Following a tip-off that the Acer W4 might actually be shipping in Asia we took a deeper dive into search results and although we can’t confirm the Iconia W4 is shipping it does seem there are some prototypes doing the rounds. An article from Japan gives us some nice pics, comparison with the Iconia W3 and a look at the device manager. There’s an Acer Singapore product page ‘in the wild’ too.
The Acer Iconia W4 is being promoted as a portrait-mode tablet which makes sense given its handheld sizing. It looks like its slightly less wide. It’s not, but it is thinner, and it looks a lot nicer than the W3. Charging comes via MicroUSB port and there’s MicroSD and MicroHDMI…
Stereo speakers, mic, power and volume rocker also shown in the pics. Webcams have been confirmed as 2Mp (front) and 5MP (rear.) For those worries about the screen the article states that the screen is better than the screen on the W3, which was a major issue for many. Broadcom WiFi a/b/g/n module looks like it’s dual-band. As for the accessories, you’ve got the crunch folio and the keyboard stand. We’ve found some RRP pricing in Singapore. The crunch folio is SG$49 (US$40) and the Bluetooth keyboard with folio is SG$89 (US$70) which could make it quite attractive to travellers. With USB charging and the HDMI-out you’ve got a seriously capable, lightweight modular PC.
What do you think? Check out the other Baytrail-T tablet options here and let us know.
Official Acer Singapore Iconia W4 information.
Source: Mynavi.jp where there are more pics and notes.
Has anyone tried running any virtual machines on these Bay Trail tablets? With only 2 GB of RAM, VMs may run too slowly with active apps running on both the host and guest OS’s simultaneously.
This is probably not an intended use case of these tablets but I’d like to run some Linux OS’s and booting into Linux doesn’t seem very stable right now.
I haven’t seen any public news on VMs yet but yes 2GB would be a problem. The SSD speed and Mem bus speed too in my opinion. It’s possible, but I would look to device based on Y-series Haswell for better VM capabilities.
You are right, dual band wifi and hdmi ouput are great differentiators for Acer. They really hurt their reputation in my eyes with their w3 so I hope this w4 device repairs some of that. Additionally I wish they had forgone the rear camera and included a digitizer instead. All in all, great little Windows 8.1 tablet and although I would be using Windows Store apps exclusively on a 8″ device I can see some users in some regions leveraging that hdmi alot for desktop scenarios.
Well, Acer has a bad reputation in general.
The Acer website says thickness is 10.8mm, not 10mm like you have in your database.
This makes it the second largest of the four 8″ offerings. With Dell VP8 and Toshiba Encore side by side, the extra thickness was noticeable, as was the extra bezel width. I would guess the Acer would be the same way.
Lenovo Miix 2: 215x132x8 mm, 350g, GPS
Dell VP8: 216x130x9 mm, 395g
Acer W4: 219x135x10.8mm, 430 g, GPS + HDMI
Toshiba Encore WT8: 213x136x11 mm, 445g, GPS + HDMI
Thanks.
I’ve changed the figure now.
Why do OEMs think you don’t need a mouse when using a keyboard attachment? The sole reason I want an active stylus for tablets, including Android ones, is for the mouse pointer. I don’t even ink nor draw.
It is too bad that current manufacturers don’t see the advantage of the optical mouse pointer developed by Raon Digital for the Everun UMPC. That thing was awesome.
Given the choice of moving my finger 4 inch away to tap the screen, versus leaving it on the optical pointer, I hardly ever used the touchscreen. It was just as convenient as a trackpad.
I agree. I’d rather have an optical mouse or a nub in the bezel than an active digitizer.
My preferences are:
1. Optical bezel mouse
2. Nub bezel mouse
3. Keyboard accessory with a trackpad or nub
Without those then no sale from me.
Ya, if they’re not going to have an active digitizer but provide a keyboard accessory then you should add a mouse to it. Most of the things I do with a keyboard would also benefit from having a mouse pointer.
Only 32bit…. thats bad ….
no pointing device included ….. after telling “the boys” now for years this stuff there is no other conclusion to draw than – theses people do that on purpose. same is the case with including such equipment only in much more expensive devices.
its a shame – but unfortunately also a fact.