Acer takes cover off A1-830: 7.9-inch aluminum tablet with great battery life for just $149.99

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Acer takes cover off A1-830: 7.9-inch aluminum tablet with great battery life for just $149.99
Acer has just unveiled the A1-830, the newest tablet in its A1 series, and it’s a stylish aluminum 7.9-inch slate with a price of just $149.99. The Acer A1-830 is a lot like the first generation iPad mini - it has the same 4:3 aspect ratio, 1024 x 768 pixel resolution and great battery life. However, it’s running on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, and is priced at nearly half what Apple asks for its mini.

The first thing you’d notice about the Acer A1-830 is its sleek looks and aluminum body, both things we’re used to seeing in pricier products. Being made out of metal, the tablet has some heft to it. It weighs a solid 0.84 pounds (some 380 grams), but at the same time it's also fairly thin, measuring 0.32 inches (8.15mm).

The display is a “bright” IPS LCD one spanning 7.9-inches in diagonal. The resolution matches that of the original iPad mini at 1024 x 768 pixels - a farcry from the sharp displays we’re used to seeing on tablets like the Nexus 7 and the iPad mini with Retina, but let’s not forget we’re talking about a very affordable device here.

Under the hood, the Acer A1-830 features an Intel Atom Z2560 (or Clover Trail+) processor clocked at 1.6GHz and 1GB of LPDDR2 RAM. The energy-savvy chip contributes to the great battery life of the tablet - the new A1 promises to keep going for 7 and a half hours on a single charge.

The tablet comes with both a rear and front facing cameras. Acer does not disclose the resolution of the cameras (there likely are a 5-megapixel rear and a 2-megapixel front cameras), but it does say the rear one is capable of recording 1080p full HD videos and the front shooter captures 720p video. The media experience is boosted by the presence of dual speakers. The tablet comes with 16GB of internal storage, and you can further expand on this via microSD cards.

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Acer also offers some custom-made accessories for the A1-830. The Acer Crunch keyboard is built inside a soft synthetic leather case and can double up as a stand. There is also the Acer Crunch Cover, a microfiber stand that folds into multiple angles, and coming in several colors.

All in all, the Acer A1-830 looks a lot like an Android-running iPad mini. It’s got the same 4:3 7.9-inch 1024 x 768 pixel screen, a sleek aluminum body and an excellent 7.5-hour battery life. It’s coming to the United States and Canada in Q1 2014. Not bad for a $149.99 tablet, is it?


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