Normally awesome things in the tech world don’t slip under my nose but some browsing around Amazon.com searching for $100 HP TouchPads brought me to THIS: The Acer Iconia Tab W500. This little guy is a 10.1-inch tablet PC powered by an AMD Dual-Core C-50 and running Windows 7 (Yes, I was serious when I called it a Tablet PC).
But wait, Andrew… it looks like a laptop… isn’t it? No, my fine reader friends! Just like how you borrowed the jaws of life from your local fire department and ripped the roof off your Jeep, this PC is what we call a convertible! It closes and unfolds just like a laptop with a QWERTY keyboard to help you be productive but when you’re not looking to lug the extra weight around or want to take this thing on the go the screen easily detaches from the base unit and looks just like any of today’s other tablet computers…
…except this one runs Windows so you can do everything you’d normally do! No searching for apps compatible with your Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, you can install Office on it, your favourite e-mail client and whatever else you normally do on a PC! It even boasts an HD display so you can load up Netflix or some cliche cat videos on YouTube with beautiful clarity for your viewing pleasure.
It also boasts a pair of 1.3MP front AND rear-facing cameras so you can take quick photos on the go or keep in touch with friends and family through Skype (or Google+ hangouts)!
The battery is rated to last you around six hours under normal use.
So are you going to ask, “But Andrew, why are you so excited? Don’t tablet PC’s especially ones this complex normally run about a thousand dollars? and to that I say nay! I was utterly shocked when I rolled over the price tag of this little piece of Acer magic and the list price is a jaw-dropping $549.99! A very good price considering the Asus Transformer is $399 plus an extra hundred for the corresponding keyboard dock. You’re paying extra for the power of Windows 7 here but from working a retail job in tech I can tell you people worry more about usability than price. If it will help them get done what they need to get done without breaking their arms they will embrace it, and judging by it’s 4.5/5.0 star rating on Amazon, this little guy will do just that.
So folks, looking for a tablet computer to take with you back to school or on the train in the mornings? I haven’t gotten the luxury of setting my hands on one but I can tell you this thing looks insanely impressive and it would probably be mine had I an extra five hundred dollars lying around.
