Kindle Fire vs. Acer Iconia A100

maddin90 · Nov 29, 2011

I'm am thinking about getting a 7" tablet. Do you think the Iconia A100 is worth the extra 100 bucks?

The point on the Kindle I'm struggling with is that you don't know now if the custom roms will give you the ICS experience... Without the custom roms, the Kindle will be a piece of crap, because the ecosystem is so limited!

The Iconia will receive an ICS early next year and has all the additional features, everyone wanted to see (camera, BT, micro SD, micro HDMI, Tegra 2, 1 GB ram).

What do you think?

GiageJoe · Nov 29, 2011

I think the iconia a100 price is coming down. I see that Best Buy has it available online for $250. This is $60 more than the black friday price but still a decrease from the previous $330 price. If you can't wait it is only $50 more than the fire. If you can wait, there are a fleet of other tablets coming out so that price might drop a bit more in the near future.

pokey9000 · Nov 29, 2011

Had a Black Friday one for less than a day. The terrible viewing angles killed it.

bsoplinger · Nov 29, 2011

If you plan to spend $300 on a 7" tablet right now I'd suggest the HTC flyer. You can only buy it at Best Buy but it's a single core 1.5 GHz tablet. Has an optional pen that only works in a few apps but that I find quite useful.

In general if you spend more you'll be buying a tablet that has market out of the box, a GPS, vibrator (thought that was gimmicky until I had a tablet with one), more memory both for storage and while running, usually some sort of SDHC card slot, possibly USB host. Quite a bit more feature-wise. You'll be giving up the tight integration with the Amazon ecosystem but everything but the silk browser can be gotten by running separate apps for each feature.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk

osmtj · Nov 29, 2011

I returned the a100 after seeing how inferior the screen was to my wifes Fire. My eyes would hurt on the a100. I now have a Fire of my own.

Scott

aimfire72 · Nov 30, 2011

I agree, the A100 is a nice snappy tablet, but the screen and awful battery life kills it for me, such a shame.

skeeterpro · Nov 30, 2011

aimfire72 said:
I agree, the A100 is a nice snappy tablet, but the screen and awful battery life kills it for me, such a shame.

True. Had mine for a week. Loved the build quality and responsiveness but screen and battery was a deal breaker.

Bit the bullet and rather than compromise on a minimal tab like the KF, got the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. Fabulous little tab! Snappy, great battery, HC (ICS coming). Bit pricey but you get what you pay for these days.

Printerscape · Nov 30, 2011

bsoplinger said:
vibrator (thought that was gimmicky until I had a tablet with one)

A vibrator, you say... well that gives me an idea!

chaose · Dec 2, 2011

how is the tab? I bought one for my parents as a gift and got a fire for myself? no point in getting a tab for myself when quadrant core tablets are tint around the corner

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk

BigKenW · Dec 2, 2011

Avoid the A100

I looked at it at Best Buy and the screen was horrible. If you slant it on any angle it has this reflective view. It is really bad. I bought the Fire and it is a LOT better. I don't regret it at all.

GiageJoe · Dec 2, 2011

Wow, I'm surprised by the hate for the A100. I may be coming from a different perspective than most but I like it. I've had a Viewsonic G tablet for a year. It has the same hardware as the A100 and I've found it to run terrifically. The Viewsonic G really does have terrible viewing angles but this never bothers me. I either use it while holding it (and it is easy to hold it with at a good viewing angle) or I put it in a case with a kickstand. I almost never hold where I'm trying to look at it from odd angles. I guess from that background I find the A100 screen to be way more viewable. Maybe the Kindle Fire has an amazing screen (I don't know) but I have no issues with the A100 screen.

For comparison, both have 1GHz, duel core processors but the A100 has double the RAM. The Fire doesn't have an sd card slot so you are locked into 8 GB but the A100 does have an sd card slot so when you start building up a movie and music collection you can swap out cards. The A100 has a good GPS in it so you can use it for offline navigation while the Kindle does not. The Kindle doesn't have a microphone while the A100 does. I've used Groove IP and it creates a nice VOIP phone but you might want to use headphones for this or you will look a little silly holding the A100 to your ear (LOL).

I really think it depends on what you want to do with it. I like using the Amazon App Store but it is limited in its selection so it is nice having both markets on the A100. From my perspective, if you want a full featured tablet I'd get the A100. If you want a more closed system that keeps things simple but is optimized for media content (except for the 8 GB limit) then I'd get the Fire. The closed system approach is very Apple-esk so I see the Fire as the cheap version of the iPad. Then the question becomes do you want the smaller screen for the (much) cheaper price?

Also, just a note about the Samsung Galaxy Plus. The Plus looks like an awesome tablet. The A100 is definitely a lesser qualified tablet in comparison. I got the A100 for $190 so it fit into my price range and I wanted a full functioning tablet. But if I were willing to spend $400 for a tablet I'd definitely get the Plus.

pokey9000 · Dec 2, 2011

GiageJoe said:
Wow, I'm surprised by the hate for the A100. I may be coming from a different perspective than most but I like it. I've had a Viewsonic G tablet for a year. It has the same hardware as the A100 and I've found it to run terrifically. The Viewsonic G really does have terrible viewing angles but this never bothers me. I either use it while holding it (and it is easy to hold it with at a good viewing angle) or I put it in a case with a kickstand. I almost never hold where I'm trying to look at it from odd angles. I guess from that background I find the A100 screen to be way more viewable. Maybe the Kindle Fire has an amazing screen (I don't know) but I have no issues with the A100 screen.

For comparison, both have 1GHz, duel core processors but the A100 has double the RAM. The Fire doesn't have an sd card slot so you are locked into 8 GB but the A100 does have an sd card slot so when you start building up a movie and music collection you can swap out cards. The A100 has a good GPS in it so you can use it for offline navigation while the Kindle does not. The Kindle doesn't have a microphone while the A100 does. I've used Groove IP and it creates a nice VOIP phone but you might want to use headphones for this or you will look a little silly holding the A100 to your ear (LOL).

I really think it depends on what you want to do with it. I like using the Amazon App Store but it is limited in its selection so it is nice having both markets on the A100. From my perspective, if you want a full featured tablet I'd get the A100. If you want a more closed system that keeps things simple but is optimized for media content (except for the 8 GB limit) then I'd get the Fire. The closed system approach is very Apple-esk so I see the Fire as the cheap version of the iPad. Then the question becomes to you want the smaller screen for the (much) cheaper price?

Also, just a note about the Samsung Galaxy Plus. The Plus looks like an awesome tablet. The A100 is definitely a less qualified tablet. I got the A100 for $190 so it fit into my price range and I wanted a full functioning tablet. But if I were willing to spend $400 for a tablet I'd definitely get the Plus.

I have to say that the A100 screen looks really nice if you hold it in landscape with the home button to your right. The sucking starts when you use it in portrait. If you view it head-on in portrait, the image tends to look good when you view it from your left eye but becomes dark and inverted when you look through your right. The effect is really distracting.

ohhneill · Dec 2, 2011

I also bought the a100 on black Friday and I agree with everyone here, horrible viewing angles and poor battery life but to me the other features outweigh the cons. HDMI out, SDcard slot, and of course Honeycomb. I'd rather have a close to desktop like OS than a more locked down OS like the Kindle Fire. But if you don't mind that the Kindle Fire has excellent build quality and screen.

metmac · Dec 4, 2011

lcd swap???

I just bought one also on black Fri. ($189)

.

I have to agree though the panel is pretty horrible, wonder if we could find a better LCD to swap with..

Is the kindle fire`s LCD the same res and dimensions . Might be willing to take apart my iconia for that.

Though we do not know if we can find a panel with the same exact ribbon connector.

ECOTOX · Dec 4, 2011

The Fire has IPS and over just better screen quality, IDK the general specs on the a100 screen but as far as I know in general the Fires screen is specs wise superior

worldwidepmp · Dec 4, 2011

I was still set on getting the iconia even after hearing about the screen...until I got to Best Buy and tried it out for myself. I got the Kindle.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda premium

bishop793 · Dec 6, 2011

GiageJoe said:
Wow, I'm surprised by the hate for the A100. I may be coming from a different perspective than most but I like it. I've had a Viewsonic G tablet for a year. It has the same hardware as the A100 and I've found it to run terrifically. The Viewsonic G really does have terrible viewing angles but this never bothers me. I either use it while holding it (and it is easy to hold it with at a good viewing angle) or I put it in a case with a kickstand. I almost never hold where I'm trying to look at it from odd angles. I guess from that background I find the A100 screen to be way more viewable. Maybe the Kindle Fire has an amazing screen (I don't know) but I have no issues with the A100 screen.

For comparison, both have 1GHz, duel core processors but the A100 has double the RAM. The Fire doesn't have an sd card slot so you are locked into 8 GB but the A100 does have an sd card slot so when you start building up a movie and music collection you can swap out cards. The A100 has a good GPS in it so you can use it for offline navigation while the Kindle does not. The Kindle doesn't have a microphone while the A100 does. I've used Groove IP and it creates a nice VOIP phone but you might want to use headphones for this or you will look a little silly holding the A100 to your ear (LOL).

I really think it depends on what you want to do with it. I like using the Amazon App Store but it is limited in its selection so it is nice having both markets on the A100. From my perspective, if you want a full featured tablet I'd get the A100. If you want a more closed system that keeps things simple but is optimized for media content (except for the 8 GB limit) then I'd get the Fire. The closed system approach is very Apple-esk so I see the Fire as the cheap version of the iPad. Then the question becomes do you want the smaller screen for the (much) cheaper price?

Also, just a note about the Samsung Galaxy Plus. The Plus looks like an awesome tablet. The A100 is definitely a lesser qualified tablet in comparison. I got the A100 for $190 so it fit into my price range and I wanted a full functioning tablet. But if I were willing to spend $400 for a tablet I'd definitely get the Plus.

I am really not seeing why all the hate for the A100 either..how exactly are you people looking at this thing? I have no problem with the "viewing angle" because im staring straight in front of the screen! This looks fine to me. Not sure why i would hold it from an angle. Plus the usb, hdmi, sd slots do it for me over the kindle fire, with the addtion of android market...to say the thing is "horrible" is overkill

lemoon · Dec 7, 2011

Well, if you could afford the extra 100 bucks, then why should you turn to the Acer Iconia A100? There are many products you can choose, HTC flyer, Tab...
To me, I would like to go for a Kinlde fire, as the warranties and the lighted cover they offer, and I read the comparison between iPad and kindle fire in iFunia, think the Kindle fire is worthy investing

guthrien · Dec 7, 2011

I owned the Acer for a short time. I think the screen and battery make me prefer the Fire. The Acer is a full tablet experience, but I guess they aren't features I need on a 2nd tablet. if I needed a deluxe 7" I'd spend the bucks for the Galaxy Tab, it destroys the Acer.

elephant007 · Dec 8, 2011

I was introduced to the Acer Iconia after I purchased my Kindle Fire.

The hardware seems nice; cameras, bluetooth, HDMI out, etc...

Everything my Android phone has and I thought this is interesting especially for only $50.00 more...

Then I saw how the Acer gets charged... and I'm glad I got the Kindle Fire because I can use the same charger for the Fire as I can for my Epic 4G Touch!

Still looks like a nice tablet though

Kindle Fire vs. Acer Iconia A100

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