Toshiba tablet a decent debut, but it’s no iPad killer

It's no secret Apple's almighty iPad is the reigning king of the tablet world.

And for good reason: the iPad and iPad 2 are a breeze to use; there are more than 500,000 downloadable apps and countless hardware accessories; iPhone and iPod apps world seamlessly on the larger 9.7-inch screen; and built-in support for iTunes on a PC or Mac means your media smoothly synchronizes with the tablet when connected to the computer.

At the same time, the iPad isn't perfect, as you can't easily access websites with Flash content and there's no way to expand the memory via USB or card. it isn't the best at multitasking, either.

Toshiba's first Android-powered tablet — the 10.1-inch Toshiba Tablet (Toshiba Thrive in the U.S.) — aims to offer a compelling alternative to the iPad.

While it does deliver a few things missing from Apple's offerings, and at a lower cost of admission (from $429 for 8GB version), it doesn't come close to usurping Apple's "magical" device, nor does it have a distinct edge over other Android tablets.

The first thing you'll notice with this Android 3.1 ("Honeycomb") tablet is that it's much thicker and heavier than most other tablets. The Toshiba Tablet is 15.8 millimetres thick, which is nearly twice that of the iPad 2's 8.8 millimetre girth. At more than 1.65 pounds, you also feel the weight, especially when holding the tablet and reading an ebook (the iPad 2 is roughly 1.3 pounds). that said, some might like the textured grip on the back of the tablet, plus you can purchase additional colours, if desired. Meh.

In the performance department, the Toshiba Tablet was decent with its NVIDIA Tegra 250 processor (with 1GB of system memory) — games like Angry Birds played smoothly and YouTube videos loaded quickly — but it did take a while for this tablet to change screen orientation when, say, switching from vertical to horizontal view, or the other way around.

The 10.1-inch LED screen was attractive (with its 1280 x 800 resolution), but not as bright as the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Flash sites loaded without problem, which is something not easily done on the iPad — even when using alternate web browsers like SkyFire or Photon.

While I didn't get a chance to test video calling on the Toshiba Tablet, this device does have a 2-megapixel front-facing webcam and a 5-megapixel rear camera.

Where the Toshiba Tablet shines, however, is in its connectivity options. Look along the edges of the tablet and you'll see full-sized ports, including USB 2.0 (add a thumbdrive or accessory such as a keyboard), SecureDigital (SD) memory card slot to easy get data on and off the tablet and a HDMI port to easily connect the tablet to a high-definition television, monitor or projector.

Speaking of connectivity, this Toshiba product is a WiFi-only one — therefore no 3G/4G (cellular) option, which is too bad.

On a side note, it would be remiss not to mention Google's Android 3.1 is a versatile and powerful platform, including a sleek-looking "holographic" user-interface, customizable homescreens, a suite of Google applications and access to the Android Market and its more than 250,000 downloadable applications. (There are some legitimate security concerns with Android's "open-source" nature, but Google has vowed to be more vigilant in identifying and removing apps that attempt to secretly lift user data.)

Battery life on the tablet is decent at about 7.5 hours, but the iPad and iPad 2 are closer to 11 hours. but the Toshiba Tablet lets you swap out the battery for a spare, if desired, which isn't possible on Apple's products.

As you can see, there are clear pros and cons to this Toshiba tablet. on one hand, it adds things missing in the competition by leveraging Toshiba's heritage in the PC space. It's also cheaper than most other tablets at $429 (8GB), $479 (16GB) or $579 (32GB). but when it comes to form factor, quality and quantity of apps and wireless options, the iPad (and other tablets) have the Toshiba Tablet beat.

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