Acer Iconia A500 Android Tablet

él statutorio

I bought one of these in the states a few weeks ago. It was a toss up between it and the Xoom. The specs are pretty much the same but the Acer was $100 cheaper.

I have to say that I'm pretty damn impressed by it, the battery life is amazing on it (it has two batteries) its heavy compared to the xoom and the ipad2 but not excessively so.

Has anyone else here tried one?

wes

I have one, and no complaints with it so far. The battery lasts me 2 or 3 days with my current usage, which would invovle some light web browsing, and reading some books as well.

él statutorio

Yeah the battery life is pretty amazing alright. I used it fairly constantly on a few long haul flights this week, mainly gaming, and I still had over 50% left when I got home.

My only gripe is the lack of honeycomb apps out there

killbillvol2

I looked at one a few weeks ago. Tbh, it felt like a brick compared to an iPad. (I'm never going to buy an iPad but it looks good). How does it feel in daily use?

él statutorio

It isn't actually that bad. I was worried about the weight myself but it seems to be fine so far. I've found that I don't actually notice the weight of it anymore. The only time I'm holding it for a prolonged period of time is for gaming and that's usually two handed anyway.

wayne040576

Is it the Wifi only version that's available at the moment or is the 3G version also available?

wes

I have only seen the Wifi one.

él statutorio

I just have the 16gb wifi version

él statutorio

Just installing my 3.1 update now!

*edit*
False alarm, it's not 3.1

kyote00

I have one for last few weeks.

So far very impressed. The USB host mode is very useful with full size port.
I have also connected keyboards, flash drives and disks - although nfts file systems not supported til 3.1 (I think).

I couldn't really see any difference in display quality between the xoom,Ipad and acer.....

It is definately heavier than the ipad but the UI on the Ipad now looks very dated.

Beside the port for the SD card, I notice a blank/covered port probably for sim card in some future version.....


Only issue is the lack of accesorises like covers, protector skins.....

thomasj

The introduction of acers other two tablets, the a100 and a101 to the tablet market has been put back to later in the year. Both were to go on sale on the 15th.

These two tablets were to be 7' tablets with honeycomb from the get go. The a101 will be the 3g version

Apparently, the honeycomb os wasnt built with 7' tablets in mind, the applications didnt work well on the tablets. Apparently google is looking into this.

It will be interesting to see how this effects the introduction of honeycomb to the other 7' tablets including the htc flyer
[URL] http://m.cnet.com/Article.rbml?nid=20066469&cid=latest&bid=251&webref=reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20066469-251.html? [/URL]

conor.hogan.2

where did you buy and price?

él statutorio

kyote00 wrote: »

I have one for last few weeks.

So far very impressed. The USB host mode is very useful with full size port.
I have also connected keyboards, flash drives and disks - although nfts file systems not supported til 3.1 (I think).

I couldn't really see any difference in display quality between the xoom,Ipad and acer.....

It is definately heavier than the ipad but the UI on the Ipad now looks very dated.

Beside the port for the SD card, I notice a blank/covered port probably for sim card in some future version.....


Only issue is the lack of accesorises like covers, protector skins.....

There is a nice cover/stand available, similar to the ipad2 cover/stand. It's about $40 I think.

él statutorio

http://store.acer.com/store/aceremea/en_GB/pd/ThemeID.24985700/productID.228408800?resid=Td7D-woHAtcAAHGD5HYAAAAZ&rests=1306444799453&themeID=20845700

thomasj

Can i ask does this tablet allow (micro) usb charging?

This is one factor as to why i would buy the a101 7' tablet when it comes out eventually.

Blazer

It was a toss up between this and the Xoom yesterday (couldn't get the ipad 2 )..
after reading a few reviews about the poor screen on the iconia and apparently battery life was only 5 hours compared to the xoom's 10 hour I went for the Xoom...
Very happy with it so far...of course compared to iOS Honeycomb is still sluggish and android marketplace has a lot of catching up to get to Apple standards....not having a honeycomb section is ridiculous..sooner Google take complete control and start filtering out the crap apps the better for all of us..


Back to the acer...looks then like Curries and pc world got their specs wrong when only claiming 5 hour battery life..

él statutorio

Sc@recrow wrote: »

It was a toss up between this and the Xoom yesterday (couldn't get the ipad 2 )..
after reading a few reviews about the poor screen on the iconia and apparently battery life was only 5 hours compared to the xoom's 10 hour I went for the Xoom...
Very happy with it so far...of course compared to iOS Honeycomb is still sluggish and android marketplace has a lot of catching up to get to Apple standards....not having a honeycomb section is ridiculous..sooner Google take complete control and start filtering out the crap apps the better for all of us..


Back to the acer...looks then like Curries and pc world got their specs wrong when only claiming 5 hour battery life..

Dunno where they're getting that battery figure from. The Acer has 2 batteries and has a better battery life then the xoom.

Blazer

About the only thing the Xoom has over the Acer one is the screen is an IPS panel

él statutorio

Just got upgraded to Honeycomb 3.1 woooo!

dfdream

Bought one of these in Harvey Normans at the weekend for €399.
Was €499 in PcWorld and €529 in Currys. (Limerick)

I really like the A500, was looking at the samsung tab 10.1 but the USB and the price swung it for me.

Pros:
USB Port
Cheap
Built in Micro SD slot
HDMI Out

Cons:
It is a little heavy for constant use. (felt it on the wrists)
Poor tablet app selection and no seperate tablet app section
No Office Doc editor included or on market.

All in all though I like it...

él statutorio

thomasj wrote: »

Can i ask does this tablet allow (micro) usb charging?

This is one factor as to why i would buy the a101 7' tablet when it comes out eventually.

Nope, it's the one downside to it.

dfdream

Anyone get the Ice Cream Sandwich Update on their A500.

Its available to download today but it doesnt seem to be to everyone.

Mine says no update.

D

él statutorio

dfdream wrote: »

Anyone get the Ice Cream Sandwich Update on their A500.

Its available to download today but it doesnt seem to be to everyone.

Mine says no update.

D

I got mine this morning, installed it but then I had to go to work.

In the few minutes I had with it, it actually seemed a little sluggish. Hopefully it'll have settled down by the time I get home.

bkeane

dfdream wrote: »

Anyone get the Ice Cream Sandwich Update on their A500.

Its available to download today but it doesnt seem to be to everyone.

Mine says no update.

D

you need to install and run acer ICONIA TAB Update Enhancement from Android market - to get latest update.

jin.ie

bkeane
you need to install and run acer ICONIA TAB Update Enhancement from Android market - to get latest update.

even with it installed its saying tablet is up to date, that's strange

bkeane

jin.ie wrote: »

even with it installed its saying tablet is up to date, that's strange

Don't know - I have mine hacked and different rom on it so I will not be getting Acer update.

Krusty_Clown

I upgraded my daughter's A500 over the weekend, without any problems. Not sluggish at all. it was bought in the US though, so may have a different model number/firmware, but I doubt it. All went fine, but I found chrome to be quite buggy.

rolion

bkeane wrote: »

you need to install and run acer ICONIA TAB Update Enhancement from Android market - to get latest update.

Thanks...got mine installed!
All ok so far !

dfdream

Mine was constantly saying either "No Update" or "Network Error" so I bit the bullet and downloaded the official rom from XDA Developers web site and it installed no problem.

To limit the problems I did a factory reset on it before upgrading and its working well.

Was expecting more though.

rolion

dfdream wrote: »

Mine was constantly saying either "No Update" or "Network Error" so I bit the bullet and downloaded the official rom from XDA Developers web site and it installed no problem.

To limit the problems I did a factory reset on it before upgrading and its working well.

Was expecting more though.

install the update from Market.
that changes DNS server and geo-location,forcing an update from another location rather than UK or IE.

workign fine here,but what's next !??

dfdream

rolion wrote: »

install the update from Market.
that changes DNS server and geo-location,forcing an update from another location rather than UK or IE.

workign fine here,but what's next !??

rolion, are you stating the ICS is available from the market or is it that you installed the acer iconia tab enhancement update from the market but you still say no update.

rolion

dfdream wrote: »

rolion, are you stating the ICS is available from the market or is it that you installed the acer iconia tab enhancement update from the market but you still say no update.

sorry...
checked for update,was saying up to date !
got the ICONIA TAB Update Enhancement app from the Market,then checked again for update and...voila,ICS downloading !
installed after and all ok !

what next meant...what is next after ICS !

dfdream

Ah OK.

I tried that and got the "No updates" so did a manual install...

D

rolion wrote: »

sorry...
checked for update,was saying up to date !
got the ICONIA TAB Update Enhancement app from the Market,then checked again for update and...voila,ICS downloading !
installed after and all ok !

what next meant...what is next after ICS !

cwboy

I tried the update enhancement pack from the market but still getting a message saying you are up to date. Frustrated.

rolion

cwboy wrote: »

I tried the update enhancement pack from the market but still getting a message saying you are up to date. Frustrated.

sorry to hear it,i know the feelings !!
my best guess is that they are pushing updates OTA randomly for various servers,locations,times.
Me,just got lucky by been on the right ... spot !?
just wait with patience or keep trying that app !

softdancomputer

For who got the update, what is the build number now on the tablet?

cwboy

rolion wrote: »

sorry to hear it,i know the feelings !!
my best guess is that they are pushing updates OTA randomly for various servers,locations,times.
Me,just got lucky by been on the right ... spot !?
just wait with patience or keep trying that app !

When you say the app how were you checking for updates? I downloaded the enhancement pack but there is no app to run? I have just been checking through the system settings.

rolion

softdancomputer wrote: »

For who got the update, what is the build number now on the tablet?

Android V: 4.0.3
Kernel:2.6.39.4+
Image v:Acer_AV041_A500_RV05RC01_PA_CUS1
Build no:Acer_AV041_A500_1.033.00_PA_CUS1

cwboy wrote: »

When you say the app how were you checking for updates? I downloaded the enhancement pack but there is no app to run? I have just been checking through the system settings.

Install the app then check for updates again from within the Settings ,not from /with the application itself !
Good luck...

cwboy

Yep have been checking through settings.

No luck so far.

cwboy

Got the update yesterday. Took a long time to download. Dont notice much difference to be honest. The keyboard is definitely much more responsive and i think the battery is better on standby but need to play around more with it.

rolion

Just managed to get my GPS fixed...takes max 30 seconds in house to get a full 3D fix.
Playing with CoPilot and Navigon,not sure which one is ...better !

How is your tablet' GPS working !??