The critics will jump straight to conclusions and argue that this is yet another sub-par Android tablet that was released way too late and that the design is simply too ugly to even consider it. These would be some harsh conclusions to draw and although there is a little truth inside every criticism, a responsible customer should try to look behind the scenes.
Thickness is one of the downsides of Toshiba Thrive, and it can’t be denied as the competition is sporting tablets that are twice as slim. Both the iPad 2 and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 are slimmer, but they are not considerably lighter, which is something Toshiba can be proud of. The rubberized finish will provide excellent grip, but will further hurt the Thrive in terms of aesthetics, so you should decide what are you willing to sacrifice for beauty.
What’s inside the Toshiba Thrive should be more important and the 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor is just as good as Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 The fact that it is running on Android 3.1 is excellent news, in a market where most of the Android tablets are powered by older OS. The twin cameras are nothing to shout for and at 5 megapixels, the quality of both images and videos is anything but stellar; tablets as a whole are struggling to find the perfect mix and there is a lot to be desired about snapping pictures and recording videos, but Toshiba’s Thrive is not even close.
In terms of file storage, the Thrive shines, with full HDMI and USB ports making it easy to copy, paste and move files around, even for rookies. It’s a seamless experience and the intuitive app is responsible for the swiftness, while the transfer is quick enough without surprising you with blazing speeds. If these advantages don’t convince you, the price might, with the 8GB version costing as little as $429.
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