Acer ICONIA TAB A100

Thanks to Apple, most tablet makers have decided on 10-inches being the optimum size for a tablet. That's fine for a lot of people, but there's clearly room for a smaller and more portable tablet.

And let's be honest, unless you want to carry around a device that gives a home cinema experience on the move, a smaller tablet is probably more practical. Especially if you don't have to compromise on the performance.

Just as Samsung is hedging its bets with 7.7, 8.9 and 10.1-inch models, Acer has decided to release a smaller version of its 10-inch A500 tablet. It still has the same 1GHz dual-core processor, but there are some compromises to be aware of.

The screen resolution is now just 1,024x600 pixels, but given the smaller screen size, it isn't as bad as you might think. There's a high pixel density, so everything looks crisp and the display is bright and colourful too. When you think that many netbooks ran Windows XP on much larger screens, you shouldn't be disappointed by the screen one bit.

Cut down to size

What may let you down is the battery, which has dropped from the A500's 6,520mAh battery to just under half the total capacity, at 3,060mAh. Despite having a smaller screen to power, you're going to notice a rather significant drop in battery life, to around 5-6 hours of actual full-on usage. What's more, you can't charge the tablet via any microUSB cable and must use a separate, proprietary, charger.

Before you panic, bear in mind that most smartphones make do with batteries ranging from 1,200 to 1,800mAh, so it's still sufficient when it's not something that will be used constantly, nor will it be used for making and receiving calls for the most part. Leave it in standby on a coffee table and the A100 will last for days, ready for you to dip in and out.

The USB host port on the A500 has also been ditched, which was a feature that separated the A500 from most of its rivals. With the ability to hook up a keyboard, mouse, flash drive or digital camera, the USB port allowed the tablet to become more independent of a PC or Mac. The A100, like others, needs to have files transferred via the microUSB socket.

There's still an HDMI output, however.

Storage wise, the A100 comes in two versions; 8GB and 16GB, but each offers a further expansion of up to 32GB if you buy a memory card. Next to the card slot is room for a SIM-card if you buy the 3G-enabled model. Most people will prefer to save the money and stick to Wi-Fi, as a lot of the time travelling is simply running apps or watching movies that don't require a connection.

Compared to a bigger tablet, the A100 is perfect for lazing around on the couch and checking up what films an actor has been in before using IMDb, or tweeting about how awful X-Factor is – despite tuning in religiously every weekend. Or, maybe I'm the only one that does that?

For use on the move, Acer has a case that allows the tablet to be propped up in a position for better movie and picture viewing. Pretty much the same as for any other tablet. The casing also hides the rather unappealing rear plastic casing, which isn't anywhere near as nice as the front or surrounding edges.

On the back is where you'll also find a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash. Tablets generally make lousy cameras, on account of them making you look stupid when trying to use them. With its smaller size, you can just about feel comfortable taking a picture or video, and if you do the results are pretty decent.

The front now has the obligatory video calling camera, which you can also use to take self portrait shots. Ironically, the front facing camera is probably going to be used more than the rear one – but that really means you'll barely use either.

OS

Acer has installed the very latest version of Android's Honeycomb OS, version 3.2. The screen is vivid enough, but Honeycomb OS itself is still rather dull and you also lose part of the screen at the bottom, to make way for the on-screen Android keys (back, home and task manager). There's also a second home key on the device itself, serving as a useful way to get control if you're running a full-screen app that hides the on-screen version. The home icon also flashes to show when you have new notifications, or changes colour when charging.

Until we see what the next OS, Ice Cream Sandwich (V4) will bring, the most you can do to jazz things up is change the wallpaper. Unlike Samsung, there's no other UI customisation (like changing the fonts), at least not without rooting the device – but we'll save talk of rooting for another day!

Feeling content

Another way to access content is via the Clear-fi app, which works with DLNA compliant devices over Wi-Fi. Here you can access content on a PC or network drive, as well as share the content stored on your A100 in the other direction.

Acer has also included some pre-installed apps for reading eBooks, Docs To Go for working with Office documents or PDFs, Flash 10.3 support and a movie editor.

Beyond that, Android Market is your first port of call to download the growing range of tablet-optimised apps.

One benefit of buying the A100 is to get the NVIDIA Tegra2 chipset, which means you can find some exclusive games that won't run on tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, or devices with Qualcomm chipsets. One such title is Pinball HD, which serves as an example of what the hardware is capable of.

A downloadable Tegra Zone app serves as a showcase of other content, with a free download available of Galaxy on Fire 2 to get you going.

The A100 is cheaper than larger tablets, but not as much as you might expect. This is partly due to the fact that there's more competition at the high-end, the A500 has been out long enough to attract discounts, plus there's still an awful lot of high-end technology packed inside.

It's important to remember why you might opt for this over something bigger, and it's not the price.