Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Tablet indecision...

I'm looking into getting a tablet and am questioning the choice between two: The Toshiba Thrive and the Toshiba Excite. The older model Thrive has recently been discontinued in favor of the new Excite. I can get either for about the same price, though the discontinued model is getting harder to find.

The older model has a full-sized HDMI port and a full-sized USB port...both unusual for tablets. It runs Android 3.1.

The newer model has mini-usb and mini-hdmi ports. It's a bit slimmer, lighter and runs Android 4.

I like the connectivity of the older model, but am concerned that maybe it doesn't make sense to be spending the same amount of money on an older model with an older OS. I don't know if it really makes a difference when all is said and done.

Any thoughts on running an older Droid IS vs. the newest version? I'm not really seeing much that's definitive...

And in case I lean towards a Samsung Galaxy 2: Has anyone here used one as their HT remote control?

Tablet? I just picked up a new laptop (my first one) an acer Aspire 7750G, I am so behind the times. I picked it up with a rebated warranty on my first LCD I purchased back in 2007, only cost me an extra $250.

I have only read some reviews of the 3 you are asking about and it seems any one of them work well enough. I have also read the galaxy works great with Samsung TVs and most others; a few reports of it not playing so nice with Sony TV's.

Hey Mark,

What will you primarily be using it for? Any particular reason you are going Toshiba that might help us give advice?

Honestly, I'll likely be using it for these forums!

My dad is still in poor health, so I'm at my sister's a lot...and her computer, it's location, etc...sucks. I installed a wireless router for her last week, which she didn't have previously.

Also, here at home the back porch has become something of a stress-free zone. If I could surf the net out there it would be nice. I have a few laptops, but I just gave one to my Dad to use in the hospital, another is very old and slow and the third is a big Dell XPS that I use for location photography and don't really want to travel with or drag out. A tablet would be quick, light and small.

I would be lying also if I didn't admit that I like the "cool factor" ( not with other people, because I figure I'll be alone when using it 99% of the time) and that I kind of want the toy.

Outside of net surfing, it'll probably be used for Angry Birds!

I don't think I'll be syncing Outlook with it, though I wish I could. Then it would be convenient to bring on customer consults and easier for setting up appts, etc. I haven't seen any Outlook-syncing software that gets better than middling reviews.

I guess I just don't want to limit myself too much by not having goos interfaces/connectivity.

There is a Samsung Galaxy 2 10.1 locally that is $40 cheaper than Amazon and includes a case. It uses USB and HDMI adapters, but I know many feel the Samsung has a great screen. I'm kind of tempted to just pick it up and be done with it, but when I think about some of those Toshiba connections (and a user-replaceable battery..... I keep waffling.

Based on just my own bit of research, my experience using my Wife's iPad and occasionally pilfering a Galaxy Tab 10 at work, I would make the following comments.

I wouldn't worry about too much a replaceable battery. It is a desirable feature but if its a bad battery, you will know within a DoA return period. Otherwise, by the time you really feel the need for a new one, you will already have been overtaken by the urge to upgrade to whatever new tech is coming.

I'd also not fret too much about physical connectivity. I almost didn't get the iPad for Sharon because it had no connections other than it's proprietary one. However, in hind sight, we have never felt a need to plug anything into it yet anyway. Email is quick for small files and there are lots of free file sharing sites to transfer files over the I'net instead of USB sticks. If you really want to hook it to your TV, which we have never felt the urge to do, then you can get a dock for that or stream it.

I've never used the Toshiba so I can not compare. It would certainly do exactly what you need from what I read about it. I can tell you that I really like the Galaxy. I'f I were buying myself, it might even be the one I'd go for over iPads. However, I don't have to make that call yet so I'm not sure. I could go either way.

Those are my thoughts anyway.

And Oh Yes, Sorry to hear about your Dad. I must not have been paying attention lately as I don't recall it being mentioned before. I recently went through a similar stint with my own Dad so I understand how it can upturn your life. I hope he gets better soon as my Dad luckily did.

My initial reaction was "just get an iPad". I really like mine.

HOWEVER, lately, I've been seduced by the Android Swype application. If you are going to type much of anything, it is really great - much better than the hunt-and-peck virtual keyboard on the iPad.

Of course, you can get a hard-button add-on keyboard for the iPad from Logitech. My problem with that solution is that it adds an unreasonable amount of bulk. I have one but don't use it.

If your only concern is the connectivity, I'd get the "new" model. Monoprice probably makes an adapter. My Android phone came standard with a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable. Which I also never use.

Thanks for the input, guys.

Does anyone know if there's a useability difference between manufacturer-supplied internal storage and added memory via the SD or MicroSD card?

In other words, Why buy a 32GB tablet for $100 more than a 16GB tablet, if I can just keep a $20 32GB SD card in the latter all the time and have 48MB available for less money?

Sorry for the noob question- I've researched these a fair amount, but there are some questions/answers that I just don't online...yet are probably obvious to someone who uses a tablet already.

I suspect that internal storage is much faster than SD card storage, but I'm not certain.

I wondered if that might be the case, irregardless of card speed. It might come down to read/write capability of the unit itself.

Still, I wonder if I could reasonably save a fair amount by buying a 16GB tablet instead of a 32GB tablet, as long as I keep ALL media on the external card.