The new Acer Iconia Tab A700 is an NVIDIA-powered slate with a super-charged screen. Yes, this device is all about the display, and we're talking 1920 x 1200 pixels on a 10.1-inch panel. And until ASUS' Transformer Pad Infinity. This is the only Android tab with that resolution you can get your hands on. At the risk of spoiling our whole review, bright colors and a high resolution make navigating Acer's branded build of Ice Cream Sandwich a treat, and its quad-core Tegra 3 insides make the tablet more than just a pretty face. But the WiFi-only Tab A700.
Display and Sound
The main attraction, of course, is the 1920 x 1200, LED-backlit display with a pixel density of 224 ppi, which puts most other Android tablets to shame. With the default background showing trees and grass in a rich shade of green, the A700's level of detail is outstanding. We'll steer clear of naming that other tablet with a 2048 x 1536 screen, but that and ASUS' Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 are about the only competitors we can think of when it comes to the Iconia Tab A700's stunning visuals. Speaking of which, we have to temper our praise for the A700's display by noting that the similarly priced ($499) Infinity TF700 has an IPS panel, whereas the A700 has a standard LCD. And, unlike Acer's tablet, the TF700 is viewable in direct sunlight, thanks to a staggering brightness rating of 600 nits. Along with that high-res screen, Acer includes Dolby Mobile 3 and 5.1-channel surround sound to enhance the entertainment experience. Audio, be it dialogue in shows streamed from Netflix or instrumentals in songs, is clear and undistorted. At max volume, the A700's sound is loud enough to fill a small room. Without headphones, you'll detect a bit of tinniness, but with headphones, sound is crisp and rich.
Hardware features
The A700 is Acer's second tablet, after the A510, to house Nvidia's quad-core processor, the Tegra 3. It includes a 1.3GHz version of the processor, compared to the 1.2GHz version found in the Asus Transformer TF300 and the 1.6GHz version found in the Transformer Infinity. For memory, the A700 includes 1GB of DDR2 RAM -- as opposed to the faster DDR3 RAM the Infinity uses. The A700 also has 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi support, Bluetooth 2.1, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and GPS. Only one 32GB-capacity configuration is currently available.
Performance
The Acer Iconia Tab A700 is the first Android tablet to sport an 1,920x1,200 resolution screen. The Transformer Infinity's screen has the same resolution, but that tablet doesn't go on sale until mid-July. The A700 is available now. While the tablets share the same resolution, there is a disparity in the quality of each screen. The Infinity's screen has a higher brightness (even without IPS+ mode enabled), wider viewing angles, more accurate and vibrant color, and the contrast just feels more dramatic and "poppy."
Software
Once again, we're looking at the same software bundle as the Acer Iconia Tab A510. The tablet runs Android OS 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich with very little UI customization (we rarely see much UI customization on Android ICS tablets). Acer adds their Ring launcher (the bull's eye on the bottom task bar). Tap it and you've got quick access to four apps of your choosing, browser bookmarks, volume and search. Acer also includes their dLNA client and server for streaming multimedia over your WiFi network, and Acer Print for wireless printing over WiFi (sweet!). Polaris Office for tablets is on board, and it has a lovely UI and the ability to view, create and edit MS Office compatible documents. VirusScan Mobile is pre-installed and isn't removable though you can disable it.
Camera
After testing a spate of sub-par tablet cameras, how refreshing it was for this reviewer to give the A700's 5-megapixel rear-facing shooter a try. No washed-out colors here, and the autofocus does a good job of rendering crisp and clear images (that's a good thing, because autofocus and infinity focus are the only options --Infinity Mode was less effective). The bright, accurate tones looked lovely when we flipped through our images on the full HD display. We know, we know: you probably won't be doing much photography with this device, but it's nice that this standard feature is high-quality on Acer's tablet. When we did a test video call on Skype, the 2-megapixel front camera delivered very clear images, both for us and our friend on the other end. The 5-megapixel camera is capable of shooting video in 1080p, and our sample footage was as crisp and clean as the photos. Panning around to follow moving traffic didn't disrupt the clarity, and we didn't notice any jerkiness or ghosting.
Battery Life
This device is part of a new wave of battery-conscious devices that, with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor with 4-PLUS-1 technology, is able to sleep so deeply that you’ve rarely got a situation where the device runs out of battery after having been left alone for an extended period. Instead where you’ll find battery drain is in the other normal places like mapping and streaming video. Even then you’ll have a fabulously long amount of play-time on your hands. The Acer Iconia Tab A700′s battery will last you though several days at least if you use it intermittently, or it can last you as few as 8 hours if you’re rocking streaming video non-stop. Either way, it’s impressive.
Source:epgallery
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