Acer Smells Blood in Low-Cost Tablet Category, Rolls Out Two New Models Starting at $

[[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR]

The year of affordable Android tablets has begun

It seems like forever ago when the only Android tablets on the market were the ones trying to compete with Apple's iPad line at the $499 price point and above. Fast forward to today and affordable Android tablets are fairly common, though not quite ubiquitous. Might that change this year? Well, we're off to a good start with Acer announcing two new Iconia slates starting at just $130.
Starting at the lower end, Acer's Iconia B1-720 is a 7-inch Android tablet aimed at new tablet owners and families looking for an additional slate for the kids. It has a thin design that houses a 1.3GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage flanked by a microSD card slot, built-in Wi-Fi, 10-point touch support, and Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean. Acer says it will be available by the middle of this month for $130 MSRP.
If you have a few more pieces of eight to spend, Acer also announced the Iconia A1-830, a slightly larger tablet with a 7.9-inch IPS display and 1024x768 resolution. It measures just 0.32 inches (8.15mm) thin and weighs just 0.84 pounds, but wields an Intel Atom (Clover Trail+) Z2560 1.6GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. It also has 802.11n Wi-Fi, a rear-facing camera that captures 2560x1920 video, a front-facing camera with 1600x1200 capability, micro USB port, Bluetooth 3.0, microSD card slot, and Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean. This will will go for $180 $149 when it becomes available later this quarter.
Update

Acer sent Maximum PC an email letting us know of a last minute pricing change. The new price of the Iconia A1-830 is $149 instead of $180 as originally announced.
Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook


More...