Dimensions: The Acer Iconia Tab A200 measures 10.2 inches wide and 6.9 inches tall. Thickness is just a smidgen below a half inch at 0.48 inches and weight is 1.54 pounds or 24.6 ounces. Yes, that makes it just a bit heavier than the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Apple iPad 2 but I don’t think you’ll need to hit the dumbbells to compensate for it. At least, I hope not. Consumers also get to take their pick between a gray version or a red version.
The brains: Powering the Acer Iconia Tab A200 is a 1 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor backed by a 1MB cache and 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM. It comes integrated GeForce GPU that allows the tablet to do HD gaming and run 1080p video. Running the show is Android’s Honeycomb operating system, with the device also being upgradeable to Android 4.0. That would be Android Ice Cream Sandwich for you folks who don’t like numbers. Do note that it has the Acer Ring custom user interface or “skin” overlayed on the OS so you won’t be getting a stock Android experience. That’s either good or bad depending on your opinion about custom UI’s.
Storage: The Acer Iconia Tab A200 comes with either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage. The 8GB version retails for $330 while the 16GB version will cost $350. Honestly, I’m just glad that Acer did not decide to tack on $100 extra for the 16GB version, given how that seems to be standard practice for tablets these days every time you get a doubling of internal memory. Folks who are bummed by the lack of 32GB and 64GB options will find some solace in the fact that the tablet comes with a slot for a high-capacity MicroSD card. The slot can support a memory card up to 32GB in size.
Display: Serving as the face of the Acer Iconia Tab A200 is a 10.1-inch TFT-LCD touchscreen with multi-touch support, 1280 x 800 resolution, and a 16:10 aspect ratio. It certainly isn’t as sexy as a Retina Display or Super AMOLED (or even regular AMOLED) for graphics nuts. But if you have no idea about what I just said, then the display will likely serve your purpose just fine.
Wireless connectivity: Wireless options for the Acer Iconia Tab A200 comprise of Wi-FI (IEEE 802.11b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR.
Hardware: The tablet does not come with a rear-facing camera, opting to provide just a front-facing webcam instead. The Tab A200 also comes with dual speakers, a mic and a Micro USB connector.
Battery life: Powering the device is a two-cell, 3260 mAh Lithium-ion polymer battery. Acer claims that users can get up to eight hours of battery life per charge
Media features: The Tab A200 comes with Acer’s Clear.fi installed, allowing users to play and share media over various devices.
Although the Acer Iconia Tab A200 is not as powerful or slick as the high-profile offerings from such companies as Apple and Samsung, its main appeal boils down to one thing: price. The fact that it manages to deliver some pretty good features — including a 10.1-inch screen — at a lower price point makes the Tab A200 especially appealing for folks looking for an affordable tablet that still performs well.
