Tablet Acer Iconia W4: a small assistant under the yoke of large Windows
This article focuses on the Acer Iconia W4 tablet running on the Intel Atom platform running the 32-bit version of Windows 8.1. But before we sort it out on cogs (literally), I want to say a few words about the nature of my interest in compact tablets at the G8 and expectations from the device under test.
I have been working in IT journalism for quite some time. At least four times a year (and in fact - more often) I work at large international exhibitions, like the Consumer Electronics Show, Mobile World Congress, etc. From the outside, these exhibitions probably seem to be a celebration of engineering and a source of useful nishtyakov. To a certain extent, it is. But the journalist’s tasks are rather laborious and boring: study the maximum number of new products, highlight the most interesting, capture, record characteristics, then get settled in a corner and write an illustrated report as quickly as possible. The initial collection of information requires a long running around the stands. Now, when smartphones have learned to count the number of steps, it turned out that in the first days I walk 12-15 kilometers each.
')
A laptop is needed to transfer impressions to a readable form. With a normal text editor, with a photo viewer, with Photoshop for processing RAW (I only shoot them) and, finally, with a more or less capacious drive to drop frames from the flash drive. When you walk a lot, even a relatively lightweight ultrabook quickly begins to pull the shoulder. Yes, and a bag or backpack somewhat annoying. Of course, the time is right - you walk and you do not get indignant. But when I first saw an 8-inch tablet on Windows 8 (Acer showed it a year ago, if I’m not mistaken), I vividly imagined walking around the exhibitions with a small bag where the tablet and keyboard lie to it. And how, having typed a certain amount of information, I sit down, take out a tablet, and in it are my favorite Word. ACDSee and Photoshop. Thanks to them, I quickly write the text, process several photos - and continue to run while my colleagues in Moscow and Nikolaev (yes, we have an extensive version) posting everything on the site.
Official portrait
Here and in Microsoft they say that tablets on Windows 8, unlike counterparts on other platforms, are ideally suited not only for the consumption of content, but also for its creation. I had the opportunity to test this statement in practice about three weeks ago, when the Acer Iconia W4 tablet with a wireless keyboard arrived at the test. I tried to work on it and is now ready to set out impressions.
First about the device itself.
The screen diagonal is 8 inches. IPS-matrix with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels was used. Matrix, frankly, is not the most expensive - it is noticeable due to not very uniform illumination (only on a dark background, but still) and the appearance of color fading with a significant deviation from the right angle. Also noticeable bias in the "warm" tone, which in itself is not bad, but yellowish white at first strongly striking. Of course, compared with the firstborn W3, which used the matrix TN + Film, the progress is enormous. And yet the device is quite budget, and something really good to put in it would be unprofitable.
The tablet uses the Intel Atom Z3740 processor, belonging to the Bay Trail family. It went on sale at the end of 2013, and now its wholesale price is $ 32 (with a purchase of 1000 pieces). Four cores operate at 1.3 GHz, but under load it can grow to 1.86 GHz. With active use, the integrated graphics core accelerates to 667 MHz, and in normal mode its frequency is half as much. Production technology 22 nm, second-level cache size of 2 MB. The processor supports 64-bit instruction set and, theoretically, can address up to 4 GB of RAM. However, the vast majority of manufacturers puts half the amount, arguing that the lack of productivity gains when installing 4 GB. So in Acer W4, we are met only 2 GB.
The capacity of the onboard drive is 64 GB. This, in principle, is enough for a minimal set of software, but there is nowhere to store movies and music, not to mention photographs. For them, you can insert a microSD card, and on the official website it says that the maximum amount is limited to 32 GB, and in practice 64 GB also works. 128 is already acceptable for a small personal computer. By the way, the speed of the chip soldered on the motherboard is surprisingly high - up to 165 MB / s when reading and up to 66 MB / s when writing. This explains fast loading and overall playfulness of work.
Now, I think it's time to look inside. Theoretically, the back cover of the W4 is not removable, but in practice it can be removed easily, having a piece of thin plastic or just a strong long nail.
The battery capacity is 5020 mAh (20 WH-h), and it takes up all the free space inside the case. The official site promises us battery life of up to 10 hours, but I'm afraid this is a noticeable exaggeration. In practice, it is more correct to speak about six o'clock. Word, a browser with windows of social networks, mail synchronization - in this mode. As a video player, the tablet lasts longer, especially if you use a player that supports hardware decoding. If you do not overdo it with brightness, you can watch a movie up to eight hours in a row.
In my version of the Iconia W4, there is 3G support, implemented using the Huawei MU736 module. This is a relatively fresh model, went on sale in March last year. The maximum data acquisition rate is 21 Mbps, sending 5.76 Mbps. It works stably, the network keeps tenaciously. The only thing you can find fault with - MU736 quite voracious. And if it is necessary for the tablet to work longer from the battery, 3G is better to disconnect.
For Wi-Fi, the module on the Broadcom chip, which supports the 2.4 and 5 GHz ranges, is responsible. The maximum connection speed is 300 Mbps, which is more than enough for such a compact device. There are no complaints about the stability of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, everything is impeccable.
With heat dissipating screens
And without them
The motherboard is strikingly reminiscent of ... a gun. It is unlikely that the engineers specifically sought this, but see for yourself - in reality, the Dauginsky Mauser. The similarity is enhanced by the fact that a 3G module is inserted from the bottom, like a clip.
The tablet has quite vocal stereo speakers. They are located, however, so that a genuine stereo effect is problematic, but they play loudly. The main thing, holding the tablet horizontally, does not block the oxygen to one of them.
In general, the design of the Iconia W4 is simple and convenient for repair. All potential weaknesses are implemented on separate scarves - and the power connector, and its controller. So, happen what, repair should be not too expensive. Note that there are no “sandwiches” on the W4 motherboard, and all the main chips - CPU, RAM, storage, etc. - soldered separately. This means that the likelihood of contact disruption during shock or shaking is minimized.
Processor surrounded by RAM and drive
Board with power and headphone connectors
All components in one frame
Simple and reasonable, so to speak. And even on the open slots microSD and SIM-cards I will not swear, the benefit of them nothing falls out, no matter how hard you try.
I will not talk about cameras either good or bad. Ordinary tablet cameras. Front - for online communication. Back - for not very important pictures of average quality. If you want to take off well, you need another device. And so, for photo and video notes.
And now let's talk about the main thing - how comfortable is the tablet as a workhorse in the field.
In work
Can I use the tablet on Windows 8 without a hardware keyboard? Yes you can. But only in the interface Modern UI (nee Metro). And he, and applications for him pretty well sharpened by touch control.
But this interface is intended for content consumption. And if in my case everything was limited to him, I would prefer a tablet on iOS or Android. But the task is exactly to work, and all important applications, including the Microsoft Office 2013 package, are launched in the desktop interface.
The tablet is too thin to accommodate a full-sized USB port, but it comes with an adapter that allows you to get what you are looking for from a micro USB port.
There is no “native” cover with a hardware keyboard for Iconia W4, so I used a universal one that is suitable for almost all Acer tablets, and other companies as well. Externally, the case resembles a small leather folder or envelope. Unfolding it, we discover the keyboard itself, and the leather part oddly folds and turns into a stand. The connection to the tablet is established via Bluetooth, one battery charge lasts a long time - I did not manage to land it in two weeks.
Some clamps in the cover-keyboard are missing - the tablet is simply placed on the stand and that's it. This is normal when you work at the table, but it is necessary to put the structure on your knees or belly, as it becomes unstable. The tablet tries to move aside or fall on the screen, you have to hold. Sometimes the magnets diverge, and then the Iconia W4 smoothly falls backwards. This, of course, is not very convenient. By the way, the other Acer tablet, Aspire Switch 10 , has a keyboard that clings and serves as an additional power source. But there will be a separate material about it.
I put the usual set of software and start working. To begin, I write the text in Word. Everything goes smoothly until there is a need to select a line, increase the font and make it fatter. Without a mouse, of course, you can do it. But this operation took me, in order not to lie, about five minutes. I sort of singled out the text somehow, trying to make the double tap work out of habit and open the properties, but the selection gets lost. You start to poke into the menu, but it is, infection, petty. In the end, of course, I did. But the bewilderment remained.
It turns out that the touch screen does not replace the mouse and touchpad. For full-fledged work, they are still needed - either one or the other. For me, it was obvious when I started using my first tablet on Windows 8 - the Dell Latitude 10 , bought a year and a half ago. But he did not claim to be an ultra-compact gadget, weighed decently in modern times, and therefore I considered the trailer in the form of a keyboard and mouse quite reasonable. But here we have a compact gadget, weighing 415 grams. What, and to him, too, need to carry a bag of accessories? Come on? I even feel inconvenient to speak, but in Pages on an iPad with a hardware keyboard it is much easier to work with text ...
About work in Photoshop without a mouse and can not speak. Therefore, we stop playing ultramobility, we catch the tailless beast and check - how is the Iconia W4 at all?
Get into me if you can
You know, surprisingly cheerfully. On the office bag and say nothing - flies. Viewing photos in RAW is also surprisingly fast — as with the built-in drive, through the home network. There is almost no difference with a large PC, except for, of course, a small screen diagonal.
Work in Photoshop, too, initially struck playfulness. Opening files and simple operations, like adjusting the brightness and correcting white balance, happen instantly. And this, I note, with a 20-megapixel RAW from a Sony RX100 camera. If you don’t open more than a dozen files at the same time, the comfort is complete, and then, of course, you start abutting 2 GB of RAM and the speed decreases. When applying filters more serious, like Smart Sharpen, the difference with the desktop PC and ultrabook is big. In one shot, the tablet can work up to three minutes. In principle, you can wait, but half an hour for ten shots ... a bit too much. It is better to get by with minimal revisions of the pictures, and leave the filters and other gadgets already for a serious car.
Putting a tablet with a set of accessories and my working Abook Aspire S7 ultrabook alongside, I suddenly noticed that the difference is not that big ...
But already in thickness ...
The general feeling is this: it is quite possible to work, but you should not delude yourself with the miniature tablet. To ensure its full functionality in the bag, you need a volume that is approximately one and a half times the originally planned one. Plus, if the hardware keyboard is not equipped with a touchpad, a flat surface for the mouse is required when deploying on the ground. And this, of course, radically reduces the mobility of the workplace. Makes you wonder: maybe hell with it, with this kind of ease, and better to take an ultrabook with you tomorrow?
Total
If we consider the Acer Iconia W4 as a device, it is difficult to find fault with it. Low weight, decent screen, thoughtful maintainable design.
But the operating system Windows 8.1, at least at this stage of development, does not allow to do without hardware additions in the form of a keyboard and touchpad. The lack of them in the set makes the purchase is not fully completed. And, perhaps, someone trying to work as is will cause a storm of not very positive emotions.
Meanwhile, the tablet is not very cheap. The 3G version will cost an average of 17,990 rubles. Add to this at least 3,000 rubles for a keyboard case, and you get a rather impressive amount. Meanwhile, for 29,000 rubles you can buy an Acer Aspire S7 ultrabook with an 11-inch screen, 4 GB of RAM, a Core i5 processor and a 128 GB SSD. There is an opinion that for full-fledged work it is worth paying extra.
This model, perhaps, will have to be recommended to those who prefer to mainly consume content, and only sometimes, in a relaxed home or hotel environment, they turn into a creator for a while.
Perhaps the situation with the comfort of work will change a little with the upcoming update of Windows 8.1, but I am always a little strange when the improvements vaguely promise tomorrow and offer money to deposit right now. And a little sad that Acer here, by and large, can not change anything.
I have been working in IT journalism for quite some time. At least four times a year (and in fact - more often) I work at large international exhibitions, like the Consumer Electronics Show, Mobile World Congress, etc. From the outside, these exhibitions probably seem to be a celebration of engineering and a source of useful nishtyakov. To a certain extent, it is. But the journalist’s tasks are rather laborious and boring: study the maximum number of new products, highlight the most interesting, capture, record characteristics, then get settled in a corner and write an illustrated report as quickly as possible. The initial collection of information requires a long running around the stands. Now, when smartphones have learned to count the number of steps, it turned out that in the first days I walk 12-15 kilometers each.
')
A laptop is needed to transfer impressions to a readable form. With a normal text editor, with a photo viewer, with Photoshop for processing RAW (I only shoot them) and, finally, with a more or less capacious drive to drop frames from the flash drive. When you walk a lot, even a relatively lightweight ultrabook quickly begins to pull the shoulder. Yes, and a bag or backpack somewhat annoying. Of course, the time is right - you walk and you do not get indignant. But when I first saw an 8-inch tablet on Windows 8 (Acer showed it a year ago, if I’m not mistaken), I vividly imagined walking around the exhibitions with a small bag where the tablet and keyboard lie to it. And how, having typed a certain amount of information, I sit down, take out a tablet, and in it are my favorite Word. ACDSee and Photoshop. Thanks to them, I quickly write the text, process several photos - and continue to run while my colleagues in Moscow and Nikolaev (yes, we have an extensive version) posting everything on the site.
Official portrait
Here and in Microsoft they say that tablets on Windows 8, unlike counterparts on other platforms, are ideally suited not only for the consumption of content, but also for its creation. I had the opportunity to test this statement in practice about three weeks ago, when the Acer Iconia W4 tablet with a wireless keyboard arrived at the test. I tried to work on it and is now ready to set out impressions.
First about the device itself.
The screen diagonal is 8 inches. IPS-matrix with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels was used. Matrix, frankly, is not the most expensive - it is noticeable due to not very uniform illumination (only on a dark background, but still) and the appearance of color fading with a significant deviation from the right angle. Also noticeable bias in the "warm" tone, which in itself is not bad, but yellowish white at first strongly striking. Of course, compared with the firstborn W3, which used the matrix TN + Film, the progress is enormous. And yet the device is quite budget, and something really good to put in it would be unprofitable.
The tablet uses the Intel Atom Z3740 processor, belonging to the Bay Trail family. It went on sale at the end of 2013, and now its wholesale price is $ 32 (with a purchase of 1000 pieces). Four cores operate at 1.3 GHz, but under load it can grow to 1.86 GHz. With active use, the integrated graphics core accelerates to 667 MHz, and in normal mode its frequency is half as much. Production technology 22 nm, second-level cache size of 2 MB. The processor supports 64-bit instruction set and, theoretically, can address up to 4 GB of RAM. However, the vast majority of manufacturers puts half the amount, arguing that the lack of productivity gains when installing 4 GB. So in Acer W4, we are met only 2 GB.
The capacity of the onboard drive is 64 GB. This, in principle, is enough for a minimal set of software, but there is nowhere to store movies and music, not to mention photographs. For them, you can insert a microSD card, and on the official website it says that the maximum amount is limited to 32 GB, and in practice 64 GB also works. 128 is already acceptable for a small personal computer. By the way, the speed of the chip soldered on the motherboard is surprisingly high - up to 165 MB / s when reading and up to 66 MB / s when writing. This explains fast loading and overall playfulness of work.
Now, I think it's time to look inside. Theoretically, the back cover of the W4 is not removable, but in practice it can be removed easily, having a piece of thin plastic or just a strong long nail.
The battery capacity is 5020 mAh (20 WH-h), and it takes up all the free space inside the case. The official site promises us battery life of up to 10 hours, but I'm afraid this is a noticeable exaggeration. In practice, it is more correct to speak about six o'clock. Word, a browser with windows of social networks, mail synchronization - in this mode. As a video player, the tablet lasts longer, especially if you use a player that supports hardware decoding. If you do not overdo it with brightness, you can watch a movie up to eight hours in a row.
In my version of the Iconia W4, there is 3G support, implemented using the Huawei MU736 module. This is a relatively fresh model, went on sale in March last year. The maximum data acquisition rate is 21 Mbps, sending 5.76 Mbps. It works stably, the network keeps tenaciously. The only thing you can find fault with - MU736 quite voracious. And if it is necessary for the tablet to work longer from the battery, 3G is better to disconnect.
For Wi-Fi, the module on the Broadcom chip, which supports the 2.4 and 5 GHz ranges, is responsible. The maximum connection speed is 300 Mbps, which is more than enough for such a compact device. There are no complaints about the stability of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, everything is impeccable.
With heat dissipating screens
And without them
The motherboard is strikingly reminiscent of ... a gun. It is unlikely that the engineers specifically sought this, but see for yourself - in reality, the Dauginsky Mauser. The similarity is enhanced by the fact that a 3G module is inserted from the bottom, like a clip.
The tablet has quite vocal stereo speakers. They are located, however, so that a genuine stereo effect is problematic, but they play loudly. The main thing, holding the tablet horizontally, does not block the oxygen to one of them.
In general, the design of the Iconia W4 is simple and convenient for repair. All potential weaknesses are implemented on separate scarves - and the power connector, and its controller. So, happen what, repair should be not too expensive. Note that there are no “sandwiches” on the W4 motherboard, and all the main chips - CPU, RAM, storage, etc. - soldered separately. This means that the likelihood of contact disruption during shock or shaking is minimized.
Processor surrounded by RAM and drive
Board with power and headphone connectors
All components in one frame
Simple and reasonable, so to speak. And even on the open slots microSD and SIM-cards I will not swear, the benefit of them nothing falls out, no matter how hard you try.
I will not talk about cameras either good or bad. Ordinary tablet cameras. Front - for online communication. Back - for not very important pictures of average quality. If you want to take off well, you need another device. And so, for photo and video notes.
And now let's talk about the main thing - how comfortable is the tablet as a workhorse in the field.
In work
Can I use the tablet on Windows 8 without a hardware keyboard? Yes you can. But only in the interface Modern UI (nee Metro). And he, and applications for him pretty well sharpened by touch control.
But this interface is intended for content consumption. And if in my case everything was limited to him, I would prefer a tablet on iOS or Android. But the task is exactly to work, and all important applications, including the Microsoft Office 2013 package, are launched in the desktop interface.
The tablet is too thin to accommodate a full-sized USB port, but it comes with an adapter that allows you to get what you are looking for from a micro USB port.
There is no “native” cover with a hardware keyboard for Iconia W4, so I used a universal one that is suitable for almost all Acer tablets, and other companies as well. Externally, the case resembles a small leather folder or envelope. Unfolding it, we discover the keyboard itself, and the leather part oddly folds and turns into a stand. The connection to the tablet is established via Bluetooth, one battery charge lasts a long time - I did not manage to land it in two weeks.
Some clamps in the cover-keyboard are missing - the tablet is simply placed on the stand and that's it. This is normal when you work at the table, but it is necessary to put the structure on your knees or belly, as it becomes unstable. The tablet tries to move aside or fall on the screen, you have to hold. Sometimes the magnets diverge, and then the Iconia W4 smoothly falls backwards. This, of course, is not very convenient. By the way, the other Acer tablet, Aspire Switch 10 , has a keyboard that clings and serves as an additional power source. But there will be a separate material about it.
I put the usual set of software and start working. To begin, I write the text in Word. Everything goes smoothly until there is a need to select a line, increase the font and make it fatter. Without a mouse, of course, you can do it. But this operation took me, in order not to lie, about five minutes. I sort of singled out the text somehow, trying to make the double tap work out of habit and open the properties, but the selection gets lost. You start to poke into the menu, but it is, infection, petty. In the end, of course, I did. But the bewilderment remained.
It turns out that the touch screen does not replace the mouse and touchpad. For full-fledged work, they are still needed - either one or the other. For me, it was obvious when I started using my first tablet on Windows 8 - the Dell Latitude 10 , bought a year and a half ago. But he did not claim to be an ultra-compact gadget, weighed decently in modern times, and therefore I considered the trailer in the form of a keyboard and mouse quite reasonable. But here we have a compact gadget, weighing 415 grams. What, and to him, too, need to carry a bag of accessories? Come on? I even feel inconvenient to speak, but in Pages on an iPad with a hardware keyboard it is much easier to work with text ...
About work in Photoshop without a mouse and can not speak. Therefore, we stop playing ultramobility, we catch the tailless beast and check - how is the Iconia W4 at all?
Get into me if you can
You know, surprisingly cheerfully. On the office bag and say nothing - flies. Viewing photos in RAW is also surprisingly fast — as with the built-in drive, through the home network. There is almost no difference with a large PC, except for, of course, a small screen diagonal.
Work in Photoshop, too, initially struck playfulness. Opening files and simple operations, like adjusting the brightness and correcting white balance, happen instantly. And this, I note, with a 20-megapixel RAW from a Sony RX100 camera. If you don’t open more than a dozen files at the same time, the comfort is complete, and then, of course, you start abutting 2 GB of RAM and the speed decreases. When applying filters more serious, like Smart Sharpen, the difference with the desktop PC and ultrabook is big. In one shot, the tablet can work up to three minutes. In principle, you can wait, but half an hour for ten shots ... a bit too much. It is better to get by with minimal revisions of the pictures, and leave the filters and other gadgets already for a serious car.
Putting a tablet with a set of accessories and my working Abook Aspire S7 ultrabook alongside, I suddenly noticed that the difference is not that big ...
But already in thickness ...
The general feeling is this: it is quite possible to work, but you should not delude yourself with the miniature tablet. To ensure its full functionality in the bag, you need a volume that is approximately one and a half times the originally planned one. Plus, if the hardware keyboard is not equipped with a touchpad, a flat surface for the mouse is required when deploying on the ground. And this, of course, radically reduces the mobility of the workplace. Makes you wonder: maybe hell with it, with this kind of ease, and better to take an ultrabook with you tomorrow?
Total
If we consider the Acer Iconia W4 as a device, it is difficult to find fault with it. Low weight, decent screen, thoughtful maintainable design.
But the operating system Windows 8.1, at least at this stage of development, does not allow to do without hardware additions in the form of a keyboard and touchpad. The lack of them in the set makes the purchase is not fully completed. And, perhaps, someone trying to work as is will cause a storm of not very positive emotions.
Meanwhile, the tablet is not very cheap. The 3G version will cost an average of 17,990 rubles. Add to this at least 3,000 rubles for a keyboard case, and you get a rather impressive amount. Meanwhile, for 29,000 rubles you can buy an Acer Aspire S7 ultrabook with an 11-inch screen, 4 GB of RAM, a Core i5 processor and a 128 GB SSD. There is an opinion that for full-fledged work it is worth paying extra.
This model, perhaps, will have to be recommended to those who prefer to mainly consume content, and only sometimes, in a relaxed home or hotel environment, they turn into a creator for a while.
Perhaps the situation with the comfort of work will change a little with the upcoming update of Windows 8.1, but I am always a little strange when the improvements vaguely promise tomorrow and offer money to deposit right now. And a little sad that Acer here, by and large, can not change anything.
The author thanks Alexander Levchenko ( www.tech-town.ru ) for his help in preparing this article.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/230811/
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