Acer was the first device maker to come up with an 8-inch tablet called Iconia W3 that has Windows 8 in its crippled RT version as its operating system (OS). But, due to the below average screen, bulky appearance and expensive pricing, it remained largely unpopular.The Taiwanese company has brought out a successor to W3 named the Iconia W4 that promises to chunk out the drawbacks of the predecessor. It comes with Windows 8.1, the latest version of Windows available, reports Anupam Saxena of Times Of India.
Design, Build and Display
Acer Iconia W4 weighing 415 grams looks heavy and bulky when compared to the iPad mini or any Android tablet. The 8-inch display panel is raised to a little extent on the frame. A hardware button is provided just below the display to help you access the Windows Start screen at the tap of a button. The Power or screen-lock key is located at the top edge.
The 2MP front-facing camera is placed at the top in portrait mode while the 5MP camera is provided at the rear. The rear camera does not come with an LED flash so it's not possible to click acceptable pictures in low light conditions.
Acer Iconia W4 has an 8-inch LED multi-touch display (1280 x 800 pixels). The manufacturer has taken in user’s feedback and has improved the screen. Colours look bright and viewing angles are good too. Text and graphics look sharp and crisp as well. But, the only drawback with Iconia W4 is that the display is very reflective and not suitable for outdoor use. The tablet sports a 5-point multi-touch control too.
Hardware and Performance
Under the hood, Acer Iconia W4 is powered by a 1.33GHz quad-core processor from Intel coupled with 2 gigabyte of RAM. For graphic support, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD GPU is made use of.
It was reported that the tablet performed well in daily tasks like web browsing, playing casual games, using Office, and watching HD videos. The tablet can handle games like Jetpack Joyride and Angry Birds, which can be downloaded from the Windows Store.
For casual use, the tablet delivers about 7 hours of battery backup with the screen on full brightness and when connected to Wi-Fi. It can be charged with any micro-USB charger. A 64GB variant of the tablet provided about 40GB space expanded up to 64GB via a microSD card.
Software
The tablet presents a good Windows 8.1 experience. You can run all applications like Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop or Tally on a regular Windows PC or notebook. Iconia W4 also has Office Home and Student 2013 edition pre-installed. Apps like Acer Docs, Acer Media, Nero BackItUp, Evernote Touch, Amazon, Kindle, newsXpresso, TuneIn radio and Skype are already installed for the user.
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