Convertibles are more flexibly designed and can be used in multiple ways. One can detach the display from the keyboard and use it as a tablet for reading or playing touch screen based games. Or you can flip the screen all the way back to use the keyboard as a stand. Interestingly, one doesn’t have to splurge a lot of money for them anymore. Acer One 10 S1001 is one such convertible which is changing the whole perception about budget convertibles. Priced at Rs.20,999, the convertible offers the comfort of the detachable design without compromising on some of the essential features.
Design: Flexible but hefty
The laptop impresses with its compact design and solid metallic finish even though it feels a little hefty to carry around. It weighs 1.29kg with the keyboard and 640g without it, making it a bit hefty as a tablet. The brushed matte finish on the lid improves the grip quality in the tablet mode.
It comes with all essential ports such as USB 3.0, micro USB, mini HDMI, microSD slot and audio. Though mini HDMI allows users to connect to big screens, one needs a convertor for it. With such a keyboard base available, the lack of proper HDMI is a bit perplexing. The detachable mechanism used here seems solid and dependable. You have to fix the tablet over two magnetic clamps. It doesn’t feel loose and we actually had to apply both hands for more pressure to detach the tablet from the keyboard.
The only niggle with the design is that the lid feels a little heavier than the keyboard base. As a result, it wobbles backwards easily with the slightest of taps on the screen. The dual speakers on the lid are loud enough to ensure you don’t need a headphone every time you want to watch a movie, which is not the case with most budget laptops.
Keyboard: Small but well-spaced keys
The One 10’s key highlight is the metal clad detachable keyboard. The plastic keys are small in size and feel flat. The lack of backlighting can make typing in the dark difficult. The keys are well-spaced though and once you get the hang of the small keys, typing on it works like a breeze.
Interestingly, the keyboard comes with a hand rest and touchpad. The hand rest is wide enough to accommodate small hands with ease and the touchpad feels smooth as well.
Display: Small but bright
The 10.1-inch screen looks small compared to a laptop. Despite the limited screen size, it packs in a resolution if 1366x768p, which is what most 13- or 15-inch laptops offer at this price point. This is a good looking display. Colours in videos and photos look good, while text in web pages look crisp. Wide viewing angles are good, which makes watching movies a great experience.
The display is glossy as in most budget tablets or laptops but yet doesn’t feel too reflective. the response to touch is smooth and works even in the laptop mode.
Performance: Runs full-fledged desktop OS, can handle basic tasks well
It looks pretty up to date in terms of software as well, offering a full-fledged 32-bit Windows 10 operating system. You can use the device in the tablet mode with the same desktop interface or switch to the tile-based, full-screen interface when you are using it as a tablet.
The One 10 is driven by a 1.83GHz Intel Atom Z3735F processor which has been paired with 2GB RAM. It is a basic processor and is often seen in budget notebooks and convertibles. However, it can handle most mainstream tasks such as multi-tasking, web browsing and HD movie playback without any stutter.
It offers 32GB of eMMC storage plus 500GB of HDD storage. But the 500GB is available only in the laptop mode. In case that doesn’t suffice, you can always add another 64GB using a micro SD card. There are very few convertibles or small screen laptop at this price point which offer this much storage space. The battery backup is at par with most similarly priced rivals. A full charge lasts 5-6 hours of non-stop use involving typing, web browsing, reading and watching videos.
Verdict
Acer One 10 is a very handy laptop convertible for users looking for a Windows laptop as well as a tablet. The only thing that goes against it is the hefty form factor. If you are looking for something lighter, you can consider Notion Ink Able (Rs.22,490), which weighs 998g with the keyboard, offers a 10.1-inch display but has slightly better specs (Intel Atom Z83000 chip+ 4GB RAM), offers 3G SIM for data connectivity. What you will miss out on is the extra storage space.
