Toshiba Thrive review

[lestatar]

^ Indeed. On many levels I very much miss my Palm devices.

[Noah98]

Originally Posted by aceflor

cannot confirm that at all, how weird. The casing feels very solid. It felt much better finished than the asus, I did not like at all the weight repartition in the xoom which kept balancing on the right side. I have not had yet a Galaxy tab in my hands, but I can compare to an ipad 1 which we own and the casing does not feel cheaper to me on the acer at all. Maybe with the ipad 2.


display is indeed not the best of its class on the acer, but more than enough for my needs, videos in hd are playing perfectly fine, games might not be great (I am not a player)


Mine is not sluggish AT ALL. My neighbour got an asus and we compared yesterday, my acer was indeed quicker since it got the update to 3.1 which the asus had too btw. My neighbour now wants to exchange his asus for an acer, he was green when he realised that plus the specs (2Usbs + micro SD) of the acer

I like it. it is certainly not the best, but I enjoy the specs and the device, so for me it was a good decision, I don't think it is outclassed nor the best, but it is quite good and probably a good budget decision for many users.

Maybe the casing discussion is personal preference. It just felt heavier and less solid to me, but again, that is personal. I do prefer it to the Xoom case though, because I hate the weight distribution on that device. I guess I just like the Asus, Galaxy Tab, ipad 2, and Thrive casings better.

As far as responsiveness, I'm sure your experience is more accurate than mine since I've only used display units. I was just giving my impressions based on playing around at the tablet center in Office Depot and Best Buy.

It's also important to take price into consideration. As far as value goes, the Asus at $50 cheaper than the Acer wins out. But, the Acer is a much better value than tablets like the Xoom.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by Noah98

It's also important to take price into consideration. As far as value goes, the Asus at $50 cheaper than the Acer wins out. But, the Acer is a much better value than tablets like the Xoom.

You do realise that the asus transformer has no usb ports as such on the device, but only on the optional docking station, do you ? If we are trying to help users here, we should give the right information too. The lack of usb port might explain the 50 $ difference in the US, but here in Europe you can find the iconia 16 gb version on amazon for 399€, the same price as the asus transformer 16 gb, both without docking station. An asus docking station will cost you 140€ more.

I keep insisting on the usb port because it is indeed quite useful and there is no way I would go for another tablet à la Ipad that would not offer me the possibilty to access my bigger files (if not stored on board). I need the versatility, and for over 400€ I think it should be a serial spec on all tabs.

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by aceflor

and for over 400€ I think it should be a serial spec on all tabs.

The way the market eventually follows Apple (no more hardware buttons? ) those usb ports might not be around for more than another 12 to 18 months.

[Noah98]

Originally Posted by aceflor

You do realise that the asus transformer has no usb ports as such on the device, but only on the optional docking station, do you ? If we are trying to help users here, we should give the right information too.

I never said the Asus had usb ports, so I'm not sure how I'm giving misinformation

Each tablet has advantages and disadvantages.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by Noah98

I never said the Asus had usb ports, so I'm not sure how I'm giving misinformation

Sorry if I did not formulate properly, I did not mean YOU and me for "we", but the members in general who were very prompt on this forum to denigrate the acer for imho no obvious nor objective reasons, but very subjective ones.

Originally Posted by Noah98

It's also important to take price into consideration. As far as value goes, the Asus at $50 cheaper than the Acer wins out.

I just want new readers to understand the price difference, that's all.

[Ken Maltby]

The ASUS Eee Pad does have a USB connection, just not with a USB port. I uses a
special cable that, among other things, makes a USB 2 connection between your PC
and the Eee Pad. It also works to make a connection between your PC and the
keyboard/dock and the Eee Pad, if it is connected to the dock. But then the Dock has
two USB ports as well as an SD card reader, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Luck;
Ken

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by wodin

I never quite understood the advantage of thinness on a ten inch device. The thing is already too big to fit in your pocket, making it thinner doesn’t help that at all.

I've seen this thought expressed a lot about a popular thin Android device:

It still might be the best 10 inch Android tablet on the market right now, because style matters. The Samsung tablet is thinner and lighter than any other 10.1 inch tablet on the market and it features an attractive, minimalist design. That might not sound that important, but the result is that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 feels better in your hand than competitors such as the Motorola XOOM or Asus Eee Pad 10.1.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 feels much better in your hands due to the thinner size and lighter weight. Don’t get me wrong, the most comfortable way to hold the tablet is still to place a hand on either side while the device is in landscape mode — but I didn’t feel like my arm was going to fall off when I tried holding the tablet in portrait mode.

http://liliputing.com/2011/07/samsun...-1-review.html

[jgray]

My two cents.

It's not just the thinness, but the light weight that goes along with that. I can hold the GT in my left hand for extended periods. This is good for reading, but even more important for text entry if I'm using the Swype keyboard. It's also good if I need to make a quick drawing for later use.

In fact, the Samsung cover makes this even easier. The cover adds very little bulk to the GT. When you open the cover and fold the flap, it gives you a small bump of a handle, which makes it easier to hold on to.

No, these devices certainly don't fit into a pocket. However, with the GT being so thin and light, I'm more inclined to carry this thing around with me, like many of us used to do with a Day Planner or such (I've also owned several different PDAs over the years). I have an Android phone, but there are some things I would rather do on a device with a larger screen.

Joe

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by jgray

being so thin and light, I'm more inclined to carry this thing around with me, like many of us used to do with a Day Planner

Good point. Management types love those things (day planners).

[boswd]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

The way the market eventually follows Apple (no more hardware buttons? ) those usb ports might not be around for more than another 12 to 18 months.

just like Flash, as soon as Apple didn't use it on their iDevices Flash was supposed to die within the year. How'd that work out for ya?

[kennyc]

Thanks, looks like a tank! I sure don't care for that charger and think the Full-sized connectors are a bit outdated. But can see the advantage of usb host! (particularly for thumb-drives)

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by boswd

just like Flash, as soon as Apple didn't use it on their iDevices Flash was supposed to die within the year. How'd that work out for ya?

It did. most of the new and innovative stuff is being done in HTML5. Even Google is on that bandwagon.
'Death' does not mean complete inexistence.

[Greg Anos]

I played with the Demo unit at Best Buy. Some comments.

The big bezel around the screen. Yeech. Makes it too big for my mini messenger bag.

Weight was passable. Had all the features it claimed, ++good. Can use and external USB keyboard. ++good.

I hate the power brick. 19V. There's no reason it couldn't have been designed for a 12V @3 Amps, like lots of other devices. Have to keep a separate power brick along for the tablet. Yeech.

Since there is not other tablet around that has a user replaceable battery, full SD card reader (including SDXC), and standard HDMI out, it's Hobson's choice. I'll buy it now, while I can still get it.

In the final analysis, it boils down to what do you want from a tablet. Do you want a fully capable computer or a limited gadget? The internals are good enough for a full computer, if you allow it to hook up to enough peripherals. The OS is one lung, but no worse than, say, WIN 3.1. Shrug. Over time the OS'es will expand, and so will the application programs. The question is, are you willing to pitch out all your old software and restart from scratch.

Or are you just looking for a cool toy?

I want a PMP with HDMI out that will last longer than the battery. The Thrive fits the bill, (and currently it's the only one that does) even if too big. Everything else is gravy. Today I can buy a 128GB SDXC for $250 or so. Next year it'll be $150. That's a lot of storage of media files, and no worry or expense for wireless connections.

But I'm old school...Your mileage may differ.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

It did. most of the new and innovative stuff is being done in HTML5. Even Google is on that bandwagon.
'Death' does not mean complete inexistence.

yes and that's why the internet video's, games and shopping websites are almost ALL Flash. and still a main selling point agains any iDevice. And the beauty of Android is you are told what to have because you frankly have both(Flash and HTLM5) and if you don't want Flash, you can disable the plug in.

The bottom line Apple picked a fight it didn't have too and is losing in the court of public opinion well except the blinded isheep fools in the Apple camp who parrot anything Steve O says as the Gospel. "Steve O says it's dead so it's dead, now where is my Soy milk latte? , I need to go get a new otterbox that has that hole in the back so everyone can see my apple logo and buy some new hippster jeans "