Price, Physical Design, and Connectivity
One of the main draw of the Iconia Tab A200 is a budget-friendly pricing. Acer offers two Wi-Fi-only model tablet, an 8GB for $ 329.99 and 16GB for $ 349.99. This is much smaller than the Apple iPad 2 ($ 499, 4 stars) and the top of the current Android tablet, Asus Prime Transformer ($ 499/32GB, 4 stars). However, the low price comes with some sacrifices, especially in the design.
A200 is a tablet, a simple chunky, measuring 10.2 by 6.9 by 0.5 inches (HWD) and weighs in at 1.54 pounds bigger and stronger. Prime Transformer (Best Deal: $ 499.99 at PC Richard & Son) are thinner and lighter, measuring just 0.3 inches at its thickest point and weighs just 1.3 pounds. Prime also feel more slender, with thin, tapered ends, as opposed to the flat side of the A200 and this squat. A better comparison for the A200 will be Toshiba Thrive ($ 399.99/16GB, 3.5 stars), which is 0.6-inches thick and weighs 1.6 pounds. Much like Thrive (Best Deal: $ 429.96 at TigerDirect.com), A200 using all-plastic construction, with soft-touch, rubber back. Small dimples covering the back of the A200, made to feel good grippy and tactile, which is critical given the weight of these tablets. There are two color options including titanium gray or metallic red.
The 10.1-inch LCD has a resolution of 1280-by-800-pixel; great for 7-inch tablet, but the average on 10-inch A200. Brightness, color, and point of view is only mediocre, paling in comparison with the IPS super brilliant display + Prime Transformer.
With the thickness of the coming great connectivity. The left side (when held in landscape mode) houses the Power button, 3.5mm headphone jack, microUSB port, full-sized USB 2.0 port, and, behind a plastic flap that is rather thin, microSD card slot. Full-size USB port that is rare in the world of tablet, but I find them very useful for transferring files via USB thumb drive. Along the top edge is a volume rocker and lock switch orientation. A200 does not charge via the micro USB like most other tablets, but rather use the AC adapter with power input at the right edge. A200 connected to a computer via a microUSB cable, but does not charge when connected. A 2-megapixel camera, front-facing camera sits centered on the screen, but there is no rear-facing camera. It is a tablet Wi-Fi only, supports 802.11b/g/n, and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR.
Hardware, Performance, and OS
Another big draw here is the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). ICS is a major step forward for Android devices, the browser is much better, smoother UI, and a harmonious ecosystem between mobile phones and tablets. So how does it work on the tablet center-of-the-road like the A200? Pretty good, actually.
A200 is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor Nvidia Tegra 2 with 1GB of RAM and do the equivalent with other similarly equipped tablet, such as the Toshiba Thrive. Compared with blazing fast, quad-core Tegra-powered 3 Prime Transformer (another tablet ICS), A200 gets blown out of the water in our benchmark. However, the use of the real world, the A200 runs smoothly and without hiccups ICS. Applications can run smoothly, with a delay when switching between several applications running. Web pages load very fast and the A200 successfully ran a test through our multimedia files, play 3GP, DivX, H.264, M4V, MP4, WMV and at resolutions up to 1080p.
Acer has also added a few tweaks myself. OS The most prominent is the change in addition to both Acer Ring lock screen and the menu bar in the ICS. The screen has four customizable shortcut key, the default is set to Browser, Gallery, Google Search, and Gmail. Acer ring a little more comprehensive in the actual OS, which features four customizable shortcuts more, a special search button, volume control, and browser bookmarks. I grew to like the Ring, because it omitted a step to get to my most used apps, but really, it's just a standard application launcher; similar options that are available from other manufacturers, such as Lenovo Launcher.
Acer preloads a good number of applications that are truly useful, such as Documents To Go, Evernote, and Astro File Manager, the latter proved to be very useful to read and write to a USB drive. Unfortunately, preloaded applications can not be removed. Technically they are eligible as bloatware, but because they are useless and no that many of them, it's no big deal.
A200 has a 2-megapixel camera, front-facing camera, but there is no rear facing camera. This is not necessarily negative, such as taking pictures or shooting video with such a big tablet will be a little ridiculous and uncomfortable. Pictures taken with a camera that had a lot of noise and rough images. One pleasant surprise is the quality and smooth video chatting using the front-facing camera is A200. Skype and video chat Google Talk works better than on any other tablet I've tested, with clear video and audio in-sync. Front-facing camera there is nothing special, so I'll chalk this up to improvements in ICS software.
In our battery test, a video loop with max brightness and Wi-Fi on, the A200, with its 3260mAh battery, lasted 6 hours, 45 minutes. This is less than 7 Prime Transformer is hours, 38 minutes. Do not forget, the A200 can not charge via USB while the computer is connected to an approved minor inconvenience, but still annoying, such as carrying an AC adapter that adds weight to the A200.
Conclusion
Expectations should be reinforced with the Acer Iconia Tab A200. It is a beast tablet, physical, and somewhat uncomfortable to hold for a long time because of the size and weight. However, the thickness of which comes useful features, like full-sized USB 2.0 port. This is very much bigger brother to the Acer Iconia Tab A100 ($ 329.99, 4 stars), which is one of the first tablet to get the Android 3.2 Honeycomb. A100 is a clunker smaller when it comes to appearance, but it performed admirably when compared to the competition at the time. Much has changed since we last A100, though. Although the tablet is still viable, is likely to score lower by today's standards.
Most everything about the A200 is average. But when combined with Ice Cream Sandwich, to buy the more interesting because you can not get a lot of Android 4.0 on a tablet now. It's important to remember, however, that the tablet over the ICS is on its way, and the A200 will not hold this advantage for a long time. It will not beat the Android tablet as Prime Transformer, and can not get along with iPad. For the price, though, you get a very capable tablet with Google's latest software.
Hardware
Indeed, the design of the tablet is a province is not flexible: there are only so many manufacturers that can be done with a rectangular, other than folding them (see: Sony Tablet P) or print them in a magazine (Sony again, this time with a Tablet S). So that leaves us with the build quality and thickness, the A200 measures 6.9 x 10.24 x 0.49 inches (175.3 x 260.1 x 12.5mm) and weighs in at 1.59 pounds (721.2 grams) . As you can tell from these measurements, Acer is clearly not positioning this as opposed to slate iPad - it's too heavy to compete girthy and aesthetically. Do not confuse the additional mass as an indication of substandard construction, though. You can literally feel the attention to detail its non slip, re-textured metallic gray and smooth curves that lead to the panel in portrait mode. Grip thing in the landscape and it's a pretty uncomfortable experience, an industry marred by a flat edge and two ill-placed speakers.
Acer to take advantage of available real-real enough A200's, filling most of each side with a special function. Most of the I / O needs are met along the left side of the landscape, which is occupied by a 3.5mm headphone jack, micro and standard USB port, microSD slot is closed and the power button. This array is located above the volume rocker silver, punctuated by three raised dots for tactile recognition is easy, and lock the orientation, while the DC power jack for the charger is the loneliness at the opposite edge.
On the back, you'll find a company logo embedded in the midst of a hard rubber casing and two speaker grills are placed equidistant on the base. Under the cage to live a non-removable 3260 mAh Li-ion and the (now ancient) dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 CPU. If you're wondering about the camera setup tab, be prepared for a surprise: he only has a 2-megapixel front facer. You read that right: there is no rear gunner to talk about, and while it would be a big con on the handset, the tablet does not really go-to device for photography, so this omission is easy to overlook.
Look at the A200 head-on and not much to screw up his face. Logos are showing it as an iteration Tab Iconia Acer products and making appearances calm, with the only other noticeable problems come in the form of a forward-facing cam. As mentioned earlier, the A200 is mostly indistinguishable from other tablet entries. The real difference is related to software goes: Android 4.0.3. Before you can even dive deep into the OS Googlefied, you will immediately see the lack of pixel density on a 800 x 1280 10.1-inch LCD screen. Sure, it's enough to make a video in 720p, but a loss in quality visible, although certainly the equivalent of mid-range board. Indeed, the point of view appears to hold, but that's just the problem - we can not say for sure, because the highly reflective glass covering the unit. Indoors, away from direct sunlight and overhead lighting, and at full brightness, we still found ourselves jostling with the tablet to find the optimal position that will allow clear visibility. Indeed, it is almost impossible to do, because some glimmer of the neighborhood will definitely make an appearance on the screen. And believe us, we try to make it work, but after 30 minutes of watching a movie on Netflix, our hands are tired of the constant re-positioning.
Software
Thus, A200 screen is a bit sluggish, but on the upside, you can play around with the shell building of Sandwich Ice Cream - and one light, at the time. Most of the tweaks that are subject to Acer here centers around the menu bar lockscreen and homescreen. While vanilla ICS allows you to unlock the phone or tablet by dragging icons into the appropriate slot, overlay the tab highlights the shortcuts that are available - all tailored, of course.
Moving to five homescreens and you will see two yellow concentric rings in the middle of the lower navigation bar that, when tapped, brings a larger circle with a volume control slider and recently viewed web pages on the outer portion, a shortcut in the area just in and hit the search icon dab in the middle. And there, my friends, is the place to play around with the Android OEM fortunately ended, this is a very subtle change that manages not to consider the performance.
You may have heard the talk about NVIDIA's Tegra 3 - that the quad-core chip that has begun to take up residence in a few upcoming phones and tablets. A200, as the tablet was the inclusion of the road, do not take advantage of that boost next-specification gene, choosing instead for a 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2. So let's stay focused on market position and performance of the real world, not a lack of marketing bullet point. As a mid-range tablet, tab Acer is generally accepted to keep doing hiccups at bay. Jump in homescreens fast, but you will note the number of minutes the occasional stutter. The same goes for drawer applications when triggered, fluctuating between an immediate response, followed by a slight delay. Unfortunately, inconsistency is evident throughout, and has a special tendency to rear its ugly head when loading applications, often pushing the power-closed in a variety of applications.
Which brings us to the problem of storage. With 16GB allocated for $ 350 and 8GB models for $ 330 version a little cheaper, users will be faced with a deficit realistically out of the box 4GB devoted to bloat. While this is not as offensive should not be enough if you choose the 16GB version of the broader, lower-capacity brother will come up with a bit of 4GB of storage available. Fortunately, you can expand the available storage up to 32GB through the microSD slot.
Performance and battery life
A200 is 1GB of RAM and a 1GHz SoC that accompany it may seem like a top-notch tech innards yesterday just because ... them. So to give a good sense of raw power we are pitted against Android tablet section, start from the same specced Galaxy Tab 10.1 to Xoom dual-core 1.2GHz ARM-powered 2 to 3-equipped Tegra Prime Transformer. Not surprisingly, the tab Acer can not hold a candle to the major leagues ASUS '; this is an unfair comparison, resulting in a consistent benchmark defeat. Stacked side-by-side against the Moto and Sammy tab, however, and you get a clearer sense of how it fares.
Victory for the slate that does not mean, overtaking (or in some cases barely beat) with 10.1 in both single and multi-thread, and Linpack Vellamo - you can chalk that ICS improved enough to raise it. Sunspider test the ability of the tab is placed 9.1 to create web pages quickly is equivalent to the two rivals, though it was defeated by a small, although the increase is significantly slower. Since this is tab 2 Tegra and therefore the product of NVIDIA's obsession with the game, NenaMark 1 and 2 are parallel to the 10.1 value, and beyond Xoom 2.
Do not have a mobile network connectivity necessarily equivalent to longer battery life, but only limited to a single WiFi radio has a downside as well. Wireless reception is very poor on the A200, but tends to drop down to only one signal strength bar room when we moved away from our home high-speed connection. If you have your sights set on this tab, hoping to find ourselves moored close to the office, home or in the store router.
Range problem though, we found a 3260 mAh battery lasted us well for two weeks with the use of very lightweight, and slightly greater longevity has to do with the ability of the power management slate. Let your sleep and you will see that, at the resurrection, WiFi has been disabled. This is a useful feature, but we can expect to see those annoying notification sound stream. Under pressure from our formal battery rundown test, where we loop a video with WiFi and brightness remained at 50 percent, tablet lasts for eight hours and 16 minutes - the equivalent of the initial 10-inchers like the Slate G-real, and Xoom.
Full desktop page on the browser A200 just take a little time to load - we had to wait nearly 30-plus seconds to Engadget to actually make the high-speed connection. Pinch-to-zoom, however, does not mean the same kind of heel-dragging; tablet managed to track the movement of our fingers quite accurate while retaining the clarity of text and images. From time to time, but you'll see the dreaded white space around your enlarged copy.
Wrap-up
Nearly three-quarters of the tablet market may have tunnel vision when it comes to the platform of choice - that being the Apple iPad - but to be faithful to Android, there are several options available - wide and confusing glut, at the time. Into this melange comes Acer Iconia Tab A200, a tablet whose only difference is the Android OS 4.0.3. With a narrow range of configurations that are too close for upgrade prices and processors offered little storage that grows more dated and relatively slow as the year progresses, it is difficult to hone in on a bright spot for the big slate.
Of course, we have seen the trap performance, as well as the shift between the sometimes sharp transition to very small, despite the choppiness seen. Then there is the disturbing illegibility from über-reflective screen. Will be easy to lay the blame for this habit of his software in the dust of the UX, but it's more likely that the company neglected to fully optimize only the second Tegra core for this OS-skinned. Not as though the leaner, more responsive and critical praise board is not in range. For an additional $ 49, you can buy a Galaxy Tab 10.1 or iPad 2 new discount, 16GB of storage respectively. If you choose to go that route, then all you really lose is the Ice Cream Sandwich, and even then Samsung had promised to provide immediate update. Coupled with the potential to counter a meeting of sub-$ 300 Tegra 3 tablets hit the shelves in the near future and you will not feel much inclination to pull out a credit card and commit to these changes, and eventually forgotten slate ICS. A700 was to come, on the other hand, it might be worth the wait.
