(Source: PC Pro)

One of Acer’s best handheld creations, the Acer n300-series Windows Mobile PDA gets reviewed again, but this time by PC Plus.

The review itself talks about both the Acer n311 and its little bro, the n310 - though the review unit itself is a n311, equipped with embedded WiFi support which the n310 doesn’t have, more memory and a faster processor.

While PC Plus found the n300’s lack of GPS features and processing power (compared to a Dell Axim they reviewed earlier) to be minus points, they still concluded with a 4 out of 5 overall rating, and a pretty favourable verdict: “For a mid-range PDA in a wonderfully-designed shell there’s really no need to look elsewhere.”

(Source: PC Pro)

Now, this is a detailed review of the Acer n311 Pocket PC, and as usual, it’s from TrustedReviews. On the whole, the review is a pretty positive one, though there are a few flaws that stand out.

Among the things said of the Acer n311 is that, “The Acer then is a good choice as a connected, quality PDA that literally won’t burst your pocket. It’s certainly the best PDA we’ve seen from Acer. We would have liked to have seen a faster CPU and a better graphics chip in it but as long as you aren’t planning on watching a lot of video on it, it’s a good choice.”

Overall, TrustedReviews concludes that, “The n311 is an attractively small and light PDA, dominated by a large good quality VGA screen. It’s not the fastest PDA on the block though, and video playback can suffer but for the vast majority of tasks this is a good machine.”

(Source: PC Pro)

Short but sweet is the description I’d give for PC Advisor’s recent review of the Acer n311 Windows Mobile Pocket PC. While it doesn’t seem to be as detailed as the one by PC Pro (it’s about the same really), it does highlight the n311’s single-click landscape mode. Apparently, watching widescreen movies and viewing Excel spreadsheets become much more enjoyable tasks with the feature.

Overall, PC Advisor concludes that, “This is about as good a PDA as you’re likely to see, but is it worth £300? BlackBerry fans will point to the lack of phone capability, and playing movies is ambitious with only 128MB. Nonetheless, the Acer n311 is beautiful to look at, easy to use and full of excellent features. We want one.”

(Source: PC Pro)

PC Pro lavishes a powerful verdict for the Acer n311 Windows Mobile PDA: “Arguably the best PDA to have passed through the PC Pro labs, with some unique features to lift it above the crowd. Only a high price and niggly problems stop it from winning an award.”

The slim and light form factor of the Acer n311 probably heard the most “woos” and “wows”, with its brilliant screen and integrated Bluetooth not too far behind. But given that it didn’t win an award, there are clearly drawbacks to this marvelous device. Laggy video playback, a lousy bundled pouch and a weak software suite are among these drawbacks.

Nevertheless, PC Pro recommends the Acer n311 over its close rival, the HP rx1950, even though the Acer is quite a bit more expensive.

PC Authority reviews the Acer n35 Windows Mobile Pocket PC. Given the strengths of the Acer n35, e.g. relatively low price and out-of-the-box GPS software (CoPilot Live 5), the reviewers found the “…small 128MB SD card rather than the 256MB-plus cards seen elsewhere…” disappointing. But personally, I don’t see much of a problem with the 128MB card given the proliferation of cheap 256MB+ SD cards out there. The lower cost of the n35 compared to a comparable Garmin might very well get you a 512MB card, with spare change too.

Overall, they conclude that “…neither the Navman or the Mio are perfect and, especially at this price, we can see the Acer tempting many people.”

Handhelds, Reviews, n-Series | Comments (0)