- Jun 16, 2007
- 3,102
- 24
- 81
I just picked up the Acer Aspire Switch 10. A budget 2-in-1 hybrid similar to the ASUS T100. It's a tablet that comes with a clamshell keyboard and priced starting at $380.
10.1 inch 1366.768 IPS display
Intel Atom Z3745 process
2GB RAM
32 or 64GB eMMC
micro SD, micro USB, micro HDMI, separate charging port
1.3 pound tablet, 2.6 pounds with keyboard
I had an ASUS T100 and that will be the main rival it gets compared with. And now I just got home from Best Buy with my 32GB Acer Aspire Switch 10 and after a few hours of use, I think Acer did the better job this time. Here are my first impressions...
Build quality.
The back has an aluminum feel, some have reported it as being aluminum, but I'm pretty sure it's just plastic. Either way, Acer did a pretty good job, it doesn't feel cheap, has a brushed criss-cross pattern on the back, holds firmly in the hand and doesn't leave fingerprints. It has a solid feel without any creaking or flexing.
This is in stark contrast to the T100 that is glossy plastic, feels very cheap and slippery and is a fingerprint magnet. This was one of my big turn offs regarding the T100, it felt grimey rather quickly And the T100 also flexed and creaked quite a bit.
Display.
It's only 1366x768. I know some will gripe about it not being full HD, but at this price I'd rather have a good quality 768p display than what would probably be a poor quality 1080p display. And so far this does seem like a nice display, it doesn't look washed out, it's IPS and has great viewing angles. I'm typing on it outdoors and it gets very bright.
This seems to be easily twice as bright as the ASUS T100.
Keyboard.
The keyboard feels nice, I'm typing out this entire first impressions post using it. I've had bad experiences with keyboards such as the one on the $500 Yoga 2 11. But no complaints about the keyboard so far. It's a 10 inch keyboard, so I do have occasional issues where I reach for a number key and go too far and hit a function key instead.
Also having a problem with the trackpad. It's a nice sized trackpad and it functions great, but I'm constantly brushing it while typing and having the mouse shoot off somewhere. So I have to toggle it off (Fn-F7) before typing any long posts. I normally don't have this many problems, so not sure if it's the large size of the track pad or it's just terrible at ignoring accidental contact like some trackpads can, I suspect both.
I really didn't have much complaints about the ASUS T100 keyboard itself, but I did have a problem where because it was sunk rather low from the palm rest, if I was leaned back and typing I would often hit the edge of the palm rest with my thumb when I tried to use the spacebar. The Acer keyboard is sunken a little, but doesn't seem to be as much and I haven't had the same problem with it. I did have far fewer accidental trackpad issues with the ASUS T100's smaller trackpad.
Usage Modes.
The Acer supports more than just tablet and laptop modes. I can dock the tablet backwards to use it in presentation and tent modes as well.
In laptop mode I can tilt the screen way back. It isn't balanced when the screen is tilted all the way back and will fall backwards. But I love that I have the option to go that far back. Some tablets have limited angles because they are top heavy. I can't remember how far back the ASUS T100 went, definitely not this far, but I think it did okay.
Speakers.
The speakers are in front of the tablet. The tablet is a bit taller in landscape mode because they have the speakers at the bottom. And these speakers sound surprisingly good.
ASUS put the speakers on the back of the T100. I can't remember how they sounded.
Closing thoughts.
I'm not really a Acer fan. I usually find their tablet designs bulky and ugly looking. Wasn't fond of the Acer S7 ultrabook either. But so far Acer has impressed me with the budget 2-in-1. It's better than the ASUS T100 in almost every way and only costs $30 more. Anyone looking for a cheap 10 inch Windows 8 tablet, netbook, or hybrid, this seems like the thing to get.
One more thing... Battery.
I haven't used it long enough to judge the battery life, but wanted to add what another reviewer said. It's rated for 8 hours, but he got about 7 hours on his video loop test. The same test the ASUS T100 got 9.5 hours. He says the Acer has a 6000 mAh battery while the ASUS has a 8000 mAh battery. So this seems to be one area the ASUS does win at. But I think 7 hours should be sufficient for me.
And here is a video review comparing the Acer and ASUS 2-in-1s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n9Nm3zIkOg
10.1 inch 1366.768 IPS display
Intel Atom Z3745 process
2GB RAM
32 or 64GB eMMC
micro SD, micro USB, micro HDMI, separate charging port
1.3 pound tablet, 2.6 pounds with keyboard
I had an ASUS T100 and that will be the main rival it gets compared with. And now I just got home from Best Buy with my 32GB Acer Aspire Switch 10 and after a few hours of use, I think Acer did the better job this time. Here are my first impressions...
Build quality.
The back has an aluminum feel, some have reported it as being aluminum, but I'm pretty sure it's just plastic. Either way, Acer did a pretty good job, it doesn't feel cheap, has a brushed criss-cross pattern on the back, holds firmly in the hand and doesn't leave fingerprints. It has a solid feel without any creaking or flexing.
This is in stark contrast to the T100 that is glossy plastic, feels very cheap and slippery and is a fingerprint magnet. This was one of my big turn offs regarding the T100, it felt grimey rather quickly And the T100 also flexed and creaked quite a bit.
Display.
It's only 1366x768. I know some will gripe about it not being full HD, but at this price I'd rather have a good quality 768p display than what would probably be a poor quality 1080p display. And so far this does seem like a nice display, it doesn't look washed out, it's IPS and has great viewing angles. I'm typing on it outdoors and it gets very bright.
This seems to be easily twice as bright as the ASUS T100.
Keyboard.
The keyboard feels nice, I'm typing out this entire first impressions post using it. I've had bad experiences with keyboards such as the one on the $500 Yoga 2 11. But no complaints about the keyboard so far. It's a 10 inch keyboard, so I do have occasional issues where I reach for a number key and go too far and hit a function key instead.
Also having a problem with the trackpad. It's a nice sized trackpad and it functions great, but I'm constantly brushing it while typing and having the mouse shoot off somewhere. So I have to toggle it off (Fn-F7) before typing any long posts. I normally don't have this many problems, so not sure if it's the large size of the track pad or it's just terrible at ignoring accidental contact like some trackpads can, I suspect both.
I really didn't have much complaints about the ASUS T100 keyboard itself, but I did have a problem where because it was sunk rather low from the palm rest, if I was leaned back and typing I would often hit the edge of the palm rest with my thumb when I tried to use the spacebar. The Acer keyboard is sunken a little, but doesn't seem to be as much and I haven't had the same problem with it. I did have far fewer accidental trackpad issues with the ASUS T100's smaller trackpad.
Usage Modes.
The Acer supports more than just tablet and laptop modes. I can dock the tablet backwards to use it in presentation and tent modes as well.
In laptop mode I can tilt the screen way back. It isn't balanced when the screen is tilted all the way back and will fall backwards. But I love that I have the option to go that far back. Some tablets have limited angles because they are top heavy. I can't remember how far back the ASUS T100 went, definitely not this far, but I think it did okay.
Speakers.
The speakers are in front of the tablet. The tablet is a bit taller in landscape mode because they have the speakers at the bottom. And these speakers sound surprisingly good.
ASUS put the speakers on the back of the T100. I can't remember how they sounded.
Closing thoughts.
I'm not really a Acer fan. I usually find their tablet designs bulky and ugly looking. Wasn't fond of the Acer S7 ultrabook either. But so far Acer has impressed me with the budget 2-in-1. It's better than the ASUS T100 in almost every way and only costs $30 more. Anyone looking for a cheap 10 inch Windows 8 tablet, netbook, or hybrid, this seems like the thing to get.
One more thing... Battery.
I haven't used it long enough to judge the battery life, but wanted to add what another reviewer said. It's rated for 8 hours, but he got about 7 hours on his video loop test. The same test the ASUS T100 got 9.5 hours. He says the Acer has a 6000 mAh battery while the ASUS has a 8000 mAh battery. So this seems to be one area the ASUS does win at. But I think 7 hours should be sufficient for me.
And here is a video review comparing the Acer and ASUS 2-in-1s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n9Nm3zIkOg
Last edited:
Facebook
Twitter