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.

The way I've seen it explained is that the internal flash in tablets (at least the iPad) is more equivalent to SSDs than SDs.

Thank you Ken!

I just went ahead and ordered the 16GB Toshiba Thrive. The tipping point was reached when I realized that all of the accessories I wanted (docking station, etc.) were all substantially cheaper for this model as well.

Let us know what you think and congrats, always fun to get a new toy.

You made the worse choice possible...

























kidding!... maybe

It's a bit late as by now you are enjoying your new toy but to answer your question, SSD drives are much faster than SD cards. The difference can be as much as 5 to 9 times faster. That general statement being said, there are other things to consider.

SD cards can appear slower than they really are if they are being put in a USB controlled card reader. USB will actually be the limiting factor, not the card. Direct readers are pretty fast.

SD cards have different speed ratings. You would be aware of this from your video work. Some are rated for HD video capture, others are not up to snuff. Cameras use direct card readers so USB bottlenecking isn't a factor and the speed ratings actually come into play.

Some laptops (not sure on tablets) cheap out and use USB controlled card readers so you are wasting money on faster cards. I would think that most tablets use direct read.

On tablets, extra storage is not just for data. As you start to download from the Immense library of free and dirt cheap apps from the Android or iTunes markets, that extra storage may also start to contain apps that have to load.

HOWEVER
All that being said, I think you may be over thinking the card speed thing for your intended use with a tablet. Tablets are not about speed. They are about convenience and ease of use. If you really need to start counting milliseconds then you would probably be better off with a specced out laptop.


OK, techie voice gone. Murph back.

Now just go grab a beer and reign terror on those pigs.

Hey Murph- I don't have it yet, so the pigs are safe for the moment. After my lunchtime UPS delivery, though...watch out!

I had assumed that ALL tablets have SSD drives, but noticed that this 32GB Toshiba lists a 5600RPM SATA. (I didn't order the 32GB version, but rather the 16GB version which doesn't specify; I assume it's SSD.

I ordered a Transcend class 10 32GB card for the Thrive. It might be overkill, but this is the same card I use in my video cameras (one of the first "verified" cards listed by the camera mfr) and I've never had an issue with the 25 or so I have now.

It's taken me an hour to finish this post because of phone calls, etc...and the tablet came early and is on charge.

Those effin' pigs are going to get it!

Thanks for the info, Andy. And Ben, I'll let you know if you're right!

Tempting as a new sig.

Yeah, but that's because you read it as having to do with beer and bacon...not the app.

If you are more budget conscious, ppl should really consider the RIM Playbook for a tablet.
The new OS release has done a world of changes and the damn thing cost half of the iPads.
A few friends have them (and Apple products). I continue to hear that RIM is better overall for productivity but this tends to relate to less 'apps' available in its store (or the thumbs keyboard vs the virtual keypad in re: to the smartphones) and not so much about the functionality of the unit to do anything that the iPads and Android systems do.
e.g. play movies, play games, email...
They all do the most common things that people want to do and they all do it very well.
One just costs half.

Chess, I initially considered the Playbook as I have a BB phone and rely on it for my business contacts, calendars, email....basically anything that syncs with Outlook.

But it's hard to want to invest in something that has a tiny market share (and decreasing) without concerns that you'll bet left high and dry if they drop out!

I have what may be the stupidest question regarding my Android tablet: How the hell do you "close" an app when you're done with it?

I MUST be missing something. The manual doesn't explain it, and searches only bring me to "stopping installed apps from running in the background".

I received this yesterday, and last night had gone into all kinds of apps to see what was on there. After awhile, it started running slower and I realized that every app I opened was STILL open.

I did a hard reboot to shut them all down, but then when I went into the browser after powering back up I had lost my tabs, etc.

Isn't there some way to say "OK, I played with the camera, but now I'm done with that and want to shut it down"?

PS- I promise I'll read the whole manual ASAP, but it didn't help me in this case!

No one can help you because you bought a Toshiba.

Actually though, Android OSs just freeze the state of 'most' Apps when you switch to another so other than a very tiny bit of memory, they are not really running but they are kind of on standby. Others, like ones with GPS or Skype will keep running, draining battery.

Most Android devices will have a way to shut down an App under the setting menu. Settings, App Manager or something like that.

Seem kind of convoluted, well ya, it is. However, you can download an App to shut off your Apps. Brilliant or Monty Python worthy? You pick. I think there are a few of these on the Android Market. If I can find out who has recently pilfered the office Galaxy Tab, I'll check that.

Thanks Murph. This explains it to me:

<<< other than a very tiny bit of memory, they are not really running but they are kind of on standby. >>>

I've run across apps that shut down other apps and like I said, knew that there are methods for shutting down apps that are running in the background.

I guess I was looking for a way to "Hit X and close the window". I guess that's not really necessary!

Having to go under "settings" DOES seem awkward, though, when you eventually have 20 of them "open"!

FREAKIN' PIGS!

I hate really those birds that don't do anything when you tap the screen. Foam bullets of the Avian variety.

Don't know anything about the Thrive but it should have something similar. On the Galaxy Tab 10.1 you hit the ^ icon that is at the bottom border of the screen and from there you can access the built in task manager from the homepage. You can see all the APPS and webpages that are currently running and close individual ones or all of them.

This is on the Honeycomb OS. I haven't had a chance using ICS yet since the first generation Galaxy tab 10.1 owners are still awaiting the update.

You don't have to worry about closing apps out. Welcome to the era of idiot proof computing. Wait, what was that sound? Someone just built a better idiot?!?

Mostly, but not always entirely true. For a while when I first downloaded it, I thought iPengHD was broken but I soon realized that it just wouldn't run if a bunch of other apps were still 'active' in the frozen state. I assume, but did not look into, that it was a memory resource issue. They seemed to work the bugs out of it with a patch as I don't have an issue any more.

I had the same problem with a racing game. Still do, maybe, with that one. I haven't played it in a long time. This is with my wife's iPad 1, by the way.

Thanks for the input, guys.

I HAVE found that I can close the apps via the Settings> Applications tabs, but it just seems so...inelegant I guess. Even if they aren't taking a lot of resources, the (slightly) O/C side of me wants to simply close out an app that I don't plan on revisiting in the next couple of days.

Especially now, when this is new and I frequently open included apps just to see what they are.

Optional method number 3.
Pull the battery out of it.

I'm one that always tweaks my systems and builds my own computers. It took me a little while to get used to the idea of not needing to manage my applications/resources running on my smartphone/tablet. Like anything it's not perfect but each new version of Android gets better at doing it for you. I'd assume the same for iOS.

Thanks, Ben.

I've just gotten into the habit of "rebooting" every couple of days to flush out the memory and close apps. I also haven't really had time to open, try or play with new apps.

I'm using the tablet a lot, though, and really loving it! I read all my mail and forum stuff in the morning on my back porch with my dog, cat, birds, squirrels, chipmunks and coffee. A stress free zone. And this is infinitely easier to use when traveling.

In my studio, it outputs Pandora into my stereo, and I've started using Google Docs to sync paperwork to it. I'm glad I chose this model;the HDMI out to my TV is awesome.

I'm eyeing a bluetooth keyboard for it to make typing a bit easier... the only aspect that I think could be improved.

If you enjoy comics (you should!) the comica ap alone makes my tablet purchase a great idea. LOVE reading comics on my tablet! (ASUS Eee Pad)