Acer Announces Aspire Switch 10
by Brett Howse on April 29, 2014 7:00 PM EST
Acer took the wraps off of a new product today – the Acer Aspire Switch 10. This is a new take on the two in one for Acer, offering a Bay Trail-T equipped 10.1” tablet with a magnetic detachable keyboard design. The keyboard offers two hooks to connect the tablet to the keyboard without requiring a latching mechanism, but more secure than a comparable Surface keyboard.
Acer claims four modes for the tablet. First, there is Notebook mode, where the keyboard is attached the normal way, and Pad mode, which is just the tablet. That’s all fairly standard in a two in one Windows tablet. The other two modes are based on the fact that the magnetic latching system on the keyboard is actually reversible – there is a Display mode where the display is simply turned around, and a tent mode where the display is turned around and the keyboard slightly folded up to give the same effect as a Surface with kickstand.
None of this is new to the Windows tablet scene of course– the Asus Transformer Book T100 offers a detachable keyboard, and Lenovo has several devices such as the Yoga and Flex lines which offer the four device modes, but Acer has done a unique take on it with the combination of reversible and detachable keyboard.
Specification wise, it’s a pretty standard tablet. The device has a Bay Trail-T quad core processor (actual model number not disclosed), 2 GB of RAM, up to 64 GB of storage, and a 1366x768 10.1” IPS touch display. Where Acer seems to have focused their efforts was in dimensions and mass, where they are claiming a 8.9 mm thick chassis (20.2 mm with keyboard) and 0.59 kg (1.29 lb) weight for the tablet alone, and 1.17 kg (2.58 lb) for the combination.
| Two in One Computers | ||||||
| Acer Aspire Switch 10 | Asus Transformer Book T100 | Microsoft Surface 2 | ||||
| Dimensions |
H: 0.35" (8.9mm) W: N/A D: N/A |
H: 0.41" (10.5mm) W: 10.35" (263mm) D: 6.73" (171mm) |
H: 0.35" (8.9mm) W: 10.81" (274mm) D: 6.79" (172mm) |
|||
| Weight | 1.29lbs (590g) | 1.21lbs (550g) | 1.49lbs (676g) | |||
| CPU | Intel Bay Trail-T | Intel Bay Trail-T Z3740 | NVIDIA Tegra 4 T40 | |||
| GPU | Intel HD Graphics | Intel HD Graphics | NVIDIA Tegra 4 T40 | |||
| RAM | 2 GB LPDDR3 | 2 GB LPDDR3 | 2 GB LPDDR3 | |||
| Storage | 32-64 GB | 32-64 GB | 32-64 GB | |||
| Display Size and Resolution | 10.1" 1366x768 | 10.1" 1366x768 | 10.6" 1920x1080 | |||
| Battery | N/A | 31 Wh | 31.5 Wh | |||
| Price | $379 with keyboard | $349 with keyboard | $449 without keyboard | |||
Other notable features are a zero air gap (direct bonded) display, which should help dealing with external light sources, and an auto brightness feature they are calling LumiFlex which they claim will help with colors when using the device under varying lighting sources. As to what this will actually do, we’ll have to wait for a review sample to see. Acer is also supporting Windows 8.1 InstantGo which is the new term for Connected Standby and Bitlocker enabled storage.
Also, there's an optional keyboard dock with 500 GB of internal storage - no other specs of this accessory were announced.
Overall, the Aspire Switch 10 looks like a nice two in one, with an aluminum rear cover with a cross brush pattern. Prices start at US $379 with availability in late May.
Source: Acer
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
30 Comments
View All Comments
Godwin - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link
There is a typo in the computer configuration chart. The Transformer T100 uses a Intel Bay Trail-T Z3740 not Intel Bay Trail-T Z7340. Otherwise good read.Brett Howse - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link
Fixed!euskalzabe - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link
Color me interested. This seems like a step up from previous Acer efforts: metallic body, zero-gap IPS and it's not just a typical 2 in 1 but accepts all 4 positions. For the price… I'm genuinely interested in this thing, as tent and movie mode are abilities I've been intrigued by in the Yoga devices, but those don't allow you to snap the tablet off… If battery is up to snuff, I might consider getting this Switch as the price seems quite right.Brett Howse - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link
As someone who once thought my first Acer would be my last, I have to say this interests me as well. I have a Yoga 2 Pro and those other modes are ridiculously useful - in fact far more than I ever thought they would be.This is going to be one machine I keep my eye on. We'll have to wait for the actual release to see the quality of the connection/hinge, and the keyboard/trackpad, and everything else, but it does look interesting.
Ortanon - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - link
For Windows, I prefer 11.6" to 10", but more importantly this 720p/768p stuff is getting pretty tired. I have 1080p on my phone where I don't even care about that, and not on this tablet where it's actually needed. Opposite Day!All I've wanted since Silvermont was just a bullet point on an Intel roadmap PowerPoint somewhere is a 11.5" - 12" 1200p* convertible with both laptop and desktop. But 1200p is all over Android and on virtually ZERO Windows tablets, and people keep making the convertibles 10". ARGH. The only convertible with laptop and desktop TO THIS DAY is the wildly overpriced Venue 11 Pro from Dell (which I'll probably end up buying, used).
I think things will improve with Cherry Trail, but the wait is getting old.
*I think the best tablet aspect ratio is ~4:3, but 16:10 seems like a likely compromise for a convertible.
Impulses - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - link
The res is acceptable given the price point IMO, if it were double or triple that or it was running an i5 it'd be a different story. As a budget 2nd/3rd system it's intriguing, just like the T100 was, cause it'll run x86 Win and it'll be far more versatile than most systems in it's class (size/price wise).Impulses - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - link
BTW I have an OG ASUS TF (liked it, eventually gave it to my father tho, along with dock), a N7 2013, an Acer 1st gen netbook that's still kicking around (after RAM/SSD upgrades), and a desktop of course. I've no real need for a pricey laptop, but there's also things I wish I could do on the go that no mobile OS can really handle well.Ortanon - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - link
Going from 768p to 1200p probably adds about $40 to the BoM, maybe $60. In my mind, that means a Full HD version of the ASUS T100 would be $400. The Venue 11 Pro WITHOUT THE KEYBOARD is $500. WTF!Also they're doing a 768p version of the Venue 11 Pro now that's $430 without the keyboard. Just LOL forever. Anyway, the $70 difference does corroborate the ~$50-$60 hypothesis.
I find 768p to be irritating to use on a laptop, and this is in fact a laptop-class product. In that respect, the low-res thing is just petty penny-pinching. These devices need to be Full HD, minimum.
euskalzabe - Friday, May 2, 2014 - link
Given the 10" size of the screen, 1080p might do more harm than good since Windows doesn't handle scaling very well.p1esk - Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - link
I'm not impressed with 1080 resolution. 2.5k should be minimum.