W3 Notes

Just found a W3 at a local Office Depot so wait is over. They only had the 32 GB one but is fine for my needs particularly since all of my albums are on a 32 GB microSD card.

First off despite the Amazon reviewer I found the display to be bright enough for use to about 30 degrees off center. This is really a personal device anyway, If multiple viewing of a movie is needed I'll use the HDMI output to drive another monitor.

Nice part is that despite the extra width over my Samsung, it still fits in a jacket pocket and fits in the same holder in my car.

Also Acer returned to a conventional power plug so a mobile supply is easy. Be aware it needs a 12v supply and not a 5v USB.

Currently I have it in a little case/keyboard with a micro USB connector that works fine but for Automotive use the BT keyboard would help.

One thing I do not recall about setting up my W510 is the incessant demands for a Microsoft cloud account, had to force the initial demands to fail before the "local account" became available. This may not be a concern for many but I must consider environments that cannot reach the store.

Another oddity was that I maintain my albulm collection (about 5 GB) on a desktop and for other devices (Android, iPad. Windows 7 desktop) it is just in a "Music" directory I export on an SD card. Other devices had no problem arranging the albums and displaying the graphics but Media Player and XBox player kept trying to find things in the cloud. Finally I was able to access the Acer media player and it did everything properly.

Major problem I see is that the hoarde of third party apps that are preloaded are using about 5 GB of space that is really not there in a 32 GB - only about 11 GB is free and I suspect that a lot is all of these extraneous apps. Some seem a lot like viruses in that they are very difficult to remove.

About all I have managed so far, will be getting really deep into it in the next few days. Have notices that Bing Maps are about 50 miles off (thinks I am on the coast for some reason. W510 only had about a three mile errror, wonder what is different?

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f2

I'll repost what I entered in your other thread:

"

Well, mine arrived today at my door. But I'm still reluctant to open the plastic wrap as Office Depot will not take it back if it is unsealed and this feels like "opening a pig in a poke." Sight unseen and untested.

The keyboard arrived two days ago but that was not vacuum sealed. I actually paired it my my BB Playbook but without a trackpad, it was hard to do much that that combo."

I got the 64 gig version and it still remains in its sterile plastic.

If I can ask, what is it like outdoors - someone mentioned it reflected glare badly.

Let us know what you did about 3rd party apps/viruses! I can abide some junk but don't want too much and would hope that stuff I do not need or want can be disposed of without a ton of hassle.

padgett

Been doing a little trimming and is now up to 14.1 GB free, can get another gig.5 back from the hiberfil.sys, already cut the pagefil back to a GB, memory usage is only 412 MB at moment so have a gig and a half of main memory before swapping starts. CPU is idling at .83 GHZ at the moment.

May have more ded app space I can trim and apps I add (real sat nav, engine diagnostics) can go on the sd card, that has 24 GB free.

Just walked outside and doesn't seem any dimmer than my other devices including an iPad. Long use in bright sun might make an anti-glare shield a good idea. Have to keep in mind that for any long term use peripherals are needed. Fortunately my case came with a stylus because for many control panel settings fingers are just too big.

Still as the followon to the w510, it is just what I need for PoP to all the unbelievers. If the Acer/Microsoft/Intel consortium play their cars right, pretty soon any Android/iOS device will be strictly for screens less than 7".

f2

You mention "real satellite navigation" but the unit does not contain a gps, does it? I don't see gps listed in its specs and it still remains sealed in its plastic cacoon.

padgett

YeabutI

That is no, it does not have a built in GPS. In fact the Bing locater is a good 50 miles off

That said both Microsoft Steets and Trips and Delorme Street Atlas can be had for under a Grant including a USB GPS device. Works very well with a powered hub and the W510, see no reason the same rig it wouldn't work with the W3. This also allows me to locate the Antenna on top of the dash.

Wonder how hard it will be to write an app to let the W3 use the GPS in my cell phone via BT. Hmmmm.

This is the form factor I needed for my heep.

injeepJPG.jpg

f2

Okay, finally unboxed it and unwrapped it from its all encompassing plastic diaper.

Seems to be a bit slow charging but I was also trying to get the hang of it. I will admit that using it is complicated by my having a BB Playbook (abandoned yesterday by BBRY) where gestures even turn it on. Then there's the complete newness of Win8. First move with IE was to download and install Firefox! Now if I can move much of my pc's Firefox profile to the Acer, I will feel more comfortable in the environment.

Another thing - the Playbook (pb) allows wifi sharing so that I can open an Explorer window on my desktop and copy stuff back and forth as if it were another drive wirelessly - no usb needed. Nor the limitation of only access to specifically shared folders. Is there someway of implementing such ease of moving and copying files - I'm not a network expert?

Some initial impressions. More later.

f2

I've put a few tunes on the w3 and a few videos.

The music volume is awfully soft and the settings appear to show it at full. Whereas, if I play a video, I can hear it just fine.

Any clues? I will try some more music files.

f2

Another question, if no one minds.

I tried hooking up the hdmi to my tv. I did not get an image. Is there some place to change the setting or output? Or do only certain apps show video over the hdmi output?

I know that the cable and the system work because I hook my Playbook up to the same cable and the image on the screen shows instantly on the tv.

Obviously, I'm a newbie when it comes to Acer Tablets and definitely Win8.

padgett

Works fine with a VGA adapater on a 24" dell monitor and HDMI cable to LG HDTV. W3 had to be on for LG to ungray input option but came up just fine when booting.

There is a way to select different output devices: Search>Settings>Project and there should be a selection for "Second Monitor".

Have a vauge memory about some TVs not being recognized will need to check.

Try with a different monitor/TV.

f2

I will be cleaning the current one off to return for the broken sd slot.

Ah, ha, just hooked it up to the upstairs Vizio TV and the tv is showing the W3 screen. So it may have been my Sony and it being hooked up through an hdmi switch box. Although, as I noted, that hdmi switch box, sony and Playbook work fine together.

Darn thing is doing a Windows Update and is only 30% complete. I needed this diversion. (g)

Any idea on the mp3 playback volumes versus the video sound being fine? I guess mp3 can vary in volume.

padgett

Am "hearing impaired" so never use a tablet's speakers. Plugged into my car the volume is same or bit louder/clearer than my Tab 2.0 7 Samsung. Nice thing is volume stays at max (use car volume control) rather than dropping below "hurts your ears" on Android.

padgett

Now for the $64 question, why did they turn the USB socket upside down from the W510 ? (for that matter why are they on the other side of the case ? Power switch is also now on the side & volume on top instead of verse the vice. Guess they wanted to make it more like an iPad.

Now have a bluetooth keyboard, about 3" longer and same width as a W3. Works prety well but needed to limber up the keys a bit to prevent sticccccccccccccking.

Also spent the extra money ($35) for the Acer case and it is a nice one. All of the slots and controls are accessible and it is a few thousnds of an inch larger than the W3 itself so still fits in my pants' pocket which is the important thing. 10" devices are too big to be really portable but 8 doesn't even crowd a restaurant table.

Can also tether to my smart phone and is just enough larger to be useful. That is what I liked about the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.0 7 I've been using in my car since can put in my pocket when flipping the fob to a valet and this has even more power.

Might suggest stacking the USB, HDMI, power and earphone sockets on one side in the next release so It can just slide into a docking station yet have the flexibility of standard connectors when loose. This is the type of things needed to replace the iPad mini. The W3 is already far more powerful/flexible, now we just ned to make it easy (and Windows 8.1 helps).

padgett

Found a better BT keyboard - Anker AK-98UNWL10-BTIP - charges from USB, has a touchpad built in, laser pointer, and a BT mushroom if the device does not have one.