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Acer introduces a low-priced tablet that's ideal for a child
Parents looking for an inexpensive tablet suited to their kids or one that they can use as a handy e-reader can find what they want in the Acer Iconia One 7 (B1-740), a new 7-inch tablet computer that retails for just Bt3,290.
Acer says it has been able to keep the price down by including only the basic functions but these still allow the user to browse web pages, play casual games, watch video clips, view photos and play music.
Iconia One 7 has 1 gigabyte of RAM or working memory and 8 GB of internal storage, which is expandable with a microSD card of up to 32GB.
It runs on the Android 4.2 operating system and its display has 1,024 x 600-pixel resolution. The front camera, with 0.3 megapixel, is adequate for video chat while the main or rear camera has a resolution of 1.9 megapixel.
Part of the reason for the low price is that the Iconia One 7 comes with only Wi-Fi connection and has no 3G connectivity. It doesn’t have Bluetooth connection either.
Other reasons are a low-cost processor – the VIA WM8880 1.5 GHz Dual Core Cortex A9 – and the lack of sensors other than the G-sensor, which allows the screen to be rotated.
Instead of having stereo speakers, Iconia One 7 has one rear speaker but boasts a 3.5mm stereo jack for connecting to headphones. It also has a micro HDMI port to connect to a big screen TV.
Its 3,000 mAh rechargeable battery can play about 3.5 hours of HD video.
I tested it and found that Iconia One 7 was able to perform its tasks well and reasonably quickly too though obviously not as fast as its more expensive peers powered by Snapdragon processors.
The 5-point touch screen and menus had only a small delay over the more expensive tablets and I was able to play a 720p video clip, in this case the sample video from the Windows 7 system, fast and smoothly. Video clips from YouTube also played smoothly.
Web pages were rendered with acceptable speed and the tablet could be used as an e-book reader quite well.
It delivered good sound quality when used as portable MP3 player and when used with in-ear Razor headphones, the music quality was more than acceptable with good clarity and a deep bass.
Acer Iconia One 7 comes in black or white and the white version with its textured finish looks smart and sleek.
Key specs:
OS: Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Display: 7-inch WSVGA, 16:9 LED-backlit 5-point touch capacitive screen with 1024 x 600 pixels and 230nits brightness
CPU: VIA WM8880 1.5 GHz Dual Core Cortex A9
RAM: 1GB DDR3
Storage: 8GB, expandable with microSD of up to 32 GB
Camera: 0.3 MP front camera, 1.9MP rear camera
Battery: 3.8V, 3,000mAh rechargeable Lithium-ion, 3.5 hours HD video playback
Sensor: G-sensor
Audio: 3.5 mm audio jack, 1 x mic, 1 x rear speaker (1.5 W)
Ports: Micro HDMI, Micro USB 2.0, supporting USB OTG, microSD
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Dimensions: 191 x 112 x 9.9 mm
Weight: 289g
