- Feb 4, 2013
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I just bought this a few days ago. I'm from Manila, Philippines and it cost P18,900 (32GB version). I'm pretty satisfied with this tablet. Battery life is amazing. It lasts more than a day of casual use. Casual means grabbing it, surfing the web, facebook, youtube videos and emails and putting it to sleep and using it sparringly with my laptop. Battery is really good. My thoughts:
The good:
* Battery life. I don't have the exact numbers because it really depends on your usage but mine lasts for more than a day of moderate usage.
* Screen is a huge improvement over the W3. The screen on the W4 is very good. Its not 1080p but it serves its purpose. Text and graphics are crisp and clear. Viewing angles are good.
* Build quality is good although some people may not want the slippery brushed dark aluminum paint scheme but works for me. There are stickers at the back (Intel, Windows log and serial number which you can easily remove if desired)
* WIFI reception is good (not sure if this has dual antennas)
* Boot time is very good (fastest is around 5 seconds no kidding).
* No bloatware or AV pre-installed although I have removed some Acer programs. 12GB free afterwards.
* Home buttons is I think executed well, its not capacitive and you don't hit it by accident.
* INCLUDES CRUNCH KEYBOARD AND micro-USB adapter cable --Yes and Yes. This sets it apart from Dell, Lenovo and even the Toshiba. I don't know what Asus is offering since they also plan to release an 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet.
The not so good:
* Weight - I would have gotten the Mixx 2 but it does not have microHDMI. I can say its manageable.
* Speaker is not that loud so a good headphone is a must.
* Camera is what is expected its not that good but video is okay (how is that? I don't know). Decent shots in well lit places.
* Screen mirroring for some reason has been disabled or not working. Same as for Dell and Lenovo. Not sure why. But it defeats the purpose of having to project it to a bigger screen. Example, how do you get back an app to the main screen once it goes to the extended screen? If there's a mouse no problem but that is not the point here.
I cannot say that Windows 8.1 is a strength or weakness because it has not mature yet but it does the job. I hope they can fix the scaling in the desktop mode so it will be optimized for touch. I would suggest anyone who has an 8 inch Windows 8.1 tablet to set the scaling to 125% or 150% for better touch experience. Setting the zoom for IE (metro) to 120% helps too.
And before I forget, some modern apps are inconsistent because even though you lock orientation to portrait mode, some apps override it since it only works in landscape mode.
I did not include pictures because there's always plenty out there over the net. One thing I cannot confirm is the GPS. The specs mentions about GPS but I can't get some apps to work without Internet connection.
Overall I'm very happy with my purchase and I will keep this. I will give this 4 out of 5 stars.
The good:
* Battery life. I don't have the exact numbers because it really depends on your usage but mine lasts for more than a day of moderate usage.
* Screen is a huge improvement over the W3. The screen on the W4 is very good. Its not 1080p but it serves its purpose. Text and graphics are crisp and clear. Viewing angles are good.
* Build quality is good although some people may not want the slippery brushed dark aluminum paint scheme but works for me. There are stickers at the back (Intel, Windows log and serial number which you can easily remove if desired)
* WIFI reception is good (not sure if this has dual antennas)
* Boot time is very good (fastest is around 5 seconds no kidding).
* No bloatware or AV pre-installed although I have removed some Acer programs. 12GB free afterwards.
* Home buttons is I think executed well, its not capacitive and you don't hit it by accident.
* INCLUDES CRUNCH KEYBOARD AND micro-USB adapter cable --Yes and Yes. This sets it apart from Dell, Lenovo and even the Toshiba. I don't know what Asus is offering since they also plan to release an 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet.
The not so good:
* Weight - I would have gotten the Mixx 2 but it does not have microHDMI. I can say its manageable.
* Speaker is not that loud so a good headphone is a must.
* Camera is what is expected its not that good but video is okay (how is that? I don't know). Decent shots in well lit places.
* Screen mirroring for some reason has been disabled or not working. Same as for Dell and Lenovo. Not sure why. But it defeats the purpose of having to project it to a bigger screen. Example, how do you get back an app to the main screen once it goes to the extended screen? If there's a mouse no problem but that is not the point here.
I cannot say that Windows 8.1 is a strength or weakness because it has not mature yet but it does the job. I hope they can fix the scaling in the desktop mode so it will be optimized for touch. I would suggest anyone who has an 8 inch Windows 8.1 tablet to set the scaling to 125% or 150% for better touch experience. Setting the zoom for IE (metro) to 120% helps too.
And before I forget, some modern apps are inconsistent because even though you lock orientation to portrait mode, some apps override it since it only works in landscape mode.
I did not include pictures because there's always plenty out there over the net. One thing I cannot confirm is the GPS. The specs mentions about GPS but I can't get some apps to work without Internet connection.
Overall I'm very happy with my purchase and I will keep this. I will give this 4 out of 5 stars.
Have you found any good ebook reader app tho?
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