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Expert Rating
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User Rating
Pros
- Good screen
- Reasonable battery life
- HDMI port
Cons
- No 3G model available
- Build quality isn't great
- Poorly positioned camera
Bottom Line
Aside from a terrible name, the Toshiba Tablet AT1S0 does come with some decent features for its size. It has a HDMI-out port, a standard mini-USB port and a microSD card slot. However, there is no 3G model available, build quality is less than stellar and the screen isn't as vibrant as alternatives. Overall the Tablet AT1S0 is a good tablet, but it's far from a great one.
Toshiba Tablet AT1S0: Software, performance and battery life
The Toshiba Tablet AT1S0 runs the 3.2 version of Google's Android software. It's a "vanilla" version of the OS, but Toshiba does include a few extra apps. The Australian model of the Tablet ships with Norton Mobile Security software, the ThinkFree office suite that enables the creation of Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents, and the Toshiba Media Player that handles a wide range of video, audio and image files, and can stream music and videos to a DLNA-enabled TV. Toshiba also includes a PrinterShare app that enables wireless printing, though oddly, the app appears to be designed for Android phones rather than tablets, and only fills about a quarter of the screen. Perhaps the best inclusion is Toshiba's File Manager app, which easily allows you to access the AT1S0's internal memory and the microSD card slot.
Performance is about what we've come to expect from an Android tablet: a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor and 1GB of RAM means the Tablet AT1S0 powers along quickly. We encountered the odd app force closing, the home screens jitter when swiping through them and the Android Market is sluggish and still lacks a wide variety of apps designed specifically for tablets. However, these are all issues with the Android platform as a whole rather than the Tablet AT1S0 itself. A software upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich can't come soon enough, though Toshiba hasn't confirmed if or when the AT1S0 will receive the update.
The Toshiba Tablet AT1S0 has two digital cameras on board: a front-facing, 2-megapixel camera, and a 5-megapixel camera on the rear that takes still photos and records HD video. It's refreshing to finally see a tablet use a decent quality quality front camera, especially given that apps like Skype work quite well with Android tablets. The rear camera is less impressive, with the single LED flash over-saturating photos and excess image noise affecting most of our test shots. It's also positioned badly, as our fingers covered the lens whenever we held the tablet with two hands.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the Toshiba Tablet AT1S0 is the fact there is no 3G connectivity available, so this is a Wi-Fi-only device. Though many users will be perfectly happy to tether their smartphone, or use the AT1S0 at home on their wireless network, 3G remains far more convenient.
Battery life is good for at least a full day: with sparodic use we managed to get almost two and a half days use out of the Tablet AT1S0 before the battery needed a recharge. Keep in mind that battery life will depend on a number of factors including use, screen brightness and whether or not you're connected to Wi-Fi.
Toshiba clearly wants the Tablet AT1S0 to be competitive — the company initially announced the RRP of the 8GB model as $449, before dropping it to $399. Although we still feel this is overpriced, its certainly more competitive than most other Android tablets on the market.
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jojogaga
1
i've one this. it's great but not the best another one.
DONALD CAMPBELL
2
I HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING THE TOSHIBA TABLETS (7" & 10") , SAMSUNG 10" AND THE
MOTOROLA (10") FOR OVER A YEAR NOW.
YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT THE IPAD (THERE NOT WORTH THE EFFORT, A DEAD LOSE).
VERY OVERATED TABLET (IN MY OPINION).
I HAVE FOUND THE 7" TOSHIBA SUPERIOR TO ANY OF THE OTHERS AVAILABLE.
ITS SUPERIOR VIDEO AND STILL SHOTS ARE FAR AHEAD OF THE OTHERS.
THE LACK OF A CAMERA FLASH ON THE 10" TOSHIBA AMAZED ME THOU.
THATS ITS ONLY FAILING THOU.(IN MY OPINION).
I HAVE NO IDEA WHY IDIOTS KEEP ROASTING THE FEEL OF THE TOSHIBA'S, AS THEY ARE ACTUALLY THE ONLY TABLET THAT FEELS COMFORTABLE IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND.
WHY PEOPLE ARE RAVING ABOUT NO 3G (I HAVENT A CLUE).
ITS SO EASY TO HOTSPOT A TABLET TO YOUR MOBILE PHONE ,WHY WOULD ANYBODY BOTHER BUYING A SEPARATE SIM OR REMOVING IT FROM THEIR MOBILE PHONE AND PLACING IT IN A SIM SLOT. (ABSOLUTE FOOLS)
THE OTHER UNITS ARE CLUMSY AND DEFINITELY NEED A CASE(NOT THE TOSHIBA'S).
THE CAMERA IS IN AN AWKWARD POSITION ,BUT AFTER ABOUT 2 DAYS USE, IT NO LONGER CAUSES PROBLEMS.