card slot is located).

On the right side there are the following connectors (from top to bottom): power, Micro-USB and full USB port(with USB-host support), as well as a Reset button. At the bottom there is only a dock connector (for accessories), on the left there is Micro-HDMI, a standard headphone jack and an on/off button.

There are no buttons on the front panel, made of glass, but the webcam peephole is visible at the top left.

The build quality is generally good, but the case still creaks in some places.

The weight of the tablet is rather large - 765 grams (including battery). For comparison, the iPad 2 without a 3G module weighs 601 grams, and the Samsung tablet is even less (but the case is plastic, not metal).

	Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1	Acer Iconia Tab A500	ASUS Eee Pad Transformer	Apple iPad 2
Screen (size in inches, matrix type) / resolution, pixels	10.1″, PLS / 1280x800	10.1″, MVA / 1280x800	10.1″, IPS / 1280x800	9.7″, IPS / 1024x768
CPU		2-core, 1 GHz (NVIDIA Tegra 2 platform)	2-core, 1 GHz (NVIDIA Tegra 2 platform)	2-core, 1 GHz (Apple A5)
RAM	1 GB	1 GB	1 GB	512 MB
Flash memory	from 16 to 64 GB	16 or 32 GB	16 or 32 GB	from 16 to 64 GB
Memory card support	no / microSD in version with 3G	microSD	microSD	no (via accessory for photo upload only)
Wireless connection	Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) / 3G (on some models) / BT 3.0		Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) / BT 2.1 + EDR	Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) / 3G (on some models) / BT 2.1 + EDR
Camera (photo)	front (2 MP), rear (3 MP)	front (2 MP), rear (5 MP)	front (1.2 MP), rear (5 MP)	front (0.3 MP), rear (0.7 MP)
Dimensions (mm)	256.7×175.3×8.6	260×177×13	271×171×12.98	241.2×185.7×8.8
Weight (g)	565	760	680	601
Price * (rubles)	From 18,990	From 14,990	From 16,290 (without docking station)	From 18,990

* - prices are indicated at the time of publication of the article.

Screen

The 10.1-inch screen with a resolution of 1280×800 is one of the main advantages of the Acer tablet. Some sources claim that the matrix here is MVA (and not the usual TN-film), and you can believe this: color saturation and viewing angles are very good. When tilting the tablet in all directions, we did not notice any significant color distortion, although a bright, colorful picture was displayed on the screen. In general, of the tablets we tested, Acer has one of the best screens. Responsiveness also did not cause any complaints (naturally, the screen is capacitive).

The only negative of the screen is the insufficient brightness margin. To ensure a comfortable brightness level when using the tablet in a room, I had to set the brightness almost to maximum. It is clear that this will not be enough in the sun. And, again, all people have different preferences - some may think that even when used indoors, the tablet does not provide a bright enough picture.

Operating system and applications

We told you about Android 3.x OS itself, so we recommend that you familiarize yourself with it if for some reason you missed it. But in an article about the Acer Iconia Tab A500, we still cannot do without a small description of the “software” features.

The Google Android OS on the tablet is presented in a “pure” form and practically without any additional software - except that the clear.fi utility is installed (for managing multimedia content) and a couple of demo versions of games from the NVIDIA Tegra Zone catalog - NFS Shift and Hero of Sparta (the Tegra Zone application itself is also on the tablet). But the lack of a large amount of additional software is not a minus in this case. After all, as already mentioned in the previous article, Android 3.x, unlike Android 2.x, does not require any special modification - the system is initially very friendly and beautiful.

With one exception: Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) works very poorly with video and audio. The player and codecs preinstalled in the system do not allow you to feel free when “communicating” with multimedia content. The situation is slightly improved by the free MoboPlayer from the Android Market, but it does not show all videos flawlessly (this will be discussed below). Therefore, as a complaint to the manufacturer of Iconia Tab, we can make the following: if Android 3.0 does not have a built-in tool that works well with video, such a program should have been written and pre-installed on the tablet (preferably with a set of codecs). Because playing video files is one of the main functions of any tablet. And it’s very strange that the owner of a tablet is forced to look for something else in the Market to get basic functionality.

By the way, the OS on the Iconia Tab is installed without root rights. This means that, for example, such a basic operation as taking a screenshot will not be available to you. However, craftsmen have already found a way to hack Andoid 3.0 on the Iconia Tab A500 and gain superuser rights. To do this, you need to download the Gingerbreak 1.2 program, write it to microSD card, install the card in the tablet, install the program, block the change in the position of the picture on the screen (putting the tablet in portrait mode) and then launch the program. When the operation is complete, the tablet will reboot, and you will see a “Superuser” icon in the application menu. Now you can install any program to take screenshots and enjoy other OS features.

And one more small detail. As we have already said, the standard virtual keyboard in Android 3.0 is not very convenient. But the Iconia Tab A500 has a USB port, which means you can connect a physical keyboard. And what’s good is that the OS perfectly supports working with a physical keyboard, automatically disabling the virtual one. If we still need it, then we can call it “manually”. But it makes no sense to connect a mouse - the OS simply cannot use it. We also failed to connect the Bluetooth keyboard - the tablet “didn’t see it”. But perhaps it is a matter of incompatibility of specific devices.

Note that after updating the OS to 3.1, many problems are eliminated - in particular, connecting a mouse now does not cause difficulties.

Performance

One of the most difficult issues with the Acer Iconia Tab A500 is performance. How to evaluate it is not very clear. A number of test applications in the Android Market do not provide confidence in the correctness of the assessment, since they are focused on phones and, accordingly, older versions of the Android OS. For example, Quadrant Standard, although it showed the leadership of the Iconia Tab A500 (the tablet scored 1997 points), but compared it with the Nexus One, Motorola Droid X, HTC Evo and other smartphones. It is clear that such a comparison tells us absolutely nothing. On the other hand, if you think about it sensibly, you have to admit that there’s nothing special to compare Iconia with.

The NVIDIA Tegra 2 platform installed in the tablet (with a dual-core 1 GHz processor and hardware support for Full HD video) has already become the de facto standard for top-end tablets running Android 3.x. Samsung tablets are built on it Galaxy Tab 10.1, Asus Eee Pad Transformer and many other models. What is the point of comparing tablets on the same platform is unclear. Therefore, the most logical comparison seems to be the Iconia Tab A500 and the Apple iPad 2. But here another problem awaits us: the iPad 2 runs on iOS, and the set of test applications for it in the AppStore is completely different. And the main thing is that this comparison will satisfy only theoretical interest (which is faster - NVIDIA Tegra 2 or Apple A5?). Because the set of games and resource-intensive applications for iOS and Android is again different. And when you buy an iPad 2, you can be sure that all iPad games will run on it without problems. The same is true for the Tegra 2 / Android combination.

Thus, there is no need for such testing (and, frankly, there is no such possibility) yet. The situation will change when tablets with Android 3.x appear on the market, built on other platforms (for example, Intel Oak Trail), or when new varieties of processors based on ARM architecture are released (for example, NVIDIA Tegra 3) - then the question is: , where productivity is higher, the problem will be more acute. In the meantime, there are no particular alternatives - and this, on the one hand, is bad, but on the other hand, it is good. After all, if you now buy a tablet with NVIDIA Tegra 2 and Android 3.x, you can be sure that all games from the Android Market and Tegra Zone will work best for you.

But why are we only talking about games? What about Full HD video playback? And here we have to admit that nothing concrete can be said about Full HD playback. In theory, NVIDIA Tegra 2 should support 1080p video decoding without any problems. But in practice, everything turns out not so rosy: on the Acer Iconia Tab A500, a 1080p video (1920x1080) was slow and sound was lost. As for the 720p resolution, there were similar problems here. That is, the issue is clearly not in the processor as such, but in software(OS, player, codec) or possibly the tablet firmware.

Note that on the iPad 2, Full HD video is played back without problems, but there is no practical point in playing it - even when connected to an external screen, the tablet is only able to transmit 720p video.

But as for web surfing and any other operations in the OS, there are no complaints at all. The browser works very quickly - this is almost the first thing you notice when you start doing something on the tablet. No slowdowns were noticed in the menu or in the Android Market either.

Battery life

The device's battery life is average. So, in standard definition video playback mode, the tablet worked for about five hours (although we did not turn off Wi-Fi, but there were no active applications in the background). With active use, including studying the interface, web surfing, a certain number of 3D games, etc., the tablet “lived” for about six hours. It is clear that if our task includes only reading or only web surfing (especially without watching online videos), the result will be significantly better. If you play 3D games without interruption without turning off Wi-Fi, then, on the contrary, the tablet will last even less on one charge.

Camera

The tablet is equipped with two cameras. The front camera (2 MP) is designed for video calls, the rear camera (5 MP) is for taking photos and videos.

And although we already repeat like a spell that only testers and technologists will take photos or videos on a tablet with a ten-inch diagonal screen, manufacturers persistently equip their tablets with rear video cameras. Apparently vendors are confident that augmented reality browsers are about to become very popular. So Acer didn’t try to be original. And what’s more, she didn’t skimp on the flash. But the quality of photographs, even with flash, is very far from perfect (by the way, often the flash only spoils the picture).

As for video, the tablet can shoot videos with a resolution of 720p, but the picture quality is still very mediocre (the size of a 30-second video is 30.8 MB).

In my opinion, if the tablet didn’t have a camera at all, but it cost at least 500 rubles cheaper, it would be better than what we have now.

conclusions

The situation with video playback needs to be resolved somehow. And quickly. But otherwise there are no serious complaints about the tablet. This is a modern device with an interesting design, which, moreover, has a more than reasonable price. Yes, it's time battery life not outstanding (compared to iPad). Yes, the mass is quite large. But I wouldn’t refuse to buy the Acer Iconia Tab A500 just because of these two nuances. Therefore, if you are generally satisfied with the characteristics of the Acer Iconia Tab A500, then you can safely buy it. However, before purchasing, I advise you to compare it in the store with its two main competitors - ASUS Eee Pad Transformer and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. You might like them better. Although the Acer Iconia Tab A500 has a more attractive low price.

2 years ago

Good build, powerful hardware, fast, beautiful, cool juicy screen with high resolution and responsive multi-touch, loud speakers, long operation on a single charge, and most importantly - the price (competitors are much more expensive).

2 years ago

There is no time to list them all

2 years ago

1. Price 2. High-quality screen and case 3. Availability of regular USB 4. Flash support 5. Availability bad cameras 6. Gorgeous menu and nothing glitches

2 years ago

1. Price. Very adequate for this device. (Compared to Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with the same characteristics) 2. Display. Bright, clear, high resolution. It is convenient to read books (even in *.txt format). Convenient to watch movies. Adjustable backlight. 3. Games. The Market is full of HD games - choose any one. 4. Battery. Holds a charge for up to ~12 hours (depending on how you use it). 5. Charging is not from USB, but from the network. Charges from the mains in 2 hours. 6. HDMI output. 7. Two cameras. Skype works well. Flash. Can be used as a flashlight. 8. USB input for flash drives, external drives, mice, keyboards. You can even put your phone on charge. 9. Speakers. The sound is clear and loud. Dolby Mobile was a delight. 10. 32 Gb of memory and, in addition, a slot for a microSD card. 11. Well, Android OS. You yourself know all its advantages

2 years ago

1. Works quickly and without brakes - it was installed latest version Android 2. The device itself is well-built (I don’t consider its weight a disadvantage - it’s not that big for my conditions of use) 3. The brightness of the screen is quite enough for me personally

2 years ago

Lots of advantages. Separately, it is worth noting the full USB

2 years ago

Powerful hardware, quality workmanship, USB host, good built-in interface from Acer, long battery life (although here this parameter will also depend on the programs and the “straightforwardness” of the developers. Intelligent pricing policy from Acer.

2 years ago

Availability of a full-fledged USB port, with the ability to connect a keyboard, any types of flash drives, hard drives- and all this “on the fly”. Micro-SD memory card slot. Responsive screen. Powerful processor - you can watch even quite “heavy” videos (2-2.5 GB) without any brakes (when using MX video player). In firmware 3.2 it understands ISO images DVD discs(though not too fancy). Large reserve of screen brightness. Capacious battery - 7 hours of video without problems. Great sound. WiFi works reliably - without glitches or freezes.

2 years ago

Pleasant appearance; Metal back cover(very pleasant to the touch); Fast operating speed; Long lasting battery.

2 years ago

Great model, I like everything about it! Android 3.2 was not completely finalized, but now the tablet itself has been updated to 4.0 and everything works perfectly!

2 years ago

The display is stained (not critical), and the weight is not small (200 g heavier than the gnusmas 10.1), that’s probably all.

2 years ago

By and large there are 2 of them
1 Smudged screen
2 Short charging cord

2 years ago

1. There are very few toys and interesting applications for the device (probably this can be fixed because it a new version android)2. Can't charge from usb 3. Micro HDMI is very hard to find. I didn’t find any more cons))

2 years ago

There are few disadvantages:
1. Raw Android. Sometimes it gets stuck, not all applications work.
2. There is no support for USB Modem (can be treated with special firmware).
3. The sensor slows down slightly.
4. After buying a house, I struggled with peeling off all the stickers from the device.
Well, that’s all.

2 years ago

Stained screen, short charging cord

2 years ago

The glossiness of the screen, which negates the comfort of watching movies when the tablet is exposed to daylight or sun. "Unfinished" HoneyComb, both in 3.0 and 3.1 (for example, the built-in browser hangs in 3.0 and continues to hang). But this is more of a complaint against Google. Few good games for Tegra 2. Thus, in terms of gaming, the tablet's capabilities have not been fully realized. But I hope the situation will change.

2 years ago

The GPS is rather weak - it cannot find satellites indoors, but outdoors - no problem.
For some reason, the videos slow down when watching online (despite the timely loading).
Oddly enough, it is very difficult to buy anti-reflective film in a retail network, but the glare, as usual now, is quite cool.
The rest are only for girls: “heavy” and “masculine” design.

2 years ago

Sometimes the standard browser crashes :(
There is no support for NTFS file system in flash drives and external hard drives.

2 years ago

There are practically none.....except that the microphone wheezes a little when recording, but everything is fine.

The presentation of the prototype of this tablet took place in front of a huge crowd of press in November 2010. In addition to the technical characteristics, the name and start date of sales remained a mystery to everyone. Only in 2011, at one of the next presentations, Acer revealed the name of the tablet. It was the Acer Iconia Tab A500 tablet, which experts immediately dubbed the latter’s closest competitor at that time. iPad versions 2.

Which comes in handy in some life situations. Yes, and there is somewhere to connect a regular flash drive without any additional accessories. The bottom end is entirely devoted to connectors for the docking station. On the left side there is a standard headphone jack and a power button.

There are no keys visible from the front. Only a peephole of the main camera above the monitor.
The metal case reliably protects the insides, but when pressed lightly, creaking can be heard in some places.

The screen with a diagonal of 10.1 capacitive has a resolution of 1200 X 800. According to experts, it is one of the best among Android tablet PC models.

2 Technical specifications

Processor - dual-core, 1 GHz on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 platform.
RAM - 1 GB like .
Flash drive with a choice of 16 and 32 GB.
Support for microSD expansion cards.
Wireless connection with using Wi-Fi and 3G (model 501), Bluetooth V 2.1 like .
Two cameras - front 5 MP, additional 2 MP.
Dimensions: 260 x 177 x 13.
Weight -760 g, same as .
OS - Android 3.x.

2.1 Acer Iconia Tab A500 tablet performance

The processor power and RAM capacity are enough to perform all multimedia tasks. Surfing the Internet goes without problems. Everything seems to be working fine. But once it comes to playing the video High Quality, then problems begin. The picture is drawn with a clearly noticeable delay, and errors in the sound are also audible.

These interferences are not related to performance, but to the inability of the OS and its components to perform this task. All problems with video playback disappear after installing Android OS version 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich on the device.

The only advantage of the Acer Iconia Tab A500 cameras is the presence of a flash on the main one. Everything else is the same as its competitors - the quality of pictures and videos leaves much to be desired. The tablet's battery charge lasts for 6 hours of “swimming” on the Internet and for 5 hours of watching videos like . Average results.

2.2 Video review of the Acer Iconia Tab A500 tablet

2.3 Drawing conclusions

The device has its own bright style. At high performance levels, battery life is short. The only huge disadvantage of this tablet is the problem of playing high-quality videos, which can be solved by reinstalling the OS version to a later one.

When starting a review of any Internet tablet running the Android operating system, it is very difficult to resist parallels with the Apple iPad. Actually, the very appearance of the tablet version of Android (called Honeycomb) was a reaction to the popularity of the iPad. Moreover, in the case of Honeycomb, Google tried to be proactive by introducing the operating system itself and the first tablet based on it (Motorola Xoom) even before the official announcement of the iPad 2. Unfortunately, in most markets (including, oddly enough, and in Ukrainian) Honeycomb tablets appeared much later than the iPad 2. What can they oppose to Apple's brainchild? Let's try to figure this out with an example.

Attention: Today, in terms of software, all Android Honeycomb tablets are the same. That is why I will not describe here software part Acer Iconia Tab A500, instead I recommend that you read our material dedicated to this operating system:

Specifications Acer Iconia Tab A500

Operating system: Google Android 3.0.
Display: 10 inches, TFT (TN+Film), 1280x800 pixels, 16 million colors, touch (capacitive matrix).
Camera: 5 MP, autofocus, geotagging, video recording; front-camera for video calls.
CPU: NVIDIA Tegra 2, two computing cores ARM Cortex A9, clock frequency 1 GHz; integrated video accelerator GeForce ULP.
RAM: 1 GB.
Flash memory: 16 GB + microSDHC cards.
Multimedia capabilities: MP3 player, FM receiver, video player (supports MPEG-4, Divx, Xvid, H.264), video editor, YouTube integration, Acer Clear.fi (DLNA client).
Wireless technologies: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 HS, optional 3G (UMTS/HSPA 900/2100).
Interface connector: Acer Dock connector, 3.5 mm headphone output, USB, microUSB, microHDMI.
GPS: yes, A-GPS support, Google support Maps.
Dimensions and weight: 260x177x13 mm, 730 grams.

Appearance, design, impressions

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 is a moderately thin (13 mm) but quite weighty (730 grams) tablet with a 10-inch screen. Due to its wide-format proportions, the device looks more elongated than the iPad 2. The main part of the body is made of textured aluminum, pleasant to the touch - and also non-marking. In your hands, the tablet feels like a strong and solid device, capable of surviving all troubles without any problems. Everyday life, however, in terms of design and build quality, it also has some minor drawbacks: in particular, the SIM/microSD slot cover looks very suspicious, so I wouldn’t bet on its durability.

Like most Honeycomb tablets, the Iconia Tab A500 is devoid of any hardware keys (mechanical or touch) on the front panel - all the user's attention is drawn to the screen. At the back are the stereo speaker grilles, as well as the lens and flash of the built-in 5-megapixel camera. On the sides, Acer has placed a whole scattering of ports and control elements of varying degrees of usefulness. The first includes slots for microSD memory cards and SIM cards, microHDMI, microUSB and full-size USB connectors, a jack for connecting a charger, a headphone output and even a separate connector for connecting a docking station; the second includes a volume key, a screen rotation lock slider, a power/lock button, and even a recessed Reset button, which must be pressed with the tip of a ballpoint pen or other thin object.

Overall, there is no doubt that the Iconia Tab A500 is potentially significantly superior to both the first and second iPad in terms of connectivity capabilities, but some of these capabilities are not used as of today: for example, the USB port can connect drives formatted in file system FAT32, but other peripherals (including mice) are not yet supported. Acer claims to support USB keyboards, but just for fun, I connected the proprietary keyboard included with the Acer nettop to the Iconia Tab Aspire One R3600 - and A500 flatly refused to recognize it. However, this problem will be solved when the tablet receives the promised update to Android 3.1.

The Iconia Tab A500 comes with a nice case that turns into a desktop stand with just a flick of the wrist.

Screen

The screen of the Acer Iconia Tab A500 demonstrates impressive viewing angles for a TN matrix

Acer Iconia Tab A500 is equipped with a 10-inch widescreen screen with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. This resolution makes web surfing very convenient, especially considering the improved browser in Android Honeycomb. The screen is somewhat inferior in quality to the IPS matrix in the iPad 2, but demonstrates excellent quality by the standards of TN panels: viewing angles and black levels are very good. Somewhat distracting from this splendor is the mirror coating of the display, which under the same conditions for some reason glares much more strongly than protective glass iPad 2. Finally, one cannot help but notice that the touch surface in the Acer Iconia Tab is made using capacitive technology (if you look closely, you can see a matrix of touch elements on the screen) and supports 10-point multi-touch, that is, if desired, the tablet can be used as a piano - all 10 fingers at the same time. (You can laugh, it was a joke.)

Sound

We usually cover the screen and sound in the same section, but the built-in stereo speakers in the Acer Iconia Tab A500 are so good that I decided to devote a separate paragraph to them. They produce a very loud and surprisingly composed sound and do not wheeze even at maximum volume - an outstanding achievement for such a thin device. The A500 supports a set of switchable Dolby Mobile "enhancers", which greatly degrade the sound in headphones, but are surprisingly useful when listening to music or watching movies through the tablet's speakers. Overall, the sound path of the Iconia Tab is superior to all other tablets I have seen and deserves the highest rating.

Performance

For my taste, evaluate the performance of tablets on Android based Honeycomb is a rather pointless exercise, since they all currently use the same chipset - NVIDIA Tegra 2 - and score approximately the same number of parrots in the benchmarks. Subjectively, the operating speed of any Android tablet still lags behind not only the iPad 2, but also the first iPad: while Apple devices delight the user with responsiveness, smooth animation and impeccable visual effects, Android tablets often skip frames when drawing the interface and therefore look and feel “twitchy”. Personally, I am still convinced that the operating system itself is to blame. If representatives of Google are reading this review, I urge them to finally crawl out of the cave: in 2011, do not use advanced GPU capabilities to render the interface is a crime against the user.

Battery life

Acer Iconia Tab A500 showed good battery life, although not quite up to the high bar set Apple tablets. In video playback mode, the A500 lasted 7 hours (iPad 2 demonstrated 11 hours of battery life in the same test). If you don’t watch videos continuously, but do something more productive, the tablet in occasional use mode is quite capable of lasting a couple of working days. In my opinion, this autonomy is more than enough for a device that claims to be a laptop replacement. By the way, since we are talking about autonomy, I would like to inform you that the tablet cannot be charged from USB - it needs its own charger with a special connector.

Bottom line

From a hardware point of view, it’s hard to find fault with the Acer Iconia Tab A500 tablet - it’s really very good, although not perfect. To the operating room Android system Honeycomb I personally have questions that I believe other users may also have; main problem as of today there is a lack of applications optimized for Honeycomb. Ultimately, everything will be decided by price, and here Acer, in my opinion, has hit the nail on the head: the Iconia Tab A500 in Ukraine will cost $599 (4,800 hryvnia) in the version without a 3G modem and $649 (5,200 hryvnia) with one. This roughly corresponds to the Ukrainian prices for the first iPad and is significantly cheaper than the iPad 2. Overall, the Iconia Tab A500 will be an excellent choice for Android fans and those who just want to buy a tablet, but are not ready to get involved with the Apple ecosystem. For everyone else, I still recommend either buying an iPad/iPad 2 now, or waiting six months and see how quickly the situation with applications for Android tablets improves.

6 reasons to buy Acer Iconia Tab A500:

nice design;
durable metal case;
good screen;
wide expansion and connection possibilities;
excellent sound quality;
Decent battery life.

1 reason not to buy Acer Iconia Tab A500:

almost complete lack of applications optimized for Android Honeycomb.