Surface or Acer Iconia W510-1674

[11B1P]

For Cyber Monday, MS has the 32gb Acer Iconia W510-1674 on sale for $399. Surface is still full price. Other than the savings, is there any benefit to the Surface compared to the Acer? Can I save $100 on the Acer and still do the same things the Surface will do? Not worried about the Touch/Type cover.

Thanks

 

[palandri]

No benefit I can think of.

it looks like a good deal to me: Buy Acer Iconia W510-1674 Tablet Computer - Microsoft Store Online

 

[gperrego]

I'm looking at the same deal and i'm wondering is the Acer full windows 8 instead of RT?

 

[Squadromeo]

The W510 should be full windows 8, as is the W700. Only the Acer Iconia Tab is RT

 

[tofu.]

the acer is somewhat old tech now and a bit bulkier than the surface, but it's still the better device unless your sole use is web browsing.

 

[Mark Nicholson]

I think this is a great deal and just ordered mine. This is full Windows 8, not RT and should be a great little tablet. It's only 32GB so there probably won't be much user storage left but it does have a microSD card reader. It also doesn't include a keyboard. But your getting it for 20% off at a time when Windows 8 tablets are hard to even find! And plus, since you're getting it from the Microsoft store it will be a Microsoft Signature version meaning they'll have removed all the bloatware (except MS's own) and you'll get free 90 day support. And Acer is notorious for bloatware which they add to their systems to lower the cost, e.g. other companies pay them to install trial versions of their software.

I previously owned the Iconia W500 which although many people bad mouth got very decent reviews on amazon and I had no problems with it. I sold the W500 used and for about the same money I got I am now getting the W510 which is a tremendous upgrade - thinner, lighter, better screen resolution, faster processor. The W510 probably won't replace your desktop system if you use Photoshop or do other heavy lifting with it but it will make a great tablet and for lighter desktop work you'll be able to plug in a full size monitor with the microHDMI and some kind of keyboard and it will be a decent low powered system. That's how I used my W500 and expect to do the same with this only better!

 

[11B1P]

I think this is a great deal and just ordered mine. This is full Windows 8, not RT and should be a great little tablet. It's only 32GB so there probably won't be much user storage left but it does have a microSD card reader. It also doesn't include a keyboard. But your getting it for 25% off at a time when Windows 8 tablets are hard to even find! And plus, since you're getting it from the Microsoft store it will be a Microsoft Signature version meaning they'll have removed all the bloatware (except MS's own) and you'll get free 90 day support. And Acer is notorious for bloatware which they add to their systems to lower the cost, e.g. other companies pay them to install trial versions of their software.

I previously owned the Iconia W500 which although many people bad mouth got very decent reviews on amazon and I had no problems with it. I sold the W500 used and for about the same money I got I am now getting the W510 which is a tremendous upgrade - thinner, lighter, better screen resolution, faster processor. The W510 probably won't replace your desktop system if you use Photoshop or do other heavy lifting with it but it will make a great tablet and for lighter desktop work you'll be able to plug in a full size monitor with the microHDMI and some kind of keyboard and it will be a decent low powered system. That's how I used my W500 and expect to do the same with this only better!

Thanks. I'm not looking to replace my desktop, just replace my HP Touchpad. I like to lounge on the couch and check email, browse the web, (WPCentral mostly) and I hate it when I try and load a page and I get the Unable to Load Page error. Nothing major, just casual usage.

 

[Andre Revelin]

I wonder how to order the keyboard/dock

 

[iggypop120]

i thought the keyboard was included. looks like i wont be buying this.

 

[Dos101]

Having owned the Iconia w500 (predecessor to the W510) and the Surface, I'd take the Surface's design/build quality over any Acer product any day, despite the fact that it's not x86. Besides, clover trail CPU's have terrible price/performance.

 

[NickA]

For Cyber Monday, MS has the 32gb Acer Iconia W510-1674 on sale for $399. Surface is still full price. Other than the savings, is there any benefit to the Surface compared to the Acer? Can I save $100 on the Acer and still do the same things the Surface will do? Not worried about the Touch/Type cover.

Thanks

I just posted a similar thread in the Surface RT forum asking if anyone was selling their Surface for this Acer. I have the Surface, but having a tablet running full W8 for $399 sounds like a steal. I'm not planning on running PhotoShop or other CPU/memory intensive program. But there are a few windows apps that I'd really like to run on a tablet.

 

[oldpueblo]

the acer is somewhat old tech now and a bit bulkier than the surface, but it's still the better device unless your sole use is web browsing.

Actually the W510 is a hair thinner and lighter, and the new clovertrail chipset is in many ways faster with better battery life than Tegra3.

Surface for Windows RT vs. Iconia W510 vs. Vivo Tab RT vs. Surface for Windows 8 Pro vs. Vivo Tab vs. Iconia W700 | The Verge

 

[rchillin]

I bought a Surface RT for my wife as her graduation gift. She loves for what she uses a computer for most, web browsing and occassional word processing. But seeing the fit and finish first hand has solidifed my decision to get a Surface Pro. I've looked at CloverTrail and the various other products offered by manufactures but for me, I think Microsoft was the only to that actually strikes a good balance between tablet and PC. I think this article How PC makers destroy the Windows experience | ZDNet is dead on. From the crazy cluckiness flipping of the Yoga to the cheap hinge track pad missing Vaio Duo (a device that I was once interested in) I feel just misses the mark.

 

[stephen_az]

I would normally repeat a post but this is what I have suggested to others. Which apps do you plan to add to a 32GB Windows 8 tablet? Windows 8 will take at least half of that 32 GB by itself not including swap file/cache. Add a few large apps (Office, Photoshop, Acrobat,) and you will find you are limited to MicroSD for file storage and access. I can assure you that will slow down performance and the device is hardly a performance record setter in the first place. I have also seen nothing on Acer's web page or at the Microsoft store to confirm it is any more than a MicroSDHC slot. Throw in as well that you give up the full size USB port for a micro-USB port. That then makes using external drives a bit more of a nuisance. Altogether, I view this as an example of you get what you pay for and what you are paying for is not very much. I just don't see the point of buying a Windows 8 tablet with a weak processor, limited memory, and even more limited storage. The comfort of being able the load x86 software on a machine with minimal space and Atom processor seems a lot less comfortable when you think of what you are getting and what it can do.....

 

[LimeSoda]

Although I am writing this on a surface, @399 the W510 would be an amazing deal. Does more than the surface (full windows 8) for less money. What's not to like...

 

[1 Wise Geek]

It's a little late.
The W510 runs Windows 8 not Windows RT or Windows 8 Pro.

 

[Ridemyscooter86]

I've though about getting the iconia w510. For 399 its a great deal but I kinda agree with stephen az, I would get the 32 gb version but 32 gigs is not enough memory. I could do with a 64 gb version because I run windows 8 on my laptop that I put a 128 gb ssd into and I use about 70 gb so I could load some files onto a micor sd card, but I work at a computer store and was checking out the w510 and it has like 20 gb already used up, thats with more or less nothing on it. I'm pretty sure that if you got rid of the bloat ware you could easily free up maybe 3-5 gigs but 32 isn't going to cut it even if you just install office and a couple of other programs. I disagree with Dos 101's statement that the clovertrails have terrible price/performance as they are on par with the arm processors...here is a simple question: what would you rather buy, an ipad 32 gb for 599$ or a FULL computer for 399$? or better yet, lets compare apples to apples(no pun intended) and no sale price, 599$ for a 64gb FULL computer or 699$ for a 64 gb light tablet. I understand iOS has matured quite a bit and has a lot more productivity apps, but for me, since I"m an engineering student, I want to be able to run office, and some other programs like visual studio, putty, to connect to other servers and code on them, and matlab, all of which this will do.

 

[Ridemyscooter86]

I guess saying this is a FULL computer is a little misleading, its more of a light/secondary computer but because of the legacy x86 applications, it can do a lot more for me than an android tablet or ipad can do for me. BTW, if you haven't tried clovertrail out, I would suggest you do because they really improved it. I told myself that after having a netbook about 4 years ago that I would never buy an intel atom again, but with clovertrail, windows 8 runs silky smooth on it with no stutter, and thats multi-tasking and normal use on it. I think windws 8 optimization has a lot to do with it, but intel definitely made the performance better.
I'm looking into this tablet because is the only one I've seen with a dockable keyboard that doubles your battery life thats a 10" screen. It looks, feels, and gets a similar battery life to the ipad. My gripe with many of the windows 8 tablets is that they are 11 inch tablets and they all feel rather bulky. I want to be able to carry around a light 10" tablet and browse the web/do simple things on the tablet, but when I need to get work done I dock it into the keyboard dock and use it as a computer. I would tell people to pick up an 11" samsung ativ or asus vivotab and see the differenc because they are definitely bulkier...

 

[11B1P]

Well, I decided on getting a Surface. I looked high and low on ebay. I ended up with a 64gb with several accessories from a member here on wpc. He had used it for an IT presentation and then offered one heck of a deal. It's on the UPS truck right now, scheduled for delivery by the end of the day. As late as UPS is delivering due to Christmas, I'll probably be home from work before it gets delivered.

 

[inteller]

you made the right choice. Apps are (finally) streaming into the Windows Store that you won't miss the legacy desktop.