Gadget: Acer Iconia Tab A500 Android Internet Tablet

With more than 25 million iPads sold to date, and millions more soon to appear under Christmas trees – any contender for the tablet throne has to offer something rather special. This is where a lot of Acer’s brethren have fallen short, with a cross-fire of patent litigation between Cupertino and just about everyone else.

Acer’s Iconia Tab A500 runs version 3.0 of Google’s Android operating system, with a promise from Acer that an “Ice-Cream Sandwich” upgrade (v4.0) will be there in January. Out of the box, my first impressions were that it was big, glossy and heavy; 164g more beef than the iPad 2 to be exact (765g). It looks a bit like a gigantic TomTom, with silver fins down the top and bottom resembling a greying yet refined mid-level executive. It’s a high flier in terms of performance – the 10.1in 1280 x 800 WXGA display packs in more real estate than the iPad, plus the nVidia Tegra 2 Dual Core graphics make gaming super smooth. The whole experience is decidedly professional – there’s the convenience of the built-in micro-USB and HDMI sockets (take note Apple) and the luxury of a 2 megapixel front and 5 megapixel rear camera.

The battery actually does last nearly 8 hours as Acer claims. The web browser is lightning fast. BBC iPlayer works a treat. It ticks all of the boxes. It’s just not that sexy or desirable. I’m sure accountants will love it, but it’s missing that elusive je ne sais quoi for me to stump up £416.

• Acer Iconia Tab A500 Android Internet Tablet

£416, from www.qvcuk.com, www.acer.co.uk