Almost immediately after the release of the W3 8-inch tablet from Acer there have been rumors of and requests for a successor and now finally Acer has officially announced the W4, with improvements that could make this the 8-inch tablet to have.
The Iconia W4 looks a lot like its predecessor physically but actually comes in a bit thinner and lighter, at 0.42″(10.75mm) thin and 0.91 pounds (415g) weight. The real improvements however are with the internals and the display with the W4 now running on a Bay Trail Z3740 CPU and a 1280×800 optically bonded IPS display with Zero Air Gap technology for better readability in sunlight.
Other specs remain the same as the W3, with Bluetooth , wifi, micro SD, micro HDMI and micro USB ports and 32GB and 64GB storage options. The rear camera however has been upgraded to a 5MP one while the front camera has an unchanged resolution at 2MP. Battery life is rated at 10 hours for web browsing and 8 hours video playback.
The W4 will be available with several accessory options including a Crunch Keyboard, which consists of a Bluetooth keyboard and case, and Crunch covers which can fold into a stand for the tablet and come in various colors. No mention of a stylus so its unlikely to have a digitizer for pen input.
Prices start at $330 for 32GB and it should be available later this month.
So how do you think the W4 ranks against the other 8-inchers that will be available starting October 18th?
So so looking, normal specs, and a fairly tarnished brand (after the W3 thought it looks like they fixed the issues) and a price that is above almost every other 8 inch out there. I just don’t see what would compel me to buy this rather than saving $30 and going with a Venue pro.
I bought the W3 and its somewhat ok. Screen sucks compared to all ISP screens. I have the much loved W510, but the keyboard fiasco with that one too. Get it together manufacturers! Now I am really gun shy of all Acer products until they improve their quality control. Money is hard to come by these days to spend on half baked tablets. I am going to stick from now on with Dell products. Much better quality in my many years of experience. Probably get the Venue 8 Pro and give this W3 to mom or dad. We’ll see. Saving money for now till all the bugs in this new Baytrail and Windows 8.1 is worked out.
It’s a fair statement to say that one should be a little careful when buying Acer. The W510 has been great since i got it fixed but I’ve experienced a couple of really bad products in the past. They are well priced usually but the W4 seems to be more expensive than the other 8-inch tablets.
Hopefully we’ll get a closer look soon.
You’d buy this one is you wanted HDMI out (or the Toshiba Encore). You’d buy this one if you wanted one of the interesting cases or keyboards that look like they’ll be available. I’m continuing to shortlist it for both these reasons.
The pictures show that there’ll be two different keyboard cases available. The one that Chippy’s showing is the Crunch Keyboard cover, where the keyboard is bigger than the tablet. But there’s another keyboard case to be available, where the keyboard matches the size of the tablet (nearly). That’s the one I’m interested in. Engadget have a picture:
http://www.engadget.com/gallery/acer-iconia-w4/#!slide=1271003
Of the competitors, only the Dell has been announced as having a keyboard option, and it still isn’t clear how or whether the keyboard attaches to the tablet. I’m still hoping that early reports that the Lenovo Miix 2 will have a folio keyboard turn out to be true, although the recent announcement didn’t mention it.
So there are reasons to consider the W4.
Just an aside, but the more I look into the so-called zero air gap technology, the more interested I am in seeing the w4. As far as I can tell, it has been used in just a couple of recent cell phones but the reviews on it have been good, especially outdoors where it cuts glare down. I used the w3 for two weeks and it was a decent machine, the screen was definitely the weak point but it was usable overall.
As a blogger on the move a lot, I currently use a Galaxy Note II and a Vaio P series for keyboard work. The Vaio is showing its age in performance terms and something like this combo looks useful. I just wish they’d stick the battery under the keyboard so it had some balance and fasten a proper hinge to it. Diy case I guess. Origami on the knee is not my idea of a stable platform.