A500 Won't Get Official Jelly Bean Update

[jsbach]

This really sucks. I was hoping we would get it, but apparently not. The Tab is capable so I don't understand why. Should have bought an Asus instead since those tablets are getting it.

Acer not updating Iconia Tabs to Jelly Bean | TG Daily

 

[AntimonyER]

That's a bummer. I sold mine to get an N7, it was about a wash money wise, and had JB out of the box... But I agree, no reason it shouldn't get it. Acer just being lazy.

 

[D-U-R-X]

Bit gutted for non-rooted users. Have been thinking about selling mine and getting an N7 too... was the change worth it and can you live with the smaller screen Anti?

 

[jsbach]

It sucks is that the Samsung tablets are getting jelly bean and they are running Tegra 2. So Acer's excuse about not meeting the specs, older hardware, etc. is just BS.

 

[dave1552]

My a500 is 10 months old. I will be selling it soon and going with a manufacturer that maintains an upgrade path for longer than a year. I realize that there is development costs related to keeping current however the customer loyalty far outweighs the cost. Very short sighted on Acers part.

 

[AntimonyER]

Bit gutted for non-rooted users. Have been thinking about selling mine and getting an N7 too... was the change worth it and can you live with the smaller screen Anti?

I love the form factor, big enough for movies and browsing small enough for gaming and reading.

 

[D-U-R-X]

The main downside for me would be loosing the full-sized USB though... still thinking about it!

Is the memory expandable?

 

[dbldipp]

After the screw up that ICS turned out to be we might just be lucky they aren't going to screw us again with the Jelly Bean. I had to root mine to get it to work the way it should, so I woun't be getting any more updates any way. Tablet works the way it's supposed to now, I'll stick with ICS.

 

[D-U-R-X]

You may not get OTA updates but, if you're rooted, you will be able to get JB (and other versions of Android beyond that)... you've done the hard part... flashing custom ROM's is easy

 

[dbldipp]

My primary use for my tablet is as a gps device. I'm an over the road truck driver and I use Co Pilot truck. I'm more interested in having a stable, dependable tablet. I have that with it the way it is, so I'm not worried about trying different Roms. I bought this tablet the first day they were available in Columbus, Oh. I had to go to 3 different stores before I found on that actually had them in stock. I became a testewr for ALK since Co Pilot truck and the A500 weren't compatable. They prety much stayed that way till the 3.2.1 update. The first ICS update killed my tablet and I ended up going back to 3.2.1. Which didn't last long. It wasn't as stable with 3.2.1 as it is with ICS. The second install of ICS was a horse of a different color when it comes to stability. So I'll stick with what I have. Although I don't forsee me ever purchasibng any more Acer products. I have a home PC that sucked out of the box. My Acer Laptop has been dependable and study. It takes a lickin and keeps on tickin. As the old saying goes. But like I said, this is the last purchase I'll make of Acer or any of it's companion companies... aka, Gateway , E-machines. And ant other company that is part of Acewr. Untill they learn how to do customer support I'm done. I have no idea how they stay in business with the crapy support they have.

 

[D-U-R-X]

Completely understand... the reason I went for this tablet over others was the full size native USB capabilities, which I don't actually use as much as I thought I would - nice feature to have though, for when I want it (I've got a DSLR and I've seen a couple of apps that mean you can hook your tablet up and use it as a controller).

How does the tablet perform as SatNav? I thought that you had to have data connectivity for GPS to work?

 

[RMinMN]

The satellite navigation works very well on mine as I have used it to route from northern Minnesota to Key West, Florida. The only real problem I had with that was the internal GPS writing to the hidden file and filling up the memory and the time to lock onto the satellites. I think I have solved both those issues with a Bluetooth external GPS receiver as the one I bought locks satellites in less than a minute from cold start and doesn't write anything to the memory.

I like the Copilot app for the navigation as it let me load maps of the entire US before I left home and then it doesn't need connection to the internet. It seems to choose more rational routes than my Magellan which tries to route me through seasonally closed forest trails too often. I also like that I can have it give me a route and then present me with 2 more alternative routes that I can choose from and that I can force routing with drag and drop or including an intermediate stop. If I deviate from the chosen route it can recalculate a new route to my destination in the blink of an eye without annoying me by telling me it is "recalculating route". It's been a real pleasure to work with.

 

[zuben el genub]

Don't know about terrestrial mapping, but GPS has always put in the right coordinates in all astronomy programs. Picks up the slightest change. Very handy since it's satellite. I can use tablet anywhere without worrying about a network or tower connection.

I do use the USB and the HDMI. I've found quite a few documentaries in MP4 format, downloaded them to a USB stick and played over a TV.

 

[RaAkhenaton]

It works beautifully for satnav with the native Google Maps using the onboard GPS--especially now that I'm using a root JB rom. The downside is that my external GPS transponder doesn't keep a stable connection with the tablet since the post-ICS upgrade. I'm still looking for a good Bluetooth workaround that works with GMaps, since Bluetooth GPS Provider was broken by Jelly Bean.

 

[dbldipp]

That would be my worst nightmare... Update to JB just to find out my GPS no longer works. I rooted my Tablet so I could go in and delte the text files that are writen and fill up the tablet drive. Once a week I go in and delete them. Works good for me otherwise. But I'm one of those people who likes to have the latest, greatest. Second gen JB was just released. If I could find the right rom tat would work, I think I would update to JB. Keep me up to date on your luck with JB and GPS please.

 

[dbldipp]

Ok, I went to Newegg and bought a windows tablet. That eliminates the text file problems. So in the near future I'm going to play with mt tab. Thinking of putting on Windows8 and see how it works. I'm going to try Jellybean first and see how I like it. No sense in having 2 Windows tabs. I like my A500 with Android, I'm over Acer tho. Never again will I buy another Acer porduct, including all the underling companies.
The Widows Tablet/ Laptop is a Nenovo X61. It's a laptop with a touch sacreen that rotates around and goes flat on the key board turning it into a tablet.