Why did I buy this Acer A500 Android Tablet?
The Acer A500 was released in early 2011 in North America. I have been waiting for the right time to make the investment and I believe that this was the tablet I was waiting for. Was it worth the wait? Read on!
User Experience
If you like the Android OS, specifically the latest tablet version of Honeycomb, than you will love Acer's implementation. This tablet feels smooth and responsive. The screen doesn't stutter like some underpowered phones running new versions of Android.
The weight of this device feels good though I wouldn't be upset if it was a little lighter. After playing with a few of the games for any length of time your hands or wrists may need a break from holding the tablet out in front of you. Holding the device like a book down on your lap was no problem.
I was a little disappointed that it didn't come the proper HDMI cable, but I guess I shouldn't complain because I have yet to actually care even hook it up to the TV. The included movie app doesn't play very many movies so we've been using MoboPlayer which usually rocks.
The battery life on the A500 is great. I can usually get a few days of standby, even if I forget to put it in Airport mode. As for usage, we've strapped the A500 tablet to the back of our headrest in the car and played two movies back-to-back for our son during our last roadtrip. I was impressed at the batter life of this tablet.
Buying the A500
I looked around at a few different stores and also online, at the time I couldn't find any deals and so I picked mine up at Staples for $499 plus tax. Since then it seems Walmart is selling this same model for much less.
