Acer DA1 24 inch Touchscreen All-in-One PC (Nvidia T33 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM, 16GB SSD, Wi-Fi, Camera, Integrated Graphics, Android 4.1.2)

I almost didn’t buy this device because I couldn’t find any reference to “DA1” anywhere either on Acer’s website, or elsewhere except on a couple of mail order catalogue websites (and they had different specs). The details and reviews both here and elsewhere had conflicting information (does it have Android 4.1.2 or 4.2.1?), and the description talks about the “DA series” and “selected models” rather than specifically describing this one. Amazon (and elsewhere) couldn’t have done a worse job trying to sell this item if they tried.

On receipt, it turns out that this is actually the Acer DA241HL touchscreen all-in-one running Android 4.2.1. It has 1GB/16GB RAM (not partitioned in a silly way as has been known with some of Acer’s past smartphones).

This has a two-point touchscreen (not a modern 10-point touchscreen) handled by a raised sensor that runs around the screen’s large bezel – it’s not a capacitive touchscreen like you’ll find on your smartphone (the price would rule that out), or the resistive “poke-your-stylus-through-it” type like the old days. The position of your fingers is detected by the raised sensor, which is presumably why it’s limited to just two point detection. This also means that it will detect anything within the limits of the sensor without actually touching the screen (like a piece of paper laying on the screen, or your pen – although I wouldn’t recommend jabbing your pen on the screen). It works well enough with two fingers for zooming/scrolling, etc.

My reasons for buying this were two-fold. I wanted a large touchscreen monitor to work with my Windows 8.1 tablet and laptop, and I liked the idea of having a large-screen instant-boot all-in-one for email/internet and entertainment purposes.

The device works well with Android. Some apps are deemed “incompatible” such as ITV Player (a screen this size would be ideal for catch-up TV so it’s pretty silly that ITV Player is “incompatible”), some don’t scale-up all that well to a large screen (TV Catchup isn’t as clear as it could be), and some apps/websites think you’re running a mobile device and enlarge everything as if you had a small screen – making it almost possible to check your Facebook, etc, from the other side of the room. Other apps are ideally suited to this screen-size, however, like Softmaker Office HD which looks and feels exactly like your desktop software – I can see myself getting a lot of use out of that – and I’m keen to try out CADTouch.

There’s an option in the settings to set the AIO up for multiple users. I don’t have a need for that at the moment and so I haven’t tried it out, but this would prove very useful for the family environment.

The WiFi at first seemed a bit flaky (losing connection even though the AIO is currently in the same room as my router). It doesn’t seem as bad now, but there is an Ethernet port which I shall probably use when I move the AIO to another room.

The screen is responsive, despite the technology used, although I didn’t get it to play games which may demand more from it that I need. There are two USB ports, one of which you’ll use for the keyboard/mouse wireless dongle. These are hidden behind a panel in the back of the screen, and there’s not a lot of space there due to the way the back of the monitor in the recess “slopes” outwards. If you have a long USB stick, you won’t get it in the USB port unless you use a USB cable. I’ve played a couple of MP4 recordings through the USB port and that’s worked fine. The provided keyboard and mouse are adequate. I quite like the keyboard, but I’m not sure how long both it and the mouse would put up with intensive use.

Pressing one button on the front of the monitor toggles the screen between Android and HDMI. Using this and plugging my Windows 8.1 tablet (Acer Iconia W4) into the HDMI port, and to the USB “in” port, worked very well. The tablet installed the relevant drives and everything just worked. The tablet can be set to either duplicate its screen, or to use the AIO as a second screen (which is how I use it). The touchscreen function works with ease but does require the USB to be plugged in. With the screen connected to the tablet by USB means you also get access to the AIO’s USB ports – meaning that you can use the keyboard/mouse that’s connected via wireless dongle to the screen with your Windows tablet, and also the USB stick you plugged into the other port. This is really handy if your tablet only has the one USB port and you’ve used that to plug it into the AIO.

All of this worked just the same on my Windows 8.1 laptop (Asus S200E).

It’s claimed that this screen can lay flat on your desk. It can’t. There are some videos/reviews around that show the DA241HL with a white stand on the back that rotates all the way back. That is not this model. This model has the thick black stand (as shown in the photos) which just gets in the way when you try to lay the screen flat. You can open the stand as wide as possible and use the screen sloped-up from horizontal, but it doesn’t feel entirely stable like that.

There is no battery in this model. While it might be silly to want a battery in something that isn’t portable like a tablet or laptop, I would be concerned using the Android part of this AIO for productivity (such as office work/photo work, etc) in the event of a power failure – so I intend to purchase a UPS to serve that purpose.

The picture quality of the screen is very good. I haven’t yet profiled it under Windows but the quality is clear and the colours are bright – this is probably helped by not having an extra layer over the monitor for touchscreen purposes.

There is no flexibility to the height of the AIO, and it can’t stand vertically straight-up due to having to lean back a little on its stand. It’s also not possible to turn it into portrait mode (something I got used to on my standard 24″ Dell monitor).

For the price (a touch under £230) this is a very flexible device. Having a no-wires instant-on Android option and the ability to use it as a full Windows desktop solution via the HDMI/USB ports all in one package is just so useful. You can switch back-and-forth between Windows 8.1 (via HDMI) and Android with just one button push.

It’s very unlikely that Acer will ever update the version of Android on this model (there is a “system update” after you’ve set-up the monitor – which takes no more than about fifteen minutes – but it doesn’t update the Android version), so those looking for the latest Android Kit Kat, or something that might get Lollipop, will need to look elsewhere.