Hands-on Preview of the Acer Iconia W3: The World's Smallest Windows 8.1 Tablet

[Marcus Yam]

Is this the start of a small Windows tablet revolution?

Hands-on Preview of the Acer Iconia W3: The World's Smallest Windows 8.1 Tablet : Read more

 

[de5_Roy]

can it play crysis 3?

 

[digiex]

It surely can play Candy Crush.

 

[Cryio]

I think it can barely play Far Cry 1.

 

[Cataclysm_ZA]

There really should be an AMD APU in here.

 

[deksman]

I agree with 'Cataclysm_ZA'. AMD APU should have been used in this... such as Kabini.

 

[itpro]

Give credit where it is due: It was not the MiniPad or the Nexus 7 that "made" the 7" tablet market. While there were many offerings, there simply was no 7" market until Amazon hit the market with their Kindle Fire. Sales of the Fire demonstrated that people really did like a smaller tablet, prompting Apple to move on down and opening the market for a wide range of choices. Yes, the Fire has its flaws, but before the Fire no tablet in that form factor sold in any quantity. Now, smaller tablets are dominating even the iPad in sales.

 

[stevejnb]

As someone who has generally though of Acer as a second rate budget PC company, I am very impressed with their windows 8 tablet offerings. Using an Iconia W700 myself, it's one of the neatest devices I've used in a long time, and now they're adding in some smaller form factors. While the Android tablets still dominate the low budget tablets for value, an actual Windows 8 tablet for under $400 would blow an Ipad mini out of the water for value if the hardware isn't shoddy. I guess that's the question then - is the hardware decent, or can we expect it to go south within a few months like some older Acer products? My W700 is still kicking just dandy about 6 months in, but Acer has a long history of problematic products.

 

[elemein]

I have basically decided that I'll be getting this device.

Does anyone have any idea of when it is coming out in stores in Canada?

 

[falchard]

I usually like the Iconia tablets because they are paired with good processors. However, this one should have never been. Atom processors should be banished from all computers.

 

[stevejnb]

I usually like the Iconia tablets because they are paired with good processors. However, this one should have never been. Atom processors should be banished from all computers.

Meh, Atom processors get tablets on the market that work for basic functionality, and gets them there cheap. Games in any even remotely serious sense? Nope. But web browsing, e-mailing, word processing, watching videos/movies - in other words, what most people do on computers? They work just fine for that.

If you don't like Atom processors, that's dandy. You not liking them leading to you thinking they shouldn't exist? Idiocy.

 

[elemein]

I usually like the Iconia tablets because they are paired with good processors. However, this one should have never been. Atom processors should be banished from all computers.

You're not getting 8 hours of battery life with an i series processor in an 8 inch device. It isnt happening.

And no, a 3 hour device with an i3 isnt good as a tablet. Remember what this device is for.

 

[rwinches]

How is this an improvement over a netbook aside from 1280 x 800 which means tiny type on an 8.1" screen?