10.1" Acer Iconia Tab A500 hits Best Buy for $450

Matthew DeCarlo

Posts: 5,271   +104

Acer has officially unleashed its Iconia Tab A500, a 10.1-inch tablet poised to defy the likes of Apple and Motorola. Unsurprisingly, Acer is billing its new creation as the ultimate companion device for Web browsing, accessing social networks, reading e-books, listening to music, watching videos, playing games and so on.

Like Motorola's Xoom, the Tab A500 is powered by Android 3.0 Honeycomb and a dual-core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 250 SoC, which is quick enough for 1080p video playback and mobile gaming. In fact, Acer is shipping the slate with free copies of Need for Speed: Shift and Let's Golf installed (the former is $5 via the Android Market).

The slate carries a 1280x800 display with 80-degree viewing angles and the ability to register input from all 10 fingers. You'll also find 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage (a 32GB model is in the works), a microSD card reader that can handle up to 32GB cards, a 5MP rear camera with flash and auto-focus and a 2MP front cam.


Connectivity includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI-out, USB and GPS. There doesn't appear to be any WWAN options mentioned in today's press release, but we have to assume 3G or 4G will be offered at a premium. The device gets roughly eight hours of gaming or video playback per charge and up to 10 hours of browsing.

The Iconia Tab A500 is a tad bulkier than competing tablets, weighing 1.69lbs and measuring 10.24 x 6.97 x 0.52 inches. Besides the aforementioned games, the device is preloaded with Acer Clear.fi to quickly share media with other DLNA-compliant devices. Support for Adobe Flash and the Android Market are a given.

Best Buy has opened preorders online today while in-store preorders will start on April 14. The device will launch on April 24. Pricing starts at $449.99 while accessories such as a full-sized Bluetooth keyboard, a dock with an IR remote, a protective case, and a power adapter set with four connectors are an extra $30 to $70.

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Well, at least Acer has a decent understanding of its target audience, and what they are willing to shell out for a tablet. The Xoom would have sold a ton more units if they'd broken into the marketplace at this kind of price point.

The specs sound pretty good, and I'm liking the battery life. The weight/bulk might be an issue, have to see how it feels in hand. Guess I'll have to go wander the halls of a local Best Buy in the near future...
 
Agreed. Finally a price point that makes sense. Watch these things fly off the shelves. Well done Acer.
 
I agree with Vrmithrax that the Xoom is way too expensive. I really wanted one but will not spend that much on a tablet. Although the pricing on this one is better I think they really need to be down in $350 range for me to commit.

I wouldn't buy this at any price because it's Acer garbage but maybe it will help to drive the Xoom price down...
 
This is cool. If it is as responsive as the Xoom, and the upgrade to latest Android version does not become an issue... this might be the one I want.... that is when I learn about the 32GB pricing which is the sweet spot for what I want storage wise...
 
Acer has a bad reputation, but I would still consider buying one of their products before I would come within 100 yards of an iPad 1, 2...n.

Apple is the equivalent of the rich, white bully who drove a Lexus to high school, captained the football team, went to Harvard and joined some corrupt Wall Street firm ferreting stolen blue collar money away to an offshore account.
 
Acer is totally unreliable I will never buy another Acer product because my last netbook broke the 1st week i had it and i was unable to get Acer to fix it.
 
Too little too late Acer. I am personally waiting for the Samsung 10.1. Thinner then ipad 2 with all the honey comb goodness.
 
As an Acer Ferrari 1000 owner for more then 5 years. I have to say I have never had 1 single issue with my laptop. I am currently using to post this comment. It has been back and forth from the US to Vietnam 6 times with me. I use it all the time. I can honestly say I've been very happy with this unit and would buy another one in a minute complete with voip phone. You can bet I will be inline for the new Acer tablet. That price is in the sweet zone.
 
Are they really $50 better than the $399 Ipad?

1 GHz Dual Core....Android 3.0....etc...etc...etc...

Yes! They are!
 
gwailo247 said:
Only registers 10 fingers? Will there be a patch for people suffering from polydactylism?

I am sorry, but your comment is just pathetic.
 
Too late Acer. I'm waiting for Samsung 13.6. Supposedly thinner than iPad 2 and Samsung 10.1 and $18 cheaper . Ho! wait...iPad 4 might be out by the time Samsung 13.6 is out. Let me just stick with iPad 2 until the competition catches up :) Go get a life people.
 
I remember feeling the same way until I actually opened up my mind and I love apple products now. You get what you pay for, cheapskates need not apply.
 
i am surpised no apple fanboys have posted comments here - has jobs blocked the ipad from displaying any news of android?
 
LOL...I didn't realize that so many people were desperate for a $450 android junk tablet. Do yourself a favor and get a part time job so you can afford an iPad 2 for $50 extra. Losers !!! You get what you pay for.
 
Don't preorder then...try it before you buy it...I owned both the Xoom and iPad2 and honeycomb is definitely the way of the future. With those half-baked improvement, iPad2 is more like iPad 1.5 and it is boring like my ipod touch. If you were an early adopter like me, you would have been bored with any iOS products already. If apple doesn't improve its OS soon, more people will jump ship like I did.
 
Instead of jumping ship why don't you try jumping plane. I heard that's life after Android !!!
 
The Viewsonic talet has a terrible screen. Only has a good picture if you hold it landscape at a very specific angle. Turn it any other way and you can't see the image on the screen. Seems like they just put in a cheap netbook screen in to that thing.
 
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