Hands-on review: Computex: Acer Iconia W3

Despite what Microsoft says, Windows 8 devices aren't flying off the shelves right now, with the tablet market proving to be a particularly tough nut to crack.

Enter Acer and its newly-unveiled 8.1-inch Windows 8 microslab. Yes, this is the smallest tablet to squeeze in the full Windows 8 experience, and it doesn't do a bad job of it either considering that it's a fair bit more power-intensive than its direct rivals - the iPad mini and Nexus 7 - and yet just about as portable.

But can it excel at the desktop experience?

To pack in that full PC experience, the slate comes bundled with an easily-integrated Bluetooth keyboard. All you do is simply slot the tablet into the dock's rubber hold and you're away. No awkwardly missing dock connectors around here.

Turn the dock over and the tablet can slot securely into the back, face down, turning the keyboard into a convenient cover when carrying it around. Protection sorted.

Slips in nicely

As for the tablet itself, the smooth metallic back feels nice on the hands, although we're not overly keen on the white border around the front bezel.

There's obviously a lot more being packed in the Iconia W3 and the tablet is a fair bit heavier than both the iPad Mini and Nexus 7. It's still usable in one hand, but you'll soon start to notice that extra bulk which feels a little heavier than it perhaps needs to be.

The W3's Intel Atom Clover Trail 72760 chip has a dual-core processor with 2GB of RAM and a clock speed of 1.8GHz, meaning the tablet is zippy enough to handle Windows 8 operations.

Only a couple of times did we find things slowing down when switching between Office programs, but we can see that the tablet might buckle a tiny bit more had we been able to spend more time on running tasks.

32GB or 64GB storage variants of the Iconia W3 will be available, both of which offer an extra 32GB via microSD. Meanwhile, a micro HDMI output can be found on the bottom of the tablet along with a pair of stereo speakers.

The desktop experience - in one hand

The touchscreen display isn't as vivid as you might expect - it only packs a 1,200 x 800 resolution. When jumping around the screen, we noticed that the colours often looked a bit on the dull side.

Front and rear cameras are, as expected, present, though at 2MP each they feel like a missed opportunity on a device that's veering into the acceptable-camera-use territory.

Say cheese

We found that using the small touchscreen on Office applications, especially Excel, a tad on the fiddly side, but were still impressed by having full-fat Windows in the palm of our hands.

And that's another thing - Iconia W3 buyers will also get a copy of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 for free as a nice added extra.

Pocket power

However - and it is a big however - there are still two questions being begged here. First, do people want the desktop experience in a tablet? Or is throwing the whole thing in missing the point entiely?

And second, if Microsoft is in fact about to push out a 7-inch Windows 8 tablet of its own, will Acer's matter?

We won't really know the answer to the first question until people start picking up (or not picking up) the slate, but having played with the W3, it feels like 8 inches is about a low as you'd want to go when using full Windows. Therefore, Microsoft's offering might actually be one inch cut too many.

So what about the price? The 32GB and 64GB will be tagged €329 (about £280, $427, AUS $445) and €379 (about £325, $492, AUS $512) respectively. For that price, we have to say that we expected a little bit more, but we'll hold out on making a judgement call until our full review.

The Iconia W3 was always going to impress on being a record-breaker alone, and having played with it, we can see a lot of great benefits in having Windows 8 in the palm.

But while this could give the OS the big kick it's been waiting for, it currently feels like the price and ambition should have resulted in something more, though we'd have to spend a lot more time with the tablet to see if it could actually replace both desktop and tablet OS at the same time.

Still, at least there isn't long to wait - the Iconia W3 will be launching this month, with pre-orders live now.

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Hands-on review: Computex: Asus Zenbook Infinity

Asus made good at its promise to officially reveal the Zenbook Infinity, its super thin but power-intensive touchscreen ultrabook, at Computex this week.

Just several hours later, TechRadar and the Infinity were getting up close and personal, and while Asus is yet to confirm a few final specifics, we had more than enough time with it to form some initial impressions.

Standing out from the rest

If Tony Stark was an Asus guy then the Infinity is Iron Man's ultrabook. It's the world's first laptop to have a lid made from Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which might make it the most robust computer around right now.

Think you can scratch it? Asus laughs in your face. As our demonstrator told us, the Native Damage Resistance means it should be able to withstand some decent sized drops.

Obviously he wasn't too keen on the idea of us throwing the notebook around ourselves, so we'll have to wait until the full review to know for sure. But the exterior felt pretty steely when we took a coin and tried to scratch it.

And the reassurance is welcome. At just 15.5mm at its thickest point - 14 per cent thinner than the previous generation Zenbooks - we could see this slipping out of clumsy hands.

Cutting edge

Speaking of which, we unfortunately found that the Infinity enjoys a good fingerprint or two. Luckily it isn't quite so magnetic to prints on the touchscreen display, but chances are you'll find that gorgeous exterior getting smudged a fair bit.

Fingerprints - the only known enemy of Gorilla Glass

We did wonder if the Infinity might be affording its slim design by going heavy on the weight, but our fears were put to rest the moment we picked it up. It's incredibly light even in one hand, feeling barely heavier than an iPad.

The backlit keyboard and all-in-one trackpad are similar to other Zenbooks, and very reminiscent of the Macbook Air in both look and quality feel. Surrounding the keyboard and covering the trackpad is also Gorilla Glass 3 but with a matt finish.

Turn it around and on either side of the notebook is a USB 3.0 port, while a Micro HDMI, Mini Display port and SD card slot are also squeezed into the side of the body.

Good choice for the night owls

The display has a built-in touchscreen, which we found very responsive when jumping around the Windows 8 home screen and using the web browser.

Our demonstrator was unable to confirm the exact resolution but it certainly looked sharp enough to be the 2,560 x 1,440 we'd heard it would be - matching Acer's new S7 refresh.

Those tiles look nice and vibrant on the Infinity's display

The Infinity's slightness doesn't mean it's skimped on the specs. An Intel 28W Haswell dual-core Core i7 processor with Iris 5100 graphics power the way, which makes it the only fourth-gen ultrabook processor to use Iris.

The Asus rep showed us a demonstration of the performance of Intel Iris in a purpose-built racing game, and there's no doubting that this tiny machine is ready for some serious gaming.

Asus is yet to confirm RAM or storage sizes. Price and release date are also unknown at current, but we understand the Infinity is expected to land in Q3 of this year, and you'll have a choice of either Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 when it does.

Come at me, bro

Fast, indestructible and almost painfully sleek, the Zenbook Infinity discreetly slips into the Haswell era with a lot going for it.

It might be our favourite thing unveiled at this year's Computex, and while we're still waiting for Asus to firm some of the details, things could not look more promising. If this is the new standard for ultrabooks to aspire to, we've got nothing to complain about.

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