Acer Iconia Tab W500 – Tablet and netbook

The fashion for convertible tablets that can be turned into netbooks because they have a full QWERTY keyboard attached is on the rise. After Asus launched the Eee Pad Transformer at the beginning of January Acer is also releasing a new similar tablet, the Iconia Tab W500.

The advantage of Acer seems to be the Windows 7 operating system, certainly an asset for users of this type of hybrid even if Google Android has become more and more used.

Here are the main characteristics of the Iconia W500:

• 10.1” touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels
• AMD C-50 processor with AMD Radeon HD6250 GPU
• 2 GB of RAM memory
• 32 GB of internal storage space
• Connectivity: 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
• 1.3 MP camera
• Windows 7 operating system

Build and design characteristics

Acer Iconia Tab W500 has an interesting design; its edges are a bit concave so the device has an elegant aspect. You can attach a QWERTY keyboard that does not have a number pad to the tablet. The keys are well spaced and clearly delimited which makes the device easy to use.

In addition the docking station has an Ethernet port for internet connections and a USB port to make it very easy to connect the device to other external devices.

Acer Iconia Tab W500

Technical specs

Iconia Tab W500 is one of the already classical 10.1” tablets, which offer a standard resolution of 1280×800 pixels. The hardware platform is ensured by AMD with the C-50 processor and the Radeon HD6250 video card. The device is available with 1 or 2 GB of DDR3 RAM. Internal storage is done on a 32 GB Solid State Drive which will obviously be insufficient if you plan on using the tablet mainly as a netbook.

Connectivity

Connectivity is ensured through the wireless module, while 3G connectivity is only available on some versions. In addition to this local file transfer can be done through the Bluetooth 3.0 standard. Video chat lovers will have the opportunity to use a 1.3 MP camera.

Software: Windows 7 and Acer Ring

As we have stated the presence of Windows 7 represents a major advantage for those who want to use the Iconia Tab W500 as a netbook, but this is not all. The tablet has the Acer Ring interface which includes a series of preinstalled applications such as Clean Disk, Snipping Tool, Device Control, Camera, Calculator and Game. Many off the apps are useless for most users.

In addition to this Acer Ring includes TouchBrowser, a browser made by Acer, and clear.fi, a system that helps you view movies stored on the tablet directly on an HD compatible TV with the help of the HDMI port.

Availability and price

Acer Iconia Tab W500 is available right now, with the docking keyboard, for $543 on Amazon.com.

Video Hands on with Acer Iconia Tab W500: