The Acer n10 doesn't offer enough bells and whistles to pull ahead of the competition. It is, instead, a solid, regular handheld that should satisfy basic PDA users.
These days, it seems a new handheld is launched every other week. In a tight market, many PDA makers are throwing in all sorts of new-fangled features to go one up on the competition. Except maybe Acer, a company which seems focused on delivering an unspectacular but solid device.
For a start, the Acer n10 is rather plain looking. Its curved surface gives it a swollen appearance and, indeed, the device isn't the most compact handheld we've seen. At 165g, it's average as far as Pocket PC weights go--lighter than the HP iPaq H3970 and Dell Axims, but heavier than the iPaq H1910 and Mitac Mio 338. However, we had no complaints about the firm build of the Acer, and its smooth silver-and-black finish is quite nicely done.
Beyond the aesthetics, the n10 is functionally well-designed. It comes with a good hardware layout, with many buttons adorning both sides of the device. On the left, there's a button to launch the Pocket PC main menu, similar to the "Start" button on your desktop computer. There's also a scroll wheel for browsing pages. Depressing the wheel launches applications. These two nifty buttons, when used in tandem, allows one to easily open Avantgo and read the news using just one hand.
There's also a "Hold" switch on the right side of the handheld which immediately turns off the screen and disables the buttons. Music plays on, though, making this an MP3 lover's dream gadget. Thanks to this useful switch, we didn't have to worry about accidentally launching programs while keeping the device in the bag.
Under the hood, the Acer is again decidedly average. It comes with a PXA255 300MHz processor, which doesn't seem especially speedy. In fact, while watching a music video, we found the playback rather jerky, with frame rates no better than a StrongARM 200MHz processor. Applications and games zipped along quite smoothly, though.
The n10's 65,000-colour display is one of its strong suits. Although not as bright as HP's iPaqs, the Acer's transflective screen is bright enough, particular indoors, although the LCD can look a little dark under direct sunlight.
The n10 also comes with 64MB of user memory and, unlike some recent handhelds, the vast majority of that--59.86MB--is accessible. If that's not sufficient storage space, Acer has built in both CompactFlash (CF) Type II and Secure Digital (SD) expansion slots. This lets users plug in a CF Wi-Fi card to surf the Web, while listening to an SD card filled with songs. These two available slots compensate a little for the lack of connectivity options. At a time when many PDAs offer Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or GPRS, the n10 is certainly a step behind.
Battery life is credible by Pocket PC standards. Although the 1500mAh Lithium-polymer battery isn't removable, it held enough juice for several days of normal usage. We benchmarked this by playing an MP3 file with the brightness and volume set at medium. The device delivered a respectable 4 hours and 25 minutes.
The software included isn't anything to crow about. Apart from the usual applications, such as Pocket Word, Pocket Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, Acer has also bundled a copy of Pocket TV which allows playback of MPEG video files.
The accessory set is also rather sparse. The n10 lacks a hotsync cradle, and instead saves on cost by using a USB cable for synchronisation. The nice touch here is the gray slip-in pouch for the handheld, which protects the PDA from dust and scratches. The downside is that, compared to normal folder-type jackets, the pouch requires the handheld to be taken out before it can be used.
The n10 will launch in Australia in mid-may at an expected RRP of AU$699, which is a touch on the high side. All said, while this handheld lacks a rich feature set to distinguish it from the competition, this Acer is a solid enough, middle-of-the-road performer that should please entry-level users.
Acer n10
Company: Acer
Price: Estimated AU$699
Phone: 1300 366 567
Release Date: Mid-May 2003
