Iconia Tab W500: Acer's new tablet and laptop

MANILA, Philippines - Tablet or laptop?

ZzIt’s a fair question to ask, given today’s technological trends. But if you are in the market for only one device, make it the Iconia Tab W500, Acer’s stunning new tablet and laptop. (It’s not either; it’s both.)

As yet another demonstration of the company’s commitment to break the barrier between people and technology, the Acer Iconia Tab W500 is a revolutionary device with a hybrid design that combines the multi-touch experience and portability of tablet computers with the efficiency and reliability of laptops and PCs.

As a tablet, the 10.1-inch Iconia Tab W500 boasts of an LED-backlit 1280 x 800 resolution screen, multi-touchscreen technology, and HD multimedia playback capabilities, all made possible by a hardcore hardware set that includes an AMD C-Series dual-core processor, an AMD A50M Fusion Controller Hub chipset, 2 GB of DDR3 memory, 32 GB solid-state drive capacity, and AMD Radeon HD 6250 Graphics.

As a laptop computer, the Acer Iconia Tab W500 connects to a dockable full-sized chicklet keyboard, and runs on a touch-optimized version of Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, complete with the Microsoft Office 2010 suite, Adobe Flash Player and Reader, Microsoft Silverlight, and the intuitive touch control interface called Acer Ring.

Indeed, with the Acer Iconia Tab W500, one gets the best of both worlds — using a sleek, wafer-thin, smaller-than-a-magazine device that can be slipped easily into a briefcase or purse, then pulled out and set in motion with a finger swipe.

Connect to the Internet, manage e-mails, and keep up-to-date with both professional and social networks with the Acer Iconia Tab W500’s built-in Acer InviLink Nplify Wi-Fi connectivity.

Launch applications, tools, and utilities with a screen grab using Acer Ring, and manage all online content with the cloud-computing-based My Journal Web clipboard.

Impress colleagues and friends with presentations on the tablet’s high-brightness TFT LCD display, or with music and movies optimized by integrated ambient light sensors, Acer CrystalBrite anti-reflective LCD screen technology, Microsoft DirectX 11 support, and the Dolby Advanced Audio V2 audio enhancement suite.

Other apps and software products built into the familiar Windows environment of the tablet include Skype, TouchBrowser for Windows, Social Jogger (a visual Facebook/ Flickr/ YouTube content aggregator), Norton Online Backup, and Acer clear.fi, the cross-platform solution for wirelessly storing, sharing, and syncing content across a network of devices.

Meanwhile, if the situation calls for an instant efficiency boost, turn the Acer Iconia Tab W500 into a compact clamshell laptop simply by connecting the dockable keyboard. Its chicklet keys and gently curved edges are designed to enhance the tactile experience of typing.

To provide greater stability, Acer also furnished the 0.43-inch dock with quick-linking magnets and an Acer FineTrack pointing device, making it easier to breeze through reports, presentations, spreadsheets, to-do lists, and other urgent documents.      

The dockable keyboard, however, is more than just for typing. It also serves as a multipurpose peripheral device with two handy USB 2.0 ports and a Fast Ethernet LAN port.

The Acer Iconia Tab W500 has a couple of USB 2.0 ports of its own, as well as a two-in-one card reader and a headphone and speaker jack. It also includes the Acer Crystal Eye: a set of two high-resolution cameras (one in front, one at the back) that work together to provide stunning snapshots, high-quality audio and video recordings, crisp and clear video calls, and fun self-portraits.