Review: Acer Iconia W510 just keeps going and going

After my middling feelings about Acer's Iconia W700, the Iconia W510 comes as a nice surprise. It's in roughly the same vein as the HP Envy X2: a tablet PC that docks into a keyboard, with batteries in both the keyboard and main unit. The Envy is unquestionably the better product, but the W510 should not be dismissed out of hand. It's worth a close look.

The W510 packs an Atom Z2760 processor (1.5GHz, burstable to 1.8GHz) in a 1.27-pound chassis, sporting a 10.1-inch 1366 by 768 display. The Pro version of the W510 has a few differences: Windows 8 Professional instead of the consumer edition of Windows 8, along with a stylus and a two-year warranty (instead of one year).

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Even with the keyboard attached, the whole thing weighs no more than 3 pounds, making it a great grab-and-go machine. Also, it doesn't depend solely on the dock for connectivity. Micro USB, Micro HDMI, Micro SD, and a direct charging connector (which uses the same plug that connects to the dock) are all available on the body of the unit. The second battery in the keyboard/dock gives the W510 tremendous battery life. I got 15 and one-half hours in my Netflix battery rundown test.

Apart from adding a keyboard and second battery, the dock provides a full-sized USB port and a sturdy hinge that allows the whole unit to fold open and shut like a regular notebook PC. The dock is made of ABS plastic as opposed to the Envy X2's aluminum, and the dock connector itself looks somewhat cheap -- I've heard it condescendingly referred to as "the taco shell". Also, be forewarned that if you open the laptop too far, the weight of the dock isn't enough to keep the unit upright. That said, you have to open the hinge at a very wide angle before it topples over.