Toshiba Thrive: Honeycomb Hits $300
by Vivek Gowri on December 12, 2011 3:00 AM ESTI’ve had a number of Toshiba notebooks, spanning the range from $350 to $1600, and the connecting thread between them all was that the displays were all relatively medicore. You could reason it away on the super cheap units, it was beyond unacceptable on the super-high end R700 I reviewed, but either way, I wasn’t going into the Thrive review expecting a super high-quality display.
Thus, we were surprised to find that the Thrive has a pretty great display. The 10.1” screen has the same 1280x800 that’s the standard of the Honeycomb class. It’s not the brightest panel out there at a max of 343nits, but the contrast ratio of 987:1 is excellent. Not as excellent as the Transformer Prime, but still a very, very solid showing. The white point is set to a temperature of 7687 K, right around where the ASUS Eee Transformer and Eee Slider are set and between the iPad 2 (6801 K) and Galaxy Tab 10.1” (8762 K).
The unfortunate part of the display is that there isn’t actually a glass covering on it, a la the Gorilla Glass or other chemically-hardened glass coverings that many companies use on their smartphone and tablet displays. There’s a bit of give in the screen when you press it too hard (especially if you’re typing particularly vigorously). The cheap feeling it gives off is a bit unfortunate, because it undermines the quality of the display panel.
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doggod - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
How is what Microsoft wants, come into the net books argument at all. None of the tablets people are buying come with a Microsoft OS so you would imagine that manufactures would jump on having net books with android installed which negates any licensing costs.Personally I dont get their use either, apart as a toy. And an expensive toy.
Portability is negated by having to type on the screen( which if you haven't left the tablet down on a surface you have to do one handed)
Websites have to be zoomed to read properly
mathew7 - Tuesday, December 13, 2011 - link
"How is what Microsoft wants, come into the net books argument at all. None of the tablets people are buying come with a Microsoft OS so you would imagine that manufactures would jump on having net books with android installed which negates any licensing costs."Please research before you talk. Just a hint: tablets are not sold with Windows because there is no way to run it. The CPU from the tablets has nothing in common with what you have on a netbook or desktop. It's like diesel vs. gasoline engine: they both take you somewhere, but how they make power is completely different (you cannot run and/or you will damage either engine if you put the wrong fuel).
So tablet designers take no attention to MS Win Starter limitations. But netbook designers, even if the tablet will be sold with Win7 HP, it's still designed for Win7 Starter because of HW sharing between models.
DanNeely - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
Viewing angles? IPS vs TN?Hrel - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
I can't beleive someone who reads anandtech has to ask this. TN maxes out at about 170 degree viewing angles, marketed, not practical application. IPS is basically 180 degree, ie you can always see it and it always looks good. IPS has significantly longer response times though. Pretty much all flat panel LCD tv's are IPS.Aloonatic - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
Why bother to read anandtech at all, when you know everything already?mjcutri - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
I made the mistake of buying a Thrive for my wife when they first came out in July. It was one of my worst tech purchases ever. I liked the idea of the dock and full size ports, but the flaws just don't make up for what I perceived as advantages.The screen takes next to nothing to break it and Toshiba knows it. They charge over $300 to replace it. Initially you could get a replacement screen and spend 4 hours trying to fix it yourself, but there was such a run on them (since the screen is so crappy) that they ran out of stock quickly. Since then, they have increased the price from $80 to $160 for the replacement screen, which now isn't worth it.
I'm getting her a Transformer when the price drops on those.
mjcutri - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the incredibly buggy software.The well known problem of not waking from sleep has still not been fixed. (You have to turn it completely off and then back on again.) The screen randomly turn on by itself. (which is really annoying when you're trying to sleep.) The screen randomly doesn't go to sleep when you press the power button. (It just flashes black and then back on again.)
VivekGowri - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
There was an update to fix the sleep-wake problem, I never encountered it after that...As for the screen, yeah - because it's plastic, it's easier to break/scratch/damage. I really, really wish Toshiba would have gone the extra distance and gone for Gorilla Glass or some other kind of chemically treated glass covering for the screen.mjcutri - Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - link
Yeah...that update...didn't fix crap...And the screen is glass, just not gorilla glass.
TexasAg03 - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
"...eventually settling in the $4-500 range."Could you please let me know where the $4 tablets are?