opinions of Toshiba Thrive

[steve4810]

My wife and offered to buy a tablet for me for my birthday. I've looked around quite a lot and like what I've read about the 10" Thrive. I read all the feedback on both Amazon and Best Buy and found no deal breakers and a huge majority of happy owners.

I'm aiming for the 16g model.

BTW, I am on my second Droid, the HTC Thunderstorm and like the android OS just fine. I don't believe an Apple product is in my future so even if its OS is better than android, I'm gonna to do a permanent pass on it.

And has anyone streamed Dish video to one of these yet?

 

[steve4810]

Shoot! Could a moderator change the subject line to Toshiba Thrive. My wife couldn't remember which tablet I wanted so told her sister it was a Mitsubishi Tribe. It got to be a joke between us so we both call it a Tribe.

 

[Ramy]

Shoot! Could a moderator change the subject line to Toshiba Thrive. My wife couldn't remember which tablet I wanted so told her sister it was a Mitsubishi Tribe. It got to be a joke between us so we both call it a Tribe.

Done.

 

[truckracer]

i have one. it is a nice tablet. occasionally it lags a little surfing. it boots up in 10 seconds or so. fast.

speakers suck

cameras are good

has full size usb and HDMI - big plus

Battery runs forever before needing charged.

 

[steve4810]

truckracer,

Thanks.

Have you done much/any streaming video like Netflix, Hulu, Dish online or the like? And does streaming from a computer on your house wifi network work?

 

[yourbeliefs]

FYI all, you can get this for $279 on Woot right now. I picked up one for my wife for Valentine's day.

Woot® : One Day, One Deal

 

[egnlsn]

FYI all, you can get this for $279 on Woot right now.

Unfortunately, it's a refurbished unit. I bought a couple of refurbished units a month or so ago, and they're making good paperweights.

 

[Teehar]

Specs look nice on the thrive 1ghz dual core cpu,bluetooth.Doesn't appear to have built in gps though.

 

[steve4810]

Specs look nice on the thrive 1ghz dual core cpu,bluetooth.Doesn't appear to have built in gps though.

That's why I'm never without my Droid.

 

[egnlsn]

What I like best about the Thrive is that it has an SD card slot. Before I noticed that, I was leaning towards a Samsung Galaxy. The Galaxy has no SD card slot, though, so the Thrive won out. 16 or 32Gig internal memory as well as 32Gig SD card. Can't go wrong there.

Plus, it does flash, which was even more important than the card.

 

[Teehar]

Just my opinion...To me any good tablet should come with these..

Sd card slot
Bluetooth
Built in Mic
built in gps
capacitive touch
a minimum of 1Ghz cpu

 

[yourbeliefs]

Just my opinion...To me any good tablet should come with these..

Sd card slot
Bluetooth
Built in Mic
built in gps
capacitive touch
a minimum of 1Ghz cpu

I agree with most of that, although I think that GPS is not necessary. I love using my phone for GPS but I can't imagine mounting my iPad (or any tablet) to my dashboard and using a 7-10" screen for navigation.

 

[steve4810]

I agree with most of that, although I think that GPS is not necessary. I love using my phone for GPS but I can't imagine mounting my iPad (or any tablet) to my dashboard and using a 7-10" screen for navigation.

I agree. If you have GPS apps like Google Maps they require an internet connection to download the map that matches where you are. There is a way to cache a few maps but you would have to know where you were going to be until you get back to the internet or you drive off the end of the map.

But I would like the big screen better than a phone to navigate with while driving. Right now both our cars have built in nav with 7 or 8" screens but down so low you end up taking you eyes off the road to read it. I had retrofitted my previous Suburban with a Kenwood 7" radio/nav system that was right up at the top of the dash. That was the best nav experience I've had.

 

[Teehar]

Not much into phones not to mention service here is still spotty at best.One of the main reasons I would want gps on a tablet is for the dishpointer app.

 

[steve4810]

Not much into phones not to mention service here is still spotty at best.One of the main reasons I would want gps on a tablet is for the dishpointer app.

Ah so.

You can buy GPS modules with USB plugs. There are several. Finding an Android driver might be tough though.

Amazon.com: Canmore GT-730FL-S USB GPS Tracker Stick Data Logger (Built-in Rechargeable battery, WAAS, A-GPS, 256,000 Waypoints, 65 channels, Windows XP / Vista / 7 Compatible): Electronics

 

[steve4810]

Not much into phones not to mention service here is still spotty at best.One of the main reasons I would want gps on a tablet is for the dishpointer app.

One more thing. Does Dish Pointer include actually pointing the right direction? If so you need a compass chip in the tablet too.

Too bad the reception is spotty because a Droid or Thunderstorm like I have have excellent compasses. The Thunderstorm has a level sensor but I have no idea whether or not (probably not) accurate enough to true up the mast.

 

[truckracer]

it streams from my wifi fine. i am happy with it.

 

[steve4810]

it streams from my wifi fine. i am happy with it.

Good to know. I'm only about 24-48 hours from getting my hands on one.

 

[steve4810]

OK, got my Thrive last night. After playing with it for a couple of hours I don't have a lot to report but one startling thing: First power up it asks to connect to a Gmail account. I used the one I got with my first Droid. To my amazement Google synced the tablet to my current droid phone. All the apps were copied onto the tablet without me seeing any sign of it happening. Most work fine but I can't use the voice dialer and a few other phone specific apps.

The first problem I have yet to solve is to get it to play native format video files from my Canon HD video camera. They are 1080i .mts in case anyone knows of a player. I've tried the built in Toshiba player, Diceplayer and Mobo Player Pro without success.

However Dish Online worked OK though as anyone who uses it knows the app itself is pretty rough. I can't wait to see a 2.0 version.

Too bad that, to me, a lot of Android devices have enough of a tweeked interface so as to make me climb a learning curve each time I get a new one (that and I'm an old fart).

I'll try to remember to update after a few days.

YMMV

 

[steve4810]

OK, did some research and mts is a AVCHD format and used by a lot of HD camcorders and androids can't handle it as of yet. I had to find a converter for mts to mpeg4 that works fine. I will give a link to anyone who PMs me but won't post it because I don't want to suggest it is better than anyone else's converter. It costs 35 bucks, but there is a free demo you can try out on under 5 minute clips.