Acer showcases its Windows 8 powered tablets, the W7 and W5

Taiwanese manufacturers Acer, unveiled a host of new Windows 8 enabled devices in Malaysia earlier this week, including the Aspire S7 Ultrabook and Aspire U All-in-one PC. The devices that did not garner as much attention were the Iconia W7 and W5 tablet-hybrids. These devices for us however were Acer’s most interesting products on display.

Iconia W7

The Iconia W7 is Acer’s flagship tablet, set to retail for US$999, the W7 features an 11.6-inch full HD display with 10-ponit touch control functionality. Its powered by Intel Core’s i3, 1.8 Ghz dual-core processor. Its also been fitted with 64GB Solid Slate Drive, 4GB of RAM as well as Wif-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 built-in connectivity. Included in the pretty hefty price is a strange L-shaped cradle that allows users to view vertically or horizontally.

Inconia W5

The W5 is Acer’s mid range tablet offering, slapped with a US$599 price tag, the W5 is Acer’s answer to detachable tablet-hybrids. It features a rather sizable 10.1-inch display but lacks the resolution featured on the W7. The internals of the W5 pretty much match up with that of the W7, the only difference is the W5’s storage capacity, which is only expandable to 32GB. Fitted with a host of microSD and microHDMI ports, the W5’s defining feature is its battery life, boasting an impressive 18 hours according to Acer.

These devices have resulted in a bit of tension between those at Acer and Microsoft. The two companies have locked horns on two specific issues. The first arose when certain devices displayed OS design glitches during a event in Tapei.

Microsoft immediately pointed the finger at Acer, whose products were supposedly the reason for the malfunction. Acer hit back by stating its hesitancy over projected user adoption of Microsoft’s Windows RT tablet and decided to wait and see how consumer would react to it before releasing a product of their own.

With the market rather saturated with Windows 8 devices, it waits to be determined whether or nor Acer’s tablets can escape parity having arrived so late to the party.