Acer Chromebook Tab 10 Review By TWiT Tech Podcast Network

This is tweets, so this is the Acer Chromebook Tab 10, and you know, on its surface I think you showed this off very brief, so I wanted to show people we had it and I told them that you were going to review it so yeah. So this is a Chromebook. Obviously it's a tablet focused Chromebook, and it's the first one in the tablet format. My opinion on Chrome OS tablets and Android tablets. As of late is it doesn't make a lot of sense to buy an Android tablet when you could buy a Chromebook and get the Android apps integrated with it. It's like you get the best of both were right and that was kind of the mistake.

Google made with the tab. See it wasn't it didn't, it didn't really satisfy it had all the hardware right, but they didn't have the software right. It had just I the pixel sees while you're talking only had the Android OS right didn't have the Chrome and there wasn't a lot of Android stuff for the tablet right. It was frustrating, and I'm not entirely sure that there is even at this point, a lot of stuff for a tablet on Android, but at least with Chrome OS running and the support for Android you get the best of both yeah. He gets to get the kind of the know the benefits of having a computer OS for multitasking right, you know for being productive and that sort of stuff, but also all of those apps from android.

So I was looking forward to this. The strange thing about this was that it was only offered at first for schools. Yeah. It's really targeted at K through 12 I, almost understand that, because it isn't something that maybe the public will want right, but maybe if a kid is forced to use it mm-hmm that would be okay, it's $330 and very recently, in the past few days it was opened up for everyone already, if you want you can buy one of these. This is what the same base level iPad cost is 330 yeah, it's very similar cost and I.

Guess when you compare it to the iPad, then I guess in my it makes sense in my head in using this on a daily basis. However, I've been trying to use it for my shows here: you're, comparing it in a pixel book, yeah, and I'm coming from lady. That hop is a line. That's the challenge, yeah my biggest complaint. Would this was because it's a tablet only device, no keyboard, no keyboard you're stuck doing you know all of your entry on a keyboard.

Looking Society of this, the half the screen and so depending on the app that you're using you end up with this tiny sliver of usable space and a keyboard and I don't know in daily use, it just got to be a real hindrance. Would you buy absolutely you could buy a keyboard, and they actually make Bluetooth keyboards that fit this? So you know that's extra cost that you're going to have to throw on to there right- and you know when you're talking about like a pixel book, obviously get a different pace. Err makes Chromebooks at $330. You can write one with a keyboard for that price right. So here that would be extra right, but at least I suppose you have the option, but I'm, just real quick I will say I like the display.

It's a nine point. Seven inch 2048 by 1536, LED backlit display that's very nice sharp text on the screen. You can go tiny with the fonts. If you really want to smaller than my eyes, could really be comfortable with four gigs of RAM 32 gigs of storage. There's an easy-to-access micro SD card slot up at the top, so you don't have to like pop open a slide.

You just pop it in there. It's almost like a removable drive micro SD now at 256 gigs, oh yeah, for under a hundred bucks, so yeah, but adds significant storage. If you needed it, absolutely that's something! The iPad cannot do right, oh you can, and you can just swap it on the fly with this case. You can't quite do it. It's a little covered up there, but if it wasn't in the case, you could definitely do it.

It's in that little port, the op1, which is a Google branded system on ship by rock ship, same one, that's in the Samsung Chromebook plus, and what is that I never heard of that ship, yeah and I, don't know about it, but I do know from a performance standpoint. I was running into issues of multitasking on this, and you know: I have to it's a cooling system on a chip. It's not the most powerful, no, definitely not the most powerful. However, the battery life on this 88 60 William hours of battery, they say up to nine hours and battery was awesome on this thing. So if that system-on-a-chip is making, you know, is an is pulling from the battery limit in limited soared away because it's not as powerful.

Maybe that's a good trade-off for something like school. This is going to get you through a full day's worth of school. Alright, that's good, so that that's kind of a positive there. It does have stylus support, so there's an enhancer status built-in you pull it out nice and, as you saw on the screen, when I pull it out, you get this guy that hit the pop-up that allows right into pixel book has the pen support, but it doesn't mount anywhere into the price. You know this actually does.

This is a Wacom EMR electromagnetic resistance pen, and it actually works here. I'm going to create a note. It jumps right into keep and waiting a little of lags it. Yes, things happen, and you're just kind of suffocating working go ahead, create a note, then creating a thumb wheel King working is that you know slow storage will just jump right into this any day. Now that's ridiculous! Yeah, and you know sometimes it would be superfast for doing things.

Sometimes I would get this and that was kind of the problem. I couldn't, I never knew what I was going to get if I had this free thinking, yeah we're just going to screen turn itself off. I turn the screen off, because while the screen is off, I could pull out the stylus, and it should pop up there an easy-to-access note right and then, if I wanted to unlock I could do it from there. So that seems like a software flaw as opposed to a speed issue yeah, but I like to keep up with your drawing. Is it pretty yeah? Absolutely here, I'm going to draw a picture of Leo.

Okay, that's true to life. Yeah. There we go okay, yeah I mean you know. It's got the stylus support, I'm, not a huge user of stylus on devices. I've come to terms with that over the years, but it's nice to have it and in an education focused a back way.

You know what I mean I want the fact that you can pull it out while it's locked and get right to jotting things down, I think, that's, probably as usable as anything else. You know when you're in a school environment nice, you know outside that I'm not sure if I feel like from a Productivity standpoint. It really slowed me down using, and I'm really happy to go back to the pics of work and really just anything with a keyboard. This on-screen keyboard and being locked into that with all my apps and kind of the confusion between. Is this a chrome app or is it an Android app? You know what I was doing.

Google sheets and Google Docs I have both of them installed on there, because they both run just a little differently with a touch interface and there's just enough kind of confusing layers to make it so that you're not moving us as comfortably um I'll, be honest, I'm baffled by this product, you can get an Acer Chromebook 15 inch for less that's more powerful, more useful. Has a keyboard I, don't get what this seems. Almost a scam I mean a school that buys. This is getting ripped off. I had said four on the software side of things that they have plans by the end of the year to do more updates to Chrome OS, to make it work better on a tablet form factor so cross your fingers.

Maybe this will get more usable over time right now, I feel like there's just some rough edges. This has to be as far as that's I do not buy under any circumstance, yeah I'd say at the very least, wait for the Chrome OS update to happen, because that might open it up, and suddenly it might make more sense. But right now it's just really hard to you at that price. Point. Look at the iPad the base, mine right, that is the same price, and it's hard to bat.

It's hard to you know opt for this when there is a price there's so much software for it there yeah and then, of course, if you want a Chromebook, get a Chromebook for less yeah that does more yeah with a keyboard. It's amazing how much the keyboard makes a difference that it really does. I actually used Samsung's, Chromebook plus, which is based on the same system on a chip and I, did not find that's what you use right now. Abbey right, the Chromebook plus I, did not find it to be slow or laggy at all. So I'm wondering if there's something going on with this particular platform, maybe the screen resolution or something yes.

Maybe this a little laggy a little slow. A very unimpressive I mean I, definitely changed the resolution to fit more under the screen at once. So maybe you know, maybe in doing that, I slow things down your fault. Even, even then you would. You would hope that it would keep up yeah, that's clearly not enough.

So what do you say? Yeah, do not buy, do not buy, for who knows, let's see what Google does with Chrome OS over the next couple of months for tablets, and it's a little disappointing I mean I. Even Android wasn't really ready for tablets with the pixie I do hope it was donen't drink on Wiki I'd have to make another sacrifice to the elixir of life. No I almost feel like the Chrome OS plus Android has some potential on a tablet, but this is not it. I want to see. Yeah, I would love to see a pixel see running Chrome OS yeah, with the Android compatibility that might be an interesting product yeah, but I mean even, even then you run into the screen real estate with yeah on-screen keyboard.

No, no. You need to see the pixel see had a built-in keyboard or not a built-in, but it had attached keyboard yeah. Well! Well, that's true right! You can, so they solve that right used to that little twist, yeah anyway. Thank you, Jason, for putting up with that for how long? Yes, a couple of weeks, it's alright you're ready to move away, I'm ready, ?, I'm, ready to get back to my book. You.

Source : TWiT Tech Podcast Network