Toshiba launches thick Thrive tablet in Europe
Skinny Excite set for the States alone?
Toshiba will not be introducing its third-generation Android tablet at this week's IFA consumer electronics show, confounding reports and the hopes fondleslab fans.
In the US, Toshiba may be preparing a skinny new Android-based tablet called the Excite, but Europeans are going to get the current chunky model, the Thrive - here to be prosaically named the AT100 - instead.
The AT100 - a device first shown way back in January - will run Android 3.1 Honeycomb on a 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. Its 10.1in display has a resolution of 1280 x 800.
Variants on offer will come with 8, 16 or 32GB of Flash storage, all with Bluetooth 3.0, single-antenna 802.11n Wi-Fi, and 2Mp (front) and 5Mp (rear) cams.
The good news for connector collectors: the AT100 has full size HDMI, USB 2.0 and SD ports, plus a mini USB 2.0 port and a 3.5mm audio jack.
To get 'em all in, Toshiba needed to make the AT100 725g in weight and 269 x 174 x 15.5mm in size - almost twice as thick as its key rivals.
The Apple iPad 2 is just 8.8mm thick and weighs 601g. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is even thinner and lighter: 8.6mm and 565g.
The Thrive's girth gained it critical brickbats in the US - one reason why the company appears to be working on a much skinnier model, possibly the tablet recently trademarked in the US as the Excite.
Over here, we'll have to make do with the weightier one. ®
COMMENTS
Size 0
What the hell is this fixation with thin phones and thin tablets? Make 'em light, sure, but thin? That just make'em harder to hold, and gains nothing except another figure to quite at stat geeks.
Actually, lets face it, that's exactly the reason they do it, because the target audience includes vast numbers of people who unaccountably care that their tablet be 0.2 mm thinner than their mate's one. Lame.
Thickness
So, X=6, Y=8
Z can be anything up to 1ish, given those dimensions, and it still really wouldn't bother me. Can I have RS232 and an ethernet port too? Hold the Kool-Aid
why not?
If the screen is good, software is glitch-free and the battery has enough juice to last, I honestly don't care if it's a bit thicker.
I like the idea of built-in ports, without bothering with pesky dongles and whatnot. They are mighty useful.
@Arctic Fox, technohead
I guess it's just me, but 6.9mm and 160g seem rather small price to pay for it's I/O abilities.
Why?
They should create a new category for this type of Tablet called the "Slab". Who wants a tablet twice as thick as competitors. The full size expansion ports/slots is great but not at the expense of twice the thickness. I don't think this will be that popular and Toshiba is doing themselves over by not releasing the Excite to Europe market at the same time as the US market.
