Acer Iconia W510 Review

Windows 8 has afforded PC manufacturers plenty of legroom when it comes to design flexibility. The Acer Iconia W510 is one such hybrid product, a tablet powered by Intel’s ARM-competitive Atom Z2760 SoC — the closest you’ll get to emulating the lightness, quietness and low price of ARM-based Android and Windows RT devices.

It’s important to note that the 10.1-inch W510 tablet runs a full x86-powered version of Windows 8 and is therefore not limited to software downloaded from the still-bare Windows Store. On the other hand, the PowerVR SGX545 GPU and 1.8Ghz dual-core Atom CPU is nowhere near powerful enough to play intensive games or render high-def video.

Specs

- Windows 8 for tablets (x86 version)
- 10.1-inch 1366×768 pixel IPS display
- 1.8Ghz dual-core Intel Atom Z2760 SoC with PowerVR SGX545 GPU
- 2GB RAM / 64-128GB eMMC storage (+microSD slot)
- 8MP back camera / 2MP front camera
- WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, full-sized USB port
- 259mm / 168mm / 8.8mm, 1.27lbs (tablet only)
- 259mm / 187mm / 18.7mm ,  2.63lbs (tablet + keyboard dock)

The tablet on its own lasted about 11 hours on a charge, far better than any Core-based Windows tablet. That’s the best thing about the W510 — it lasts forever. With the keyboard dock, I could barely kill it, finally hitting the red after 19 hours or so. For general productivity purposes, this is a fantastic, lightweight solution.

– Nice form factor
– Lightweight, functional design
– Lots of ports
– Amazing battery life
– Full Windows 8 experience
– Decent screen

There certainly are advantages to picking up an Iconia W510 over the equivalent-sized Surface RT, as it can run Windows Store apps and legacy applications that were meant to run on Windows 7. But many of them, such as Photoshop and Lightroom, chug along at unacceptable speeds, while opening more than five browser tabs at a time tax the system to the point of freezing. And while Windows 8 may be well suited to the tablet lifestyle, it still trails iOS and even Android for slate-specific app selection. Operating the Windows desktop with just a finger is not conducive to getting stuff done, either, so you’re often put in the position of having to dock it in order to get real work done.

– Priced too high to contend with the Android and iOS tablet market
– Rear camera largely superfluous
– Lacks USB 3.0 support
– Poor real-world performance, easily bogged down
– Windows 8 still lacks for many essential tablet apps
– Poor-sounding speakers

Conclusion

Then there’s the Surface RT which, while it doesn’t run legacy Windows apps is better designed and has excellent first-party keyboard accessories. The W510 embodies the very problem Windows 8 is unable to solve: in trying to be everything to everyone, it excels at no one thing, and trails behind more focused products in peripheral categories. Neither a great tablet nor an ideal laptop, the W510 should find its niche with office workers or avid travelers who need a lightweight and long-lasting tablet that can function as a PC in a pinch.