Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

(SEE END FOR UPDATED COMPARISON TO SAMSUNG GALAXY 4) I have ready many reviews on tablets, and have found most of them to be why a certain tablet is better than another to the nth degree with all kinds of technical jargon which really just pits one expert against another. As a person who tutors people who are not technologically savvy, I am going to review this tablet from the point of view of someone who has not had one before and whether or not this is a good choice if you want to get one. I have been told by several business people and those who claim to be very tech savvy that they have gotten rid of their laptops except for occasional spreadsheet work in their offices or at home. Can you get rid of your laptop by getting a tablet like this? Let's take a look. WHAT IS THIS TABLET LIKE? SIDE SWITCHES This tablet is around the size of an ipad mini or a Kindle. The on off switch is on the upper right hand side (with screen facing you) and below it is a rocker switch just below the power switch. There is a space between the two buttons which will allow for elastic bands should you want to get a case for it that has them. That will make it so that the tablet will not be turned on and off by accident. The power button has to be pushed and held for a moment before the unit turns on. SCREEN The tablet screen is shiny which can be annoying, but that is the nature of the beast. The touch sensitivity is excellent- I did not find any problems with response time or lag. The orientation changing when you turn the screen around is also well set. It works nicely and is not overly sensitive. INPUT To input into the tablet, you have a choice to either type or speak what you want the tablet to do. I have to say that this tablet responds very well to either set of input. After working with several i-pads, my daughter constantly raves about how this Acer tablet is superior in the way it responds to input with the microphone than the i-pads are. I have not had any problem with typing into this tablet beyond what I normally do on any unit. The microphone occasionally mistypes a word, but it is not nearly as bad as I expected it to. Response time of the tablet is excellent. I am quite impressed with how quickly it responds to input without lag or difficulty. APPS I have put a few apps on this unit which tend to be popular with tablet users. Sketchbook Pro is one of those apps. I really like it. The response time is good, and the app seems to work well on this tablet. I also love the radio app which allows you to listen to radio stations in the area or around the country. With a case that folds into a stand, it is a great panel to use in a room where you want to listen to the radio. Quite a few apps that come in the tablet already are handy and easy to use. The screen is quite intuitive and easy to use. INTERNET USAGE This tablet is wi-fi accessible to the internet which means that you can not go out in no-man's land to use it like you can an android phone, but you have to be near a wi-fi station to use it. The wi-fi response time is excellent- although it does occasionally lag when the signals get weak- something that all wi-fi units will do. Android is a Google engine so everything you do will be monitored by Google or you will be using something they have designed to get where you want to go. You can find other ways to purchase apps if you don't like the Google store, however, such as Amazon. This tablet comes with McAfee virus scan which is not a huge deal, but I am not sure how to replace that yet, should I desire to do so. CAMERA I am not a big advocate of phone and tablet cameras. This one has a decent camera to use on the back, and an adequate camera on the front of the camera to use for Skype which is pretty much all you need. If you want a really nice camera, buy one. For quick pictures to capture something you want to show someone, then this will be fine. PROS Easy to hold Screen responsive Speech recognition works well Good fast performance Boots up quickly Clear screen makes reading books nice Good colors for photos on the screen (better than laptops) Power button hard to accidentally turn on or off Learning is pretty intuitive for first time users CONS Wi-fi only Not as easy to use as laptop for extensive typing Can be a bit clumsy to use at times (the nature of tablets) Start up literature is a bit underwhelming for first time users THE BOTTOM LINE CAN YOU GET RID OF YOUR LAPTOP? Can you get rid of your laptop to substitute this tablet? My answer would be no. Even if all you did was go on the internet to wander through web sites, using a tablet is a bit cumbersome if you want to do any kind of extensive writing. If you use the microphone, it will probably be pretty accurate, but you will still have to use the keyboard to correct what is used. For occasional internet usage, watching videos, movies, and reading books, this tablet is fabulous. I think it works beautifully. I would say that it is just as nice as other more expensive tablets and you will invest a lot less money in it. If you want a tablet and do not want to pay a fortune for it, this is the way to go. The Acer Iconia A1-830 is an excellent value and I use mine a lot. I just could not substitute it completely for my laptop. I prefer to have a choice in my browser, features, and fine tuning or replacement of parts should I desire to do so. I do find that having the tablet helps a lot when I want to quickly do something on the internet and don't want to boot up my laptop. This tablet is pretty quick and I like it. If you are a tech fanatic and have to have the biggest and best, you might find fault with this tablet, however. It is worth a test run in any case. UPDATE 3/4/2015 SAMSUNG GALAXY 4 (8 inch) vs ACER ICONIA A1-830 I have had quite a chance to get to know this tablet over time and also to use a Samsung Galaxy 4 8 inch tablet in comparison both on its own and with a keyboard. After working with both tablets, I have to say that I still prefer the Acer over the Samsung and here is why: -Acer has slightly smaller screen area, but is easier to work on -Acer has the return and menu buttons incorporated into the screen instead of on the side so it rotates with screen -Acer surface is less shiny and has less glare -Performance of Acer is the same as the Samsung in terms of speed -Wifi of Acer is as good as the Samsung -keyboard of Acer is much easier to use than Samsung (the one in the screen) -set up of the Acer is much easier and user friendly -voice commands on Acer works MUCH better than on the Samsung -Samsung speaker is a bit nicer than Acer, but I use a bluetooth speaker for best sound anyway. -Samsung battery does last a bit longer than the Acer, but the frustrations of the Samsung still make me prefer the Acer. All in all, I have to say that I have tried to honestly look at both tablets and give them a fair comparison and I still like the Acer better. The price is better and the ease of use is better too. The microphone on the Acer seems much more responsive than the Samsung. The screen of the Samsung is a bit more dense in terms of pixels and color perhaps, but the glare is more annoying. I also get very irritated at the side buttons on the Samsung. They are static (stay put) and when the tablet is on its side, it is way too easy to hit a button that screws up what I am trying to do on the Samsung. This is especially true when I am trying to type something and is VERY frustrating. There is one thing about the Samsung that I really wish the Acer had and that is longer battery time. The Samsung does run a little longer than the Acer without having to recharge. The speaker on the Samsung is a bit nicer, but with my portable bluetooth speaker as my main source of listening, I don't find that to be a problem for me. So, after time and the chance to use the Acer and the Samsung so I could compare them, I still really like the Acer tablet better. Because I do a lot of graphics work and computer work, I still would not get rid of my laptop or desktop, but I do save a lot of time using this tablet when I want to look up quick information and cruise the internet. UPDATE March 2016 I wanted to take a moment to update you concerning this device. As time has gone on I have enjoyed using the Acer Iconia A1-830 very much. It is a nice tablet for an affordable price. HAVE I HAD PROBLEMS? A few. -tablet went nuts as if a baby were in charge of it and had five Redbull drinks first. I rebooted and cleared out some programs and all was fine. -I could not move my information from my device to my PC- this was solved, but it has taken a lot of research, effort and time. The support at the Acer site is rather pitiful to be honest. That is one thing that I will say about this, is compared to Samsung, Acer does not support their devices as well as they should, but then again, the price is a lot less too. IS THIS STILL WORKING? Yes., I use it daily and it still is working. I keep the HD less than 60% full as I do with most devices as they tend to work best that way. I find that it connects via wi-fi at times when other devices in the house do not. I also find that the battery wears down a lot less quickly if I turn off location and even wi-fi if I don't need it. NO UPGRADE PAST KIT-KAT 4.4.2 There will be no upgrades to Lollipop or beyond, so if you want a more modern unit, then try for something new. MY REVIEW STANDS I now have a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 that I am using and it of course passes the Acer by a mile, but then again, it is a much more expensive machine too.