Dataflex

Solid, feature-rich first 10in tablet from Acer, but there’s a good reason why it’s a little on the portly side – because it’s loaded with stuff.

The 10.1in Acer Iconia Tab A500 feels just like the original iPad. Big! Its beautiful brushed aluminium case is 1.13mm thick and its weight of 730 grams is 230g heavier than the new iPad 2. But this Android Honeycomb–powered device manages to look good and has a worthwhile excuse for its heft: it packs way more features than either of the iPads.

For a start, it has a real USB port. Two, in fact: a full-sized one for connecting storage and keyboards (mouse not yet supported) and a mini one transferring files on and off the device! When it first landed in the APC labs there was a big “wow” moment when we saw the USB ports on the side of a tablet, a joyous realisation after a year of USB port-less computing with the iPads and some other first-gen tablets.

The Acer Iconia also has an in-built mini-HDMI port, so I can connect it via HDMI cable to my HDTV and watch HD movies on the big screen – although I’d probably just watch them on the Iconia itself. With a resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels and a 16:9 ratio, its screen is excellent, perfect for watching HD movies, and this is enhanced by two speaker grilles on the back that output surprisingly good sound.

The Iconia is powered by a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor (like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v and Motorola Xoom) which gives it performance that’s the equal of the snappy iPad 2. The Acer Iconia also comes with a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus and Flash LED (unlike the iPad camera), and a 2MP camera facing the front for video phoning. This tablet is one of the most netbook-like of the tablets we’ve reviewed (and we mean that in a good way, if you know what we mean…).

APC rating: 9/10 (Editor’s Choice)