Toshiba Thrive 10.1" Android Honeycomb Tablet Unboxing & First Look Linus Tech Tips
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2012-05-07
·
2,077 words · ~10 min read
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Now, the Toshiba Thrive is what I would consider to be of the Android Honeycomb
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tablets with NVIDIA Tiger 2 technology, sort of a very PC approach to it. So,
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instead of going with the elegance over functionality approach of something like
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an aluminum back, which looks great, but it's kind of heavy. It's not very
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durable. It scratches, it looks grungy after a while. looks great when it's
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new, but after that it doesn't. The Thrive takes a very practical approach
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to things that I'll get more into as I proceed with the unboxing. So, why don't
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we have a look at the overall spec? Comes with 16 gigs of storage, and it is
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sure as heck not a hard drive. That is solid state storage. You better believe
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that they didn't ship until Android 3.1 was available. So, they kind of took the
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uh we're not going to ship it until it's perfect approach to the Thrive, and
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that's what they say. So, you know, hey, why why disagree until I've actually
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tried tried the device itself? All right. It has a 10.1 in multi-touch LED
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back lit screen. That's cool. 2 megapixel webcam and 5 megapixel camera.
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All right. Gyroscope sensor. So, do they all full size USB 2.0 port. There you
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go. Bam. So, that is part of what feels very PC about the Thrive to me is that
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they've gone with like they've they've Okay. Honestly, you can't put a
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full-size USB port on this because it's too thin. So, Toshiba has compromised
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that elegance in order to give you that functionality. So, that's what I mean.
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All right. Full-size SD card slot. Bam. Once again, full size SD card slot. So,
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that means you can take the 16 gig, you can throw in a big old fat SD card. So,
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unlike something like the Transformer where you have to plug it into the the
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add-on keyboard and carry that around with you in order to have a fullsize
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slot, you can just throw a fullsize SD card in here. And you I mean and and you
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can carry around a USB key, which plenty of people carry around USB keys. You can
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carry pretty much as much storage as you want for the Thrive. Okay. Next, HDMI
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port. Bam. HDMI port. So, it has all the ports. It has all that functionality.
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And we haven't even gotten to what I would consider the most um userfriendly
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thing about the Thrive. Easygrip back cover. Stereo speakers. Good to know.
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Box contents. They don't even say
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it. Unreal. It's not even on the box. It
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has a user replaceable battery. I know, right? What other tablet is going to
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give you the option to actually keep using it a couple years down the road
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when your battery battery life inevitably starts being terrible. You
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can actually replace it on this guy. Go figure, right? Okay, so let's keep going
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here. Quick start guide for the Thrive.
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We got uh the locations of a bunch of stuff. Some system indicator lights,
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where all the ports are, home screen information, basic setup stuff. Cool.
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How to back up your data. This is all good stuff to know. We have tablet
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accessories. So, you can get a bunch of different color back screens. That's really nice. That's uh functional,
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customizable. You know, now you can tell, you know, little Johnny's Thrive
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from Little Sally's Thrive if you have a couple of different tablets in the
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house, which more and more people are starting to get into. Actually, it's got
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a few other um first party accessories here. Cases, the Portfolio 360 case,
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some power options, Toshiba lithium ion battery pack replacement or additional
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battery for the Toshiba tablet. So cool, right? It's only 89 bucks. So, you can
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actually carry an extra battery with you if you're on a long flight. Like,
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imagine having that option for your iPad. Let's say they don't have a charger on there. What are you going to
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do? I mean, you can carry around those little things, but those don't last that long, those little external chargers.
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So, you can actually carry additional batteries. The first thing I do when I get a new camera is I buy extra battery
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for it because I know I'm going to need it. Very convenient information for your
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tablet device. Cool. One-year standard limited warranty for tablet device. Hey,
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check this out. Comes with $10 of music downloads from e- music.
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Neat. Oh my goodness, look at all this documentation. Okay, enjoy four free
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ebooks. Cool. We've made the app world revolve around you. Toshiba app place is
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the smart way to find the apps you need. So, they've got their own little custom app market and how to use it. Cool. Ooh,
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Thrive stickers. And finally, the thing it all
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came in. All right, let's see what else we got down here. Lots and lots of stuff
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included with the Thrive. More stuff.
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Dump out all the
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stuff. Okay, first we have an AC power cord.
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Then we have an AC toDC adapter. So there's your charger. It's a little on
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the big side. Okay. And then finally, we have a USB to
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mini USB cable. So that's uh presumably for data transfer. So the
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Thrive, once again, it stays away from
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that that Appleesque type approach,
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which is create a custom proprietary connector. No, the Thrive instead uses a
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standard DC power adapter, which you
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could argue that this is less elegant. Of course, it is, but it has that
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functionality. You can replace this very, very easily. Whereas, if you're
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running around the office and you're like, "Oh, oh, my my iPhone's out of battery. Does anyone have an iPhone
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cable?" And nobody has one, you you're
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screwed. You have to go buy one for like 20 bucks or whatever they cost from the
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Mac store. Okay? And then for data transfer, standard USB cable, which
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means if you lose your Galaxy Tab 10.1
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custom dock connector and you need to transfer some data, you don't have to do
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it wirelessly. You can still sync things. You just grab another USB cable,
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which inevitably you have like, you know, 20 of them at home if you're
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anything like me and you've got about 20 of them at home. All
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right, now let's have a look at all of
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the stuff that is labeled on the
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convenient screen protector that is included. They even label where to peel
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it. Check that out. So, stereo speakers. You've got one. You know what? Let's
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Let's get this off. Okay, give me a second. This is going to take me a bit.
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So, I left on the front screen cover because it's kind of convenient to have all this stuff labeled for me. So, the
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stereo speakers down here at the bottom. I'm just going to show you where those
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are. That's a good location. So, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 has the speakers here
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and here, which is also fine because when you're watching movies, you're
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going to watch them like this. So, if you have the speakers anywhere around here or at the back here, like the
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stupid iPad has its speaker there, just like
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the stupidest place in the world. It's not even stereo. Uh, then you cover it
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up and you can't even hear your movie. So, that's that's like ridiculous,
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right? So, the stereo speakers on the bottom is a pretty good place for them. I'm I'm I'm on board with that docking
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connector at the bottom. So, oh, apparently it does have a dock
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connector. You just don't have to use it. Neat. Okay. And then you've got a
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little plastic cover. So, you can just cover that right up if you don't want to
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use it. Great. You've also got the AC power port right there along with your
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headphone and microphone port. So, that's one of those combo ones. All
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right. Next, you've got a cover here which comes off like that. You've
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got a full size USB. Full size HDMI.
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Full size HDMI. I know, right? And then
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you've also got a mini USB. All right.
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So, let's cover that back
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up. There we go. Up here, full size SD
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card slot. Okay. Up here, screen rotation
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lock. That's actually a really good button to have. I do use that button.
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This is the only Android 3.1 uh tablet that I've seen. I shouldn't say 3.1. I
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mean, who knows what Android they'll be using a year from now when someone watches this video, but the only
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Honeycomb uh tablet that I've seen that has that screen rotation lock. I do use
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it on the iPad, too. So, I find that a useful thing to have. Volume adjust.
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Other than being Oh, I guess it's not really backwards. Okay. So, here here's
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a hint. Unlike most of the Android tablets that I've looked at so far, this
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is sort of meant to be used in portrait
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mode like the iPad 2. So, you look at the orientation of the buttons. So, this
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is volume up. This is volume down. Whereas on some of the more landscape
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oriented ones, they would have a volume up, volume down orientation, which would
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be which would be different. So here it's backwards. If you're using it in landscape, it's up down when you hold it
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like that. Okay. So just something to bear in mind. Also on the on the I guess
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on the right hand side of the tablet, since I should hold it the way it's
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meant to be used, we've got our power button. And then finally, we have a oh
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back cover lock. Oh, so this takes off the uh back cover, I guess, somehow. Are
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there like two locks for it or something? Because remember, it is uh it
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is replaceable. So, you can uh you can put on a different color or whatever the
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case may be if you want. You know what?
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I'll figure something I'll figure that out later. So, uh again, in line with
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the portrait orientation being the intended usage model, the Toshiba logo
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on the back is in portrait mode. So, you're holding it like this. It's right
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side up. Also, the camera is the 5 megapixel camera is here. And then the 2
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megapixel camera is here along with the microphone input. So, let's go ahead and
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pull this off. You know what? Let's do a bit of a
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form factor comparison. Give me a sec, guys. So, for comparison's sakes, I have
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the Zoom Transformer TF101, iPad 2, and
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the Galaxy Tab 10.1 here. So, I want you to actually get get down to their level
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here. And you can clearly see that the Thrive is the thickest tablet on the
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table. So, it is thicker than even the Transformer and the Zoom and
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significantly thicker. Actually, I should take the iPad 2 and the Galaxy
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Tab 10.1 and put those out in the front. Significantly thicker than those. So,
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that is a bit of a disadvantage in terms of the form factor. So, it it is thick.
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It isn't unreasonably heavy, though. Like, it doesn't feel more heavy to
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wield than something like the Zoom. although it definitely doesn't even
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begin to approach something like the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in terms of the
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lightness. So, it comes down to what has really been the focus of this unboxing
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for me, which is the functional, the form versus functionality argument. Do
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you want that full size USB, the full size HDMI, and that full size SD card
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built right into the tablet, or do you want that style