When we had the first news of the Acer Iconia W3, it was a rather pleasant surprise for all: finally Windows 8 tablets reduced their size and spent ten inches to a more portable size and oriented to other uses. The rumors took shape and we saw at Computex officially.
Yesterday in Valencia, we had a chance to try to tell you today our impressions of a team that fills a very specific niche and where his position as the pioneer can benefit, both to him and now that competition has been the first step. Let’s see a little more detail what we offer.
Fitting the Missing Piece in Windows 8
When the head of Acer cried openly criticize Windows RT step served to clarify the intentions of the company: we will not make devices with this operating system version. At another company, make an eight-inch tablet with RT would have been the logical choice.
However, for better or worse, Acer has remained strong and achieved embouchure Windows 8 in just eight inches with a specification that, while not particularly cutting edge, are craving enough to move the system with a certain lightness.
We take the Iconia W3 and the first sensation on the weight and size reminds me slightly to HTC Flyer, a tablet that will be one of the best I remember fondly. It’s heavy but bear in mind that carrying a hardware that is capable of running Windows 8 and leave about 16GB of free storage.
However, it takes no problems and not particularly heavy to have it in landscape or portrait format. The feel is nice and shows that Acer has improved in recent years the construction of the equipment. That itself is not the most elegant but if the design is not what concerns us most can live with it.
Light the screen and see something that fails to convince. While it is true that its 1280 × 768 pixels fit well in proportion to the eight inches, the display panel does not look as good as we would like. It is true that the viewing angle is almost complete but is missing a bit of quality.
Also be fair: this is a team with a price of 329 euros in the market so we cannot have the best specs for that price. It does well in that range but perhaps the most demanding users they miss a little more quality.
A level of performance the team performs well: fast moving smoothly and can be used with one or two hands smoothly. Of course, in classic Windows menus fingers sometimes crave a little vague on these dimensions. Yes, in what is in Metro applications the answer is perfect.
In the time that we have used have not noticed overheating. We will have to see further but the response is normal in similar performance teams. To complete the experience with the Acer Iconia W3 have an accessory, sold separately, to focus on one of the great obsessions of Microsoft: productivity.
To get it we have, of course, a Bluetooth keyboard somewhat larger than the width of the tablet but it works perfectly. Comfortable, has a hole in the back where we can put the tablet to not have to go with the two parts separately.
The latching system in the rear is very simple and when we will use the tablet with the keyboard just support without any hitch and go. It gives a lot of security but in the time we’ve been using has not noticed that the keyboard vibration problems and move den tablet position.
As a negative point on the keyboard, as well as its price of 69 euros, we have the fact that uses batteries and not a lithium ion battery. It is true that the batteries may turn out to be comfortable at times but considering what it’s worth Acer could have chosen the other option.
Impressions after Having Tested
Acer has been very smart and is ahead of its competitors by exploring a concept that the rest had not dared yet. He also has taken guts to go for a complete operating system and not a crippled version designed for tablets.
We’ll see if this cannot be backfires and end RT would have been a better choice considering the hardware. What is clear is that the Taiwanese have shown that you can make an eight-inch tablet in the first touchdown convinces.
Its price, 329 euros, is one of the main attractions but if we need to take full advantage of a Bluetooth keyboard, the officer for 69 euros or other compatible. We will see later in our analysis in depth but the first impression was positive, but has many questions to clear yet.
