Acer Aspire Switch 10 SW5-012 32GB & 64GB Signature Edition 2 in 1 PC

The Acer Aspire Switch 10 SW5-012 32GB and 64GB Signature Edition 2 in 1 PC convertibles are at a discounted sale soon at Microsoft Store. They are priced at $279 and $349 for the 32GB and 64GB versions, respectively.

The Switch 10 is a budget-class Windows 8 hybrid with a detachable keyboard. You can use it as a standalone tablet like iPad, as a traditional laptop, or a presentation screen in “stand” and “tent” modes.

A 10.1-inch display with 1,280 x 800 resolution isn’t an impressive specs point. But, in this case, the screen isn’t the lowest-end one since it has IPS technology for wider viewing angles, and “Zero Air Gap”, meaning no gap between the touch surface and LCD itself. This helps better visibility in bright environments and outdoors.

Just like the other models from the series, the Acer Aspire Switch 10 SW5-012 32GB / 64GB Signature Edition 2 in 1 PC is equipped the Intel Atom Z3735F “Bay Trail” processor with four cores, clock speed between 1.33 and 1.86GHz, depending on usage, and Intel HD integrated graphics. It is accompanied by 2GB of RAM memory, which is not great by today’s PC standards, but still better than on the cheap 1GB Windows tablets. More about performance of the Bay Trail Atom / 2GB RAM combo you can find in this review. In short, it is adequate only for non-demanding tasks of home and office users, like work in Microsoft Office, web browsing, smooth video playback on resolutions up to 1080p, and even some occasional gaming.

As mentioned,  storage space measures either 32GB or 64GB. 64GB on the pricier model is a very important benefit over the 32GB counterpart. Widows is a large OS by itself so every Gigabyte of free storage space is precious. Thankfully, microSD card slot is there to help.

The tablet portion of the 2-in-1 PC also incorporates a 2MP webcam on the front side for video chat support, stereo speakers, a micro USB port, microSD, audio jack, and a dedicated power connector on the tablet part. The lid is made of brushed-aluminum and the Switch stand out from the crowd of plastic-only tablets.

The detachable dock has a decently sized keyboard with Chiclet-style keys, seamless trackpad with “mouse” buttons integrated in the surface, and additional full-size USB port.

These two parts combined weigh 2.5 pounds and are 0.8″ thin, so overall this is a quite portable Windows machine. The tablet alone weighs 1.25 lbs and is .35″ thin.

The claimed battery life is “8 hours”, according to the manufacturer.

On the software side, the Acer Aspire Switch 10 SW5-012 32GB 64GB Signature Edition 2 in 1 PC comes with a Microsoft Office 365 Personal 1-year subscription, meaning you can use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, and Publisher apps for free during the first year and renew subscription afterwards for prolonged use. As for Signature Edition feature, it simply means software has been tweaked for a better user experience. In particular, Microsoft has removed all unnecessary third party trial program clutter, so performance is improved out of the box. Beside cleaner Windows, Signature Edition computers come pre-installed with a free anti-virus program, meaning less worry about security.