Acer Iconia Tab A100 teardown: Lots of tech crammed into 7" case

Takeaway: The 7? Acer Iconia Tab A100 looks a lot like the 10? Iconia Tab A500, both inside and out. Unfortunately, the similarities aren’t all good.

The Acer Iconia Tab A100 is one of several 7? Android tablets to hit the market in 2011. Like its 10? cousin, the Acer Iconia Tab A500, the A100 has a stylish exterior, dual-core processor, two cameras, HDMI out, expandable memory support, and comes with Android 3.2 installed. But, The smaller version has a 7? touchscreen display (1,0240×600).

As of this writing, the A100 is available in 8GB ($329.99) and 16GB ($349.99) versions. The current versions only support Wi-Fi connectivity. But like the A500, there is an empty spot inside the A100’s case and on the motherboard for a cellular card. The A100 weighs 0.92 lbs. and measures 7.7? (W) x 4.6? (H) x 0.5? (D). It’s lighter than the HTC Flyer and BlackBerry PlayBook.

Unfortunately, the A100’s similarities to the A500 aren’t all good. Like the larger tablet, the A100 has a rather jumbled internal hardware layout. And given the A100’s smaller case, Acer crammed a lot of tech into a tight space.

Full teardown gallery: Cracking Open the Acer Iconia Tab (A100)

Our Acer Iconia Tab A100 test unit had the following hardware components:

Bill Detwiler is Head Technology Editor of TechRepublic. Previously, he worked as a Support Tech and IT Manager in the social research and energy industries.

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