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The Swiss Army Knife of Tablets: Toshiba's Thrive
hothardware.com ^ | Wednesday, July 27, 2011 | Dave Altavilla

Posted on 08/03/2011 10:00:36 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach

Android Honeycomb based tablets are beginning to feel like they're a dime a dozen. 10.1-inch slates are coming out of the woodwork from a bunch of major players, and for all intents and purposes, they're built upon very similar base platforms with NVIDIA's Tegra 2 processor powering them. Capacitive touch displays, integrated 802.11 WiFi, 8 - 32GB of ROM storage, 1GB of RAM, accelerometers, gyroscopes, front and rear facing cameras and Android 3.1 -- you know the drill.

Fortunately, beyond the cookie-cutter reference platform, some manufacturers are building tablets that stand out from the crowd.  Asus stepped out early with an innovative approach to expanding the tablet experience and Samsung decided to take on the iPad 2's thin and sleek design approach but augmented that with what is arguably (or perhaps not depending on your tastes) the best looking tablet display currently on the market.

Toshiba historically has been known for building notebooks that perhaps aren't as thin and sleek as other machines but rather have a build quality and feature set that is best-of-class.  On the tablet front, Toshiba's first effort with an Android-based 10-inch slate looks to be cut from the same cloth.  The not-so svelte Toshiba Thrive showed up here recently for testing and a run-through with our usual fine-toothed comb of analysis.  How does it measure up in the buzzing hive of Honeycomb goodness already in the market?  You're about to find out.

(Excerpt) Read more at hothardware.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Music/Entertainment; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: hitech; tablets; tegra2
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1 posted on 08/03/2011 10:00:42 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: ShadowAce; Las Vegas Dave

I am taking a look at this one.


2 posted on 08/03/2011 10:02:52 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ( Support Geert Wilders)
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To: rdb3; Calvinist_Dark_Lord; GodGunsandGuts; CyberCowboy777; Salo; Bobsat; JosephW; ...

3 posted on 08/03/2011 10:07:11 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

I almost tempted to buy one, nice review.


4 posted on 08/03/2011 10:10:30 AM PDT by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Just how many different devices like these, does each person really need?


5 posted on 08/03/2011 10:11:04 AM PDT by stuartcr ("Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different.")
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Great article by iSuppli on why the Android tablet makers are having such a difficult time keeping up with the iPad. The reason given, is that the manufacturers are dealing with the hardware side of the house; but are totally dependant upon Google to work the software side.

Apple, on the other hand - had complete control of both sides. They know the hardware, they know the software (present and future roadmap) and can performance tweak things - having full visibility into both sides of the house.

Android makers, on the other hand; are strapping high performance processors, to large batteries - and are fighting an uphill battle. They have yet to reach ‘critical mass’ - which again, plays to Apple’s advantage.


6 posted on 08/03/2011 10:11:43 AM PDT by Hodar (Who needs laws .... when this "feels" so right?)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Yup. High on the wish list. Our two Toshiba satellite laptops are gonna get a new sister soon. It could be aXOom or a THrive. The galaxy lacks external connexion.


7 posted on 08/03/2011 10:11:43 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed .. Monthly Donor Onboard .. Obama: Epic Fail or Bust!!!)
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To: stuartcr
Just how many different devices like these, does each person really need?

You are starting to sound like 0bama.

8 posted on 08/03/2011 10:14:03 AM PDT by Guyin4Os (A messianic ger-tsedek)
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To: stuartcr
Cisco has an ad running that says over time individuals are going to each have 7....

I would prefer fewer...

9 posted on 08/03/2011 10:14:08 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ( Support Geert Wilders)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
I still associate Toshiba with what they illegally did in the late 80’s to help make Russian submarines quieter .
They sold advanced metal milling equipment.

I'm probably narrow minded; but try to avoid their products for that reason

10 posted on 08/03/2011 10:19:51 AM PDT by HereInTheHeartland (I love how the FR spellchecker doesn't recognize the word "Obama")
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To: NormsRevenge
I want the capabilites that the HTC Flyer has with its Scribe app and the associated pen...

But the device is a 7" tablet and has other lesser items.

This Toshiba has all of the connections it seems plus a user accessible battery....

But is heavier than other tablets.

11 posted on 08/03/2011 10:21:57 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ( Support Geert Wilders)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Isn’t HP’s tablet offering based on their own proprietary webOS

Any thoughts on that versus the alternatives, specifically iPad?


12 posted on 08/03/2011 10:23:57 AM PDT by EyeGuy (2012: When the Levee Breaks)
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To: stuartcr

Need? Probably none. Want? Who can say. Luckily it’s still basically a free country, people can still buy what they want and not worry about whether or not they need it.


13 posted on 08/03/2011 10:28:12 AM PDT by discostu (keep on keeping on)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

There are plenty of capactive pens out there on the market.


14 posted on 08/03/2011 10:30:41 AM PDT by GreenvillePatriot
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To: EyeGuy
I don't personally...but I did look thru this review :

Home Tablet The HP TouchPad Review: webOS on the Big Screen

***************************EXCERPT**********************************

If this were a race of numbers, Apple would have already won. It isn't. The iPad 2, as successful as it is, isn't perfect. There's tons of room for innovation and we're seeing its competitors offer clear examples of that innovation. As with any market, the lower your market share the more likely you are as a company to take risks. After all, you've got nothing to lose. It's in breaking the mold and taking these risks that great ideas are often born.

15 posted on 08/03/2011 10:32:02 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ( Support Geert Wilders)
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To: HereInTheHeartland

If you boycott every company that provided technology to the Russians in the 80’s then you should probably become Amish.


16 posted on 08/03/2011 10:33:11 AM PDT by GreenvillePatriot
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To: GreenvillePatriot
Understand. Being Amish wouldn't be all bad!

From memory however; the Toshiba thing was pretty damaging and deliberate by Toshiba.
It allowed them to quiet their subs quite a bit. I will defer to someone who is more of an expert than myself however.

17 posted on 08/03/2011 10:45:43 AM PDT by HereInTheHeartland (I love how the FR spellchecker doesn't recognize the word "Obama")
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To: Guyin4Os

???


18 posted on 08/03/2011 11:00:48 AM PDT by stuartcr ("Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different.")
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To: Hodar

Apple, on the other hand - had complete control of both sides. They know the hardware, they know the software (present and future roadmap) and can performance tweak things - having full visibility into both sides of the house.

Interesting. Why are the competing tablet manufacturers pushing their own favorite operating systems? As these new tablets gain multiprocessing, a decent amount of RAM, and a usable screen resolution, it seems their manufacturers would be far, far, far ahead by sticking with a well known operating system like Windows or Ubuntu where the applications are readily available and stable. I agree with you that as the hardware improves, the application bottleneck rears its head ever more frequently. And the Android OS is not, shall we say, "revered" for its security. Pushing the "Web OS" bit seems a losing battle in the long run. Once the tablet has as much power as a laptop, what is the point of a dummied down operating system?


19 posted on 08/03/2011 11:01:02 AM PDT by so_real ( "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.")
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Why would I want a tablet as opposed to a laptop? Just curious.....anybody?


20 posted on 08/03/2011 11:02:05 AM PDT by NRA1995 (Obama couldn't run a lemonade stand. Let him eat peas!)
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