The Acer Iconia 6120 isn't the first dual-screen Windows 7 tablet on the block. The Toshiba Libretto W105 had two 7-inch displays and was about the size and weight of a paperback, but its short battery life and lackluster software doomed that device to collectible status. The Iconia is different. It's more like a coffee table book, a book that features two large 14-inch displays and innovative touch-enabled software, plus a Core i5 processor. But does this $1,199 tablet-book represent the future of laptops, or is it just a pricey experiment destined to appeal only to early adopters?
While the Iconia's dimensions--13.5 x 9.7 x 1.2 inches--are typical for a 14-inch system, the notebook is on the heavy side: 6 pounds. We definitely noticed it carrying it home in a messenger bag. That's the price you pay for two displays.
Keyboard
For a virtual keyboard, the Acer Iconia's was fairly easy to type on, though not perfect. Aside from using the physical button on the left hinge to turn on the keyboard, we could also activate it by pressing our palms down simultaneously on the lower display; a neat shortcut.
The keyboard extends almost the entire width of the screen, and the Iconia 6120 presents the keys in a chiclet-style layout. On the upper right is a set of shortcuts that can be switched between media controls and editing tools (i.e., save, cut, paste, and print). When you press a key, the Iconia 6120 makes a click, not unlike a typewriter. You can adjust the volume or turn off the sound completely in the settings, as well as set skins and even calibrate the key pitch to best suit your typing. The keyboard also comes with a predictive text option (XT9), but we found that it was easier to type without this feature activated.
While we weren't able to type as fast on the Iconia 6120 as with a real keyboard, we did manage a fairly quick rate after about half an hour of practice, so much so that a fair amount of this review was written using the virtual keyboard. We had to be much more careful with what we did with our non-typing fingers, though. Any errant grazing of the screen, and we'd end up with a wrong letter. Overall, we made many more mistakes compared to a traditional keyboard, but it worked.
An icon in the upper left also lets you switch to a notepad, where you can add text by writing with your finger. We found this method to be much less accurate. When we scrawled "The Quick Brown Fox," for example, it ended up as "The quick brunet."
The virtual touchpad was a smallish 2.5 x 2.1 inches, but we were able to use it as easily as a real touchpad. There are two virtual mouse buttons below, but considering the whole thing is a touchscreen, why not just make it a virtual clickpad, à la an Apple MacBook?
Both capacitive touchscreens were very responsive, interpreting our finger gestures accurately. Interestingly, given all that we could do with the lower touchscreen, we didn't find ourselves using the upper touchscreen much at all.
Speakers located on the underside of the Iconia 6120 pumped out a fair amount of volume, and there was a respectable amount of bass. However, the mid and high range were very muddy.
The Iconia's 1.3-megapixel webcam was excellent; capable of capturing video at resolutions up to 1280 x 1024, it accurately recorded our skin tones, and even picked up the flecks of brown in our hazel eyes.
Acer Iconia 6120 Touchbook Us Price Is $1,199
Design
The Acer Iconia 6120 has a fairly sophisticated look. The lid and bottom are both a champagne-colored metal. The bottom, one solid panel, has two rows of small square cutouts for ventilation and speakers, and can be removed easily with two sliding latches. There are only two physical buttons on the Iconia: The right hinge has a power button, and the left hinge activates the virtual keyboard. The Iconia's two touchscreens are each 14 inches, surrounded by a glossy black bezel.While the Iconia's dimensions--13.5 x 9.7 x 1.2 inches--are typical for a 14-inch system, the notebook is on the heavy side: 6 pounds. We definitely noticed it carrying it home in a messenger bag. That's the price you pay for two displays.
Keyboard
For a virtual keyboard, the Acer Iconia's was fairly easy to type on, though not perfect. Aside from using the physical button on the left hinge to turn on the keyboard, we could also activate it by pressing our palms down simultaneously on the lower display; a neat shortcut.
The keyboard extends almost the entire width of the screen, and the Iconia 6120 presents the keys in a chiclet-style layout. On the upper right is a set of shortcuts that can be switched between media controls and editing tools (i.e., save, cut, paste, and print). When you press a key, the Iconia 6120 makes a click, not unlike a typewriter. You can adjust the volume or turn off the sound completely in the settings, as well as set skins and even calibrate the key pitch to best suit your typing. The keyboard also comes with a predictive text option (XT9), but we found that it was easier to type without this feature activated.
An icon in the upper left also lets you switch to a notepad, where you can add text by writing with your finger. We found this method to be much less accurate. When we scrawled "The Quick Brown Fox," for example, it ended up as "The quick brunet."
The virtual touchpad was a smallish 2.5 x 2.1 inches, but we were able to use it as easily as a real touchpad. There are two virtual mouse buttons below, but considering the whole thing is a touchscreen, why not just make it a virtual clickpad, à la an Apple MacBook?
Display and Audio
The dual 14-inch (1366 x 768) displays on the Iconia 6120 are made out of the more durable Gorilla Glass. The fingerprint-resistant coating helped somewhat, but you'll want to keep a cloth handy. Both screens have a glossy finish, but that only proved to be an issue with the upper display, as its vertical orientation reflected more lights. Colors were somewhat muted; while watching the trailer for Captain America, the red, white, and blue of the uniform didn't really pop. Horizontal viewing angles were good enough so that three people would be able to comfortably see the screen, but vertical viewing angles were quite narrow. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but when you consider that the display can tilt back 180 degrees to lie flat on a table, it becomes an issue.Both capacitive touchscreens were very responsive, interpreting our finger gestures accurately. Interestingly, given all that we could do with the lower touchscreen, we didn't find ourselves using the upper touchscreen much at all.
Speakers located on the underside of the Iconia 6120 pumped out a fair amount of volume, and there was a respectable amount of bass. However, the mid and high range were very muddy.
Ports and Webcam
On the left side of the Iconia 6120 are two USB 2.0 ports, as well as HDMI. On the right is a USB 3.0 port, Ethernet, VGA, headphone and mic (which doubles as an S/PDIF port), and a Kensington lock slot. Sadly, there's no SD card slot. (Seriously.)The Iconia's 1.3-megapixel webcam was excellent; capable of capturing video at resolutions up to 1280 x 1024, it accurately recorded our skin tones, and even picked up the flecks of brown in our hazel eyes.
Heat
After playing a Hulu video for 15 minutes at full screen on the Iconia 6120, the area around the virtual touchpad measured 87 degrees Fahrenheit, the space between the G and H keys was 90 degrees, and the middle of the underside was 95 degrees. That last measurement is on the border of what we consider uncomfortable.Acer Iconia 6120 Touchbook Us Price Is $1,199
0 comments:
Post a Comment