If you want to see all that Android 3.0 (“Honeycomb”) has to offer, but can’t afford a Xoom, here’s a more economical option.
The Acer Iconia Tab A500 may become the second tablet to use Google’s latest Android software, the version it says is optimized for tablets. It will begin shipping later this month.
The Xoom has made waves as the first device powered by Honeycomb, but it has drawn a lot of criticism for its $800 price tag, making it more expensive than almost all iPads, other Android tablets, and even full-featured laptops.
At just $449, the Acer tablet will have a much broader reach. It’s cheaper than the cheapest iPad 2, and while it’s still not exactly an impulse-buy price, it will be much easier to gain traction than the Xoom.
Of course, that $449 model will only get you a device with Wi-Fi connectivity. For those who want mobile data integration, a 4G LTE version will come out later, but it’ll be more expensive.
This is a great opportunity for Acer to get its name in the tablet market. The A500 comes with a Tegra 2 dual-core processor with speeds of 1 GHz, an HDMI port to export HD video, and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera. It also has a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
16 GB of storage comes loaded in with the device, and there’s also a microSD card slot.
