Referring to any new tablet PC as an “iPad-killer” is as tired and cliché at is inaccurate…thus far at least. However, a new contender has emerged this week which intends to prove itself worthy of the moniker – namely the fully-loaded though diet-priced Acer Iconia Tab A700.
How does Acer expect to achieve the seemingly impossible? Easy…with a hugely impressive spec-sheet topped off with a price tag a good 25% lower than the equivalent iPad.
Officially available on presale as of today, the Iconia Tab A700 is set to be shipped before the end of June in both silver and black color options.
Back in January at this year’s CES 2012, both Acer and ASUS unveiled their new full HD Android tablet displays delivering 1920 by 1200 pixels. This was pretty much the first and last time we heard about the upcoming devices, with ASUS having kept its ongoing silence even to this day.
In the meantime, Apple blessed its millions of loyal devotees with the new iPad – a new-generation tablet boasting the legendary Retina quality display, which at 264ppi effectively wiped the floor with any and every tablet to have come before.
However, fast-forward three months and the new Acer Iconia Tab A700 looks to be the first Android rival to actually make concerted efforts toward catching up. True, the 1920 by 1200 display of the A700 is still rather far behind the new iPad in terms of pixel density, but is at the same time leaps and bounds ahead of its other rivals.
A first look at the A700 was more than enough to note the clearest and crispest video, images and text seen from pretty much any Android tablet to date. While a full hands-on going over might still be pending, it seems as though Acer really is on the road to tablet big leagues.
Spec-wise, the A700 is to serve as the company’s flagship Android tablet and Acer has clearly spared no expense in delivering the goods. The model previewed features a quad-core process from Nvidia and 1GB of dedicated RAM right off the bat, while Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich sits proudly at the helm. Another huge bonus is the provision of a micro-USB charging port, which makes an enormous difference for those who are sick and tired of collecting expensive brand-specific chargers and transfer cables.
What sweetens the deal even further is the way in which Acer is offering the 32GB version of the A700 for $50 less than the 16GB version of the new iPad, or $150 less than the 32GB new iPad. Plus, buyers will be able to bump up the A700’s storage capacity to 64GB by way of delightfully affordable microSD – something no iPad has so far offered.
The A700’s battery also delivers a decent whack 9800mAh, which roughly translates as a good 10 hours or so of video playback.
And the downside?
None to be found so far, aside from the possibility that Google and Asus may have their own quad-core Nexus Tablet in the pipeline, serving up all the goodies in the world for less than $250.
Whether the latter materializes however remains to be seen.
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