Before you read my review, I'd like to point out that you may see Acer pictures on Amazon that make it look like different machines with different prices. They are not. There are two models available the W500 (this model) has Windows home premium and W500P, has windows professional. Now on to my review of the W500:
Received my Acer Iconia 32gb windows 7 W500 Tablet/ netbook from Amazon yesterday and immediately I unwrapped and fired it up mounted in the keyboard. After starting, I removed Adobe reader 9.1, Acer games, Ebay world, Skype4.1, and reloaded Skype 5.3, added Firefox with the grab and drag add on for easy tablet use, added sumatra pdf (takes no space compared to adobe9.1, removed live essentials and more. My previous computer was a Asus T91mt tablet/netbook, right away I noticed the following about this Acer, screen is much brighter and more detailed, audio is louder especially on earphones, installed my 32gb SD card from my old computer with all my files and I could easily transfer to various folders on the computer. I adjusted the stick mouse and found it easy to operate. (But I am a old IBM user so you may want to use a USB mouse while in the keyboard mount) I have read reviews that the screen is top heavy and could fall out of the keyboard. Not so. Although the screen is heavier than the keyboard, I found it sits attached to the keyboard very nicely, I even leaned the screen and keyboard way back and it still would not tip and in fact I'm typing this review on my lap now!!! (Leaning the screen forward toward you while in the keyboard it could come out since that's how you remove the screen) Haven't experimented with the tablet yet, but I can see it is well built! Very well built! As a test, I played a 1080 blu-ray movie (the Mask) from my SD Card on this unit and it played with out a glitch. This is a movie that would not play on any of my previous netbooks and I've owned 4 of them. I have read in other reviews that this computer handles everything thrown at it. I also read the match up of the INTEL dual core 550N against this AMD C-50 CPU/GPU and the AMD blew away the intel. It took AMD 5 years to develop this special processor, a blend of a Processor and a graphics chip on one die! Very Incredible. AMD calls it a APU. Goodbye CPU! I can do everything on this machine that I do on my desktop, connected to my home wireless N in seconds, connected to my wireless HP network printer in seconds. More to come! So far very happy! This unit blows away my former Asus T91mt tablet/netbook! I am so glad that I didn't get sucked into the hype of all the latest tablets with honeycomb 3. I'll keep my android software on my phone where it belongs! I must mention there is a review by Sticky on the other listed Acer W500 on Amazon that was very passionate and convinced me to purchase this computer and he was right on with his review!
UPDATE:
It has only been a few days later. I can't stop playing with this unit!! I skyped with my grand daughter 50 miles away and the incoming picture and audio was perfect. I was told my audio was noisy (I later found the microphone setting in windows was boosted to 30+) I adjusted that. I can't think of one item I don't like about this computer. Its so quiet! Tablet is bright, very detailed and easy to surf the web etc. The tablet has a nice border, which makes the unit easy to hold so you are not putting your fingers on the glass. Bought a Targus capacitive stylus. Perfect for drawing and writing and browsing on the tablet. This is a must have, especially if you use the Microsoft journal that comes with the netbook for writing or printing notes directly on he screen. (Plus it keeps the glass clean) Tablet is fantastic, it came from the factory with a clear very thin plastic screen cover. You can use the screen with the cover on or take it off. I peeled mine off, but I didn't notice a difference in response. Screen is very responsive. I haven't read all the gestures that can be performed, I know if you hold your finger or stylus on the screen it will act like a mouse right click. I like the windows button (which lights blue), which allows you to access the task bar and start menu with ease. My old Asus tablet had a problem accessing the task bar especially if you set it to hide position. Not with this unit! Still experimenting!
UPDATE: (a week later)
Love this machine. Purchased the Targus TSM148US mini bag. It is in my opinion the perfect bag for this machine, holds the keyboard and screen with plenty of room for your power supply and earphones , capacitive stylus and more etc. I also purchased the tablet holder by Arkon, it is a folding tablet stand and this solves the problem for people that complained that the screen doesn't fold while attached to the keyboard. Works like it was built for this tablet! I am also using my android phone with PdaNet app to get internet on the train via blue-tooth. Very cool! I'm easily getting 6 hrs of battery life browsing the web, even more with the wifi off and reading my Ebooks using kindle, my skype sessions with my grand daughter are incredible! The video and audio are perfect! Also I like Internet explorer 9 as a touch browser. This Acer is better than any previous netbook I have owned. This machine is a keeper. Brightest screen I have owned in a netbook, great screen detail, with windows 7 I can do everything I need in a computer! I could go on and on.
UPDATE (1 month later)
All the above still stands, this is to date the best netbook/pc I have ever owned. It is super quiet, bright screen and nice clean resolution. There is a new bios update at the Acer site. I ran it and upgraded my bios to 1.08 This is truly a very well built tablet and after a month of use, I'm enjoying it more and more. I just played a HD Movie file that was 1920 x 1080 with not even a glitch. My dual-core 2.5ghz desktop at work can't play this file with out glitches/pauses. This machine is incredible! One last point, I don't remember if I mentioned it in the past but this computer has been reported to accept SDXC cards. Why is this important? SDXC are the newest SD cards and they can go up to 2 terabytes!! Of course at this time a 2 terabyte card would cost you 5k, but you can purchase a 64gb sdxc card for about $115 dollars and this means this computer unlike many other tablets will always have the room for your future programs!
UPDATE (2 months later)
Everything above still stands. In fact, my main laptop was a HP 14 inch dual core machine. I gave it to my brother, this Acer is my main laptop, Netbook, Tablet, what ever you wish to call it. Bright screen and very quiet. BTW, I stopped using pdanet and switched to the virgin mobile 2200 mifi to get internet on the train. It is a fantastic product. No contract, buy from wally and you will get a free 1gb upgrade of data per month.
UPDATE (January 2013)
For those that will question a use of a windows tablet. There is no doubt that if you want a tablet, a windows tablet has many more functions then a android tablet and windows 8 is perfect to install on this unit. For the year 2011 this was a nice tablet/laptop but now its 2013 and OMG there are so many choices out there with windows 8 already installed. There is the HP surface, the Lenovo ideapad, the Lenovo twist and much more. All these mentioned are now better than this machine. Technology gets better every year. So I too have moved on, Presently I am using the Acer Aspire one 722 netbook with the C60 processor but I am looking at one of these models mentioned above. For those who still have their Acer w 500 I bet you installed windows 8 on it to improve touch screen functionality! Right now its the only way to go!
0 comments:
Post a Comment