The trick on the "fair on price" part for my was trying to stay around a $200-$250 price range, simply because I have no plans on replacing my laptop with it. However, I didn't want a huge loss in performance due to the price which would end up having my shelve it 3 months after getting it. That appeared to be the trade with most that I found. Most models around the price I wanted either had a huge dump in performance and quality, or the ROM and app support was limited due to it being a waste of time.
Honestly I thought I was going to end up having to buy a Nook or Kindle to find one under the qualifications. I lucked out by randomly running into Acer's Iconia A100 model.
OS: Launched with Android 3.2 Honeycomb (updates for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich started 4/27/12)
Processor: Nvidia Tegra 2 1.0GHz dual core
Display: 7" LCD display, 600x1024 resolution 16M colors
Memory: 8 or 16 GB, 1GB RAM (up to 32GM MicroSD card)
Wireless: 802.11 b/g/n
Camera: 5MP primary, 2MP secondary
I've always heard good things about the Acer tablets. The price tag telling me it's only $260 definitely got my attention. The Nook and Kindle models both are right at $200, so paying a little more to get a full fledged tablet was definitely an option.
Right on the box it advertises the ICS upgrade which was essential for me. I bought this now about a month ago and Acer right around that time announced the expected launch date for the upgrades. They announced it to start on 4/27, and have all models finished by the first week of May. I'll give them credit, my upgrade pushed on the first day as soon as I turned it on.
The Good:
Battery life on this was pretty respectable. The Tegra processor does fairly well keeping me from having to plug it in constantly without having to sacrifice on performance. I honestly haven't clocked the full charge time or anything, and the usage has varied from basic ebook reading, streaming Google Music, and cursing at Angry Birds.
The performance on this one is solid. I keep pushing on, and it just keeps on going smoothly. No lag or skip issues at all. Apps open up and close quickly and no heat issues.
The screen looks great. Photos and video hold full quality on it. Outdoor use in the sunlight still holds up well. There's only a minor amount of loss due to sun glare, nothing that would cause any real issue. I have yet to test it on the HDMI connection to see how that goes. The touch is also very responsive without being twitchy. Everything so far with it has been very accurate.
I haven't found a lot of accessories from Acer directly for it, but the size and dimensions still keep it very compatible with most 3rd party options. And of course Amazon offers a ton that work and at a good price.
It has a dedicated screen lock button! Yes I know I'm excited over something simple, but I use this a lot. Most times I keep the tablet and even my phone in portrait mode. I'm personally not a fan of landscape, and the constant rotation drives me nuts. This makes it much more convenient than having to go 3 layers deep in the settings or waste space on a shortcut widget.
Kudos to Acer for not going crazy on the UI. Personally I'm not a fan of the Sense UI and others that overlay a lot of their own stuff on top of stock ICS. It tends to slow it down and use more battery for a lot of options I don't really ever utilize.
Thanks to the size, I can hold it in portrait mode and reach the full keyboard to type with my thumbs. No need to prop it up on something to be able to tweet, etc.
The Bad:
The weight is a bit of a concern. Most tablets now are pushing to get super thin and light weight. The A100 isn't a brick by any means, but it's got more bulk than a lot of the other options on shelves.
Personally I'm not a huge fan of Honeycomb. It's not a bad OS, it just lead a lot to be desired with some of the UI and support on apps. Anyone who has the tab needs to do the ICS update immediately.
Personally, I'm not a fan of proprietary charging cables. It does have the normal micro USB cable for data transfer, but it doesn't charge through USB. Luckily the charger cables can normally be found online between $16-$20 each.
If you're a fan of the overloaded UI, this tablet isn't for you. There's plenty of UI replacement apps you can use though to compensate at least. It won't be that super fancy UI experience though.
Overall Impressions:
I'm beyond happy with the choice to pick this one up. Keeping with the 7" display maintains the portability I wanted so I can take it around and not feel like I'm just carrying my laptop. After a month in with it, I really have no big complaints about it. If you're looking for a good tablet and not needing to go absolute top end, it's probably one of the best choices on the market and you can't beat the price.
Ok, time for the photo session. Yes, I know my ability to take good product pics is .....well ......lacking. But hey, they're not too bad.
Product box, with previously mentioned ICS upgrade in the corner.
Front view with the manufacturer sticker still on it.
More front view in box.
One of my own wallpapers with the stock UI widgets.
One of the third party cases I found locally.
