Acer Tech Support

Last week Acer rolled out the update to Honeycomb 3.1 for my Acer Iconia Tab a500 (which is an awesome tablet btw).  On Tuesday of last week, I was thrilled to see that the notification for that an update was ready for download had popped up on my tablet's screen.  However, I wasn't at home and my battery was running low, so I checked the 'Remind Me Later' option.  All the while keeping my hopes up that I would be able to come back and manually check for the update which at that point would proceed to download and make me a happy customer...  In my opinion (and my gut feeling) is that if you choose 'remind me later' to an update, this should still keep it available for you to download.  Apparently, this is not the case.  By selecting 'Remind Me Later' you essentially push yourself back in the line.  Not fair.

Almost a week later to the day and my tablet has yet to notify me for the update again.  By following these instructions, I can manually force the tablet to go out and see if there is an update ready:
1- Tap the top right of the home screen where it is says 'Apps'.
2- Find the 'Settings' icon and tap it.
3- In the 'Settings' Menu look towards the bottom of the list to 'About Tablet' and tap it.
4- In the 'About Tablet' menu tap on 'System Updates' and hit 'Check Now' in the box that pops up.

Doing this just says 'Your device is up to date.'  Checking the Android version I am running gives me: Android 3.0.1.  So I know it's not magically updated itself.  All the while I have made sure the 'Automatically Check for System Updates' is checked.  Still no go.

So, upon snooping around a Acer community forum, I found a post that suggested user's who couldn't update to contact Acer and have them roll out the update to your Serial Number.  I figured what could it hurt to give that a try?  So I did.  And here is the result.

Early Sunday morning (7-10-11) I contacted Acer via Live Chat.  The representative I was chatting with definitely didn't help out any.  After describing what I have done, the rep. had me do the same manual check and it did the same thing (no update found, device is updated message).  Then their next post said: 'You'll just have to wait for it to automatically appear on your device'.  So I proceeded to inquire as to how long I should wait (a few days, a week, a month?).

They responded by letting me know that my tablet wasn't an Acer product.  Which I responded by saying: "You mean the Acer Iconia Tab a500 that I'm using right now is not an Acer made/supported product?" and the rep responded promptly with a big 'No'.  And they proceed to 'inform' me that what they meant was Honeycomb is not an Acer software.  It is developed by Google.  Surprise!  We already know that.

My response was that of much disappointment with something in the realm of: "I understand that, but doesn't Acer prep the version of Honeycomb for their products and roll it out themselves?".  This question was left unanswered and I was told that Google handles all of that (which we know isn't true).  It's up to the manufacturers of said device to offer the updates to the software on said device.

At this point I was defeated, and abruptly ended the chat session with a calm: "thank you.  goodbye."  And it was clear I'd be getting no help from this person.  So I decided to let it set for a day or so and check it again, and attempt to contact Acer one more time.

The second attempt for gainful support was well met.  The rep I spoke with today in Live Chat was very courteous and helpful.  They still weren't able to help me get the update (as the forum post from earlier mentioned).  But the way they handled the customer service end of the chat was professional.  Apparently, I have to wait until the next update 'schedule' begins to roll out.  When I asked if they could ballpark a guess as to when the next  'schedule' would be released, the couldn't give me even a guess.  Other than, it should show up 'within the next day or day after'.  See below for the chat transcript (sans names and serial numbers):

I completely understand that Android user's everywhere are experiencing similar issues when it comes to wanting/needing for one reason or another the updates to their devices.  I just think it's not fair for Acer to basically say: "Ooo, here is your shiny new update, take it now."  and if you don't "Well, you'll get it when you get it.".  That's not a good way to handle your customers.  And this is another way that Android is fragmented.  Maybe by the time Ice Cream is released some this crap will be a thing of the past.  Android is an awesome mobile operating system and is being run on top notch hardware.  And it slated to become (if not already) one of the top market leaders in the mobile market.  So it deserves better than what we are getting (speaking to the hardware vendors out there).  And this is one of the very reasons people ROOT their devices.  Just saying.

Does this change my mind about my Iconia a500?  Not a chance, it's still a rock solid device and I love it.  Does this shadow my opinion of Acer (for which we own other products by), yes it does.

Enough of my rant.  If/when I get Honeycomb 3.1 on my tab I'll give a review once I've explored it.  Until then, happy surfing!