Acer Iconia Tab A700

Pros: -Great sharp display
-Powerful enough for most apps and games
-All the expected features are there

Cons: -The tactile overlay is not responsive and precise enough
-The tablet has some slowdowns when on the homescreens
-The tablet can get hot when under use on the right side

Summary: I bought this tablet after I dropped my previous Toshiba Thrive, though it was in a bag and in a case, it took the fall on the corner and the glass cracked. I was due anyway to change tablet. I settled on the A700 from Acer as it was then on sale.

What drew me was the display, 1920x1200 for a price lower, at that time, than most 1280x800 10-inch tablets. From what I've read, this display is not IPS but a lower quality LCD screen... you could have fooled me. I compared the viewing angles of the A700's display with a Transformer Infinity when I bought it and they seemed to be equally as good in terms of color and viewing angles. As far as I'm concerned this may not be an IPS screen, but it is an IPS-level quality LCD screen, and it's not just a marketing gimmick.

Acer provides the tablet with the basic apps, like a decent file manager and some of their own video and photo apps. They also added a feature called the Acer Ring on the system bar which can be used to link to certain favorite apps and recently opened apps. It's a good feature, I think, but the green button was distracting to me and I turned it off, but people shouldn't see it as bloatware but as a neat feature you can choose to use, or not.

In terms of size and design, the design is simple but good. I like the way it feels in my hands, especially in portrait mode. It's plastic, but it's a nice feeling plastic. The tablet has a microUSB port, a microHDMI port and a microSD card port. The microUSB can take USB OTG and Acer has even included a microUSB to USB cable so you can plug a USB stick in it right out of the box. That's some nice thinking from Acer. You charge the tablet through the microUSB port, but you need a modified microUSB charger for it to work, it will not charge if you plug it in a computer.

The cameras are decent enough when in the sunlight or a well-lit area, but they become almost useless when things get dark. There is also no ISO option and few other options for the camera. The GPS module in this is good enough, it detects satellites fast, but it needs around half a minute to get a lock.

The battery life on this is excellent. Around 9-10 hours and the standby life is great, it loses perhaps 5% per day of standby. It charges to 100% in maybe 2 hours.

Now, the problems...

First, the interface is not as fluid as you'd expect. Though the tablet works very well in apps and in the browser, it is not as fluid with the homescreens and the UI, which is a shame. It's an annoyance, but not a major problem.

Second, the tactile overlay is not sensitive enough. So you have to apply a bit more pressure to it than other tablets. Acer has put a sensitivity option in the tablet's settings, but even on max, it's not high enough. Furthermore, I think the precision could be better. It's not something you will notice in the browser or other apps, the overlay is good enough for regular use, but for some uses, you will notice the deficiency. For example, I had bought the Quill app to allow me to take handwritten notes with a capacitive stylus (an Adonit Jot) and, though it worked well on the Thrive, the stylus is unusable on the A700. Nothing less than unusable, don't buy an Adonit Jot with this tablet, the Jot is a great capacitive stylus but this tablet isn't sensitive enough for it. And the precision isn't good enough to allow for handwriting on the tablet (well maybe if you're writing really big letters).

Third, the tablet can get a bit hot when under use on the right side. Not a deal killer though.

Would I recommend it? On sale perhaps, the display is pretty great. But if the tablet is not on sale, I would recommend spending a bit more for a Transformer Infinity or a Galaxy Note, the 50$ is well worth a more fluid user experience and better tactile overlay, or a bit less on a Transformer TF300 or Galaxy Tab 2 or the like.