Honest review from AMAZON.COM customer:  By Kaio (Santa Monica, CA)

I pre-ordered the 32gb Thrive here on Amazon, but got impatient and went
to a local retailer just to check them out. We loved this tab so much,
we got a 2nd for my husband in 16gb.

Toshiba Brand

First off — No — I do not work for Toshiba. But I fell in love
with the brand a little over a year ago when I bought a new Qosmio
laptop, and it’s BY FAR the best computer I have ever owned. I love it
as much today as the day I got it, so when I found out Toshiba had an
Android Tab, I had to take a serious look.

Galaxy & Iconia in Brief

Prior to learning about Thrive, I was seriously considering the new
10″ Galaxy Tab. I had been coveting the 8″ model for some time, but
just wasn’t ready to take the leap. So when the 10″ came along, I just
had to stop by a local retailer to try one out hands-on. And I must
say, I really fell in love with it — the screen is vivid and stunning,
the interface is clean and responsive. And it’s super thin for sure.
But, the first thing I noticed was there’s no inputs of any kind; no SD
slot, no USB, no nada. The sales rep said that’s because everything is
trending toward the “cloud.” Well, that’s all well and good, but I like
products that I control, not products that control me (hence why I’m no
fan of Apple’s line of iShackle products.) I’m all for “the cloud” and
have one here on Amazon for my music, but I’m also the type that
prefers to have my own stuff stored locally. I also like to get into
the nuts and bolts of my peripherals and use them my way, so having no
inputs on the Galaxy was a huge letdown for me. I left the store
feeling underwhelmed, and like it wasn’t the right time to buy a tablet.
But I was bitten by the bug so I went home and started researching
other tabs.

Reviews here on Amazon had me convinced Acer Iconia was better than
Asus Transformer. And the Acer had USB inputs, so I was happy with
that. But I’ve never been a big fan of Acer, so I still wasn’t feeling
the itch just yet. But then I stumbled upon the Toshiba Thrive, and
still being so highly impressed with their laptop, I immediately felt a
connection to the Thrive.

Every Input I’ll Ever Need

Thrive has SD card, USB, mini-USB and full size HDMI ports. And for
me, this is where Thrive clobbers the competition — Toshiba just “gets
it;” they make products that keep the end user in control and offer a
truly freeing experience. I have a full size HDMI port on my Toshiba
laptop too, and let me tell you, it completely changed my computing
experience! My laptop is connected to a 50″ plasma TV and I use a
wireless keyboard and gyration remote for a mouse. Let me tell you,
once you use a computer that way, there’s just no going back. So all
those inputs on the Thrive was a big clincher for me — and once again,
Toshiba stands head and shoulders above the rest in this department. I
fully expect to connect my tablet to my HDTV as well. And the on-board
SD and USB ports assure I’ll have all the computing freedom and control
I’ve come to expect.

Vibrant Screen and Color
| Read more »

HP TouchPad Wi-Fi 16GB

Super natural.
Works like you, so you get more done.
OVERVIEW
Next-level Multitasking
Get a simple, natural way to move from one thing to the next. Have related activities automatically grouped together.

HP TouchPad Next-level Multitasking
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HP TouchPad Synergy
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HP Synergy
Get contacts, calendars, messages, photos, and email automatically synced from sources like Facebook,® Google,™ and Microsoft® Exchange.1

* Keep multiple email accounts open at once
* View work and personal messages together or separately1

Just Type
Simply start typing to search the web, update your status, or begin just about anything.2 Think about what you want to do, not how you have to do it.

HP TouchPad Just Type
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HP TouchPad Entertainment Everywhere
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Entertainment Everywhere
Download movies and TV shows, play games, listen to music, read books and magazines, and view photos.3

* Browse the full web with blazing speed, as well as support for the latest web technologies, including Adobe Flash2,4
* Hear music the way the artist intended with Beats Audio™—only from HP

Beats Audio

Video Calling
Have a face-to-face conversation on a large, vibrant screen.5

HP TouchPad Video Calling
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HP TouchPad Productivity Powerhouse
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Productivity Powerhouse
Receive a snapshot of new messages, email, and events without being totally disrupted.2 Act on what’s important—ignore what’s not.

* Work with Microsoft Office files and collaborate with colleagues using Google Docs or Box.net2
* Print wirelessly to compatible networked HP printers6

Review (amazon buyers)
I have used an iPhone for going on two years and I don’t see that
changing for quite awhile, but I was always leery of the iPad because I
always thought it was just a big iPod Touch, with a better screen. Well I
started to look for a tablet about 5 months ago, and thought for sure,
after the big uproar about the iPad 2, that I would have one soon. Well
after trying in store several times, I just wasnt blown away. It just
took my iPhone bigger, it didnt introduce anything new, it didn’t change
anything, the UI, had some slight modifications, and apps did look
better on a bigger screen, but it wasn’t nothing that blew away. Then
came the touchpad.

First I saw the commercial, then I found out about the open source
movement inside of WebOS, and how unlike Apple, there was no cat and
mouse games, Palm didn’t support it, but didn’t block it. I saw the UI,
it was much appealing than Android, which to me looks chaotic and not
the clean simplicity that we all come to expect from a google product.
Although it wasn’t as “nice” looking as iOS, and it didn’t run as smooth
as it, WebOS made up for it with true multitasking, and a clean enough
looking UI to make an iOS lover happy.

Then came the specs, full web access, web developers no longer need to
build a site just for the device, the device can handle anything you
through at it. It has been an experience for me, who has had to manage
which sites I could view on my portable device and which ones I *had* to
view on my pc, now my touchpad takes care of all of it.

But enough about the pros, because there is some cons. Apps are
limited compared to iOS (Not a huge con for me, give me a working
Twitter client, an email client, and a couple games, and I’m happy, but
I’m not everyone). The OS, has some flaws, which may be more to me
learning to using the device than anything else, but the flaws are
there. It seems sluggish from time to time, but an OTA update coming out
soon should fix that. And it does need some improvement when it comes
to handling documents, this maybe more of a personal presence but I feel
any tablet should be able to handle any microsoft doc you throw at it.

All in all, I love my touchpad, and see me using it more than my
iPhone for most things. The flaws are there, but are very fixable, and I
have faith in HP to fix them soon.

=======
Purchased this version the day they came out, have been hard pressed to put it down since then! Some thoughts:

1. The battery life is awesome! 6.5 hours of continuous heavy use only used up 65% of my battery!

2. You get the real web, flash actually plays remarkably well. You
can just play videos straight on youtube, are able to click links in
them etc. Not a huge fan of flash, but it is everywhere!

3. If you are familiar with webOS, the operating system on the
TouchPad, you know how awesome the mutli-tasking is, widely held to be
best mobile interface in that regards, and it really shines on this
beautiful large screen.

4. As a retailer rep at a big electronic store commented after I
showed “it does so much for you” and unlike his phone/pad on the
TouchPad you dont have to figure out which app to use, go find it,
launch it, & then start typing, on here you just start typing what
you are thinking then choose the app to finish it with in an easy list
(email, fb, twitter, memo, calendar, and the list goes on!).

5. Although it does have a limited number of apps compared to the
tablet market leader, it has many of the important ones, and most are
outstanding quality with very few ads to be seen! The main thing to
remember is you dont need an app for a whole lot of things, you have the
real web just like on a computer! Imagine if you had to go find app for
each website you wanted to visit on your computer, nuts right? This
works like your computer, apps when you want them, the real web the rest
of the time.

6. Your accounts are tied right into the tablet, and you can access
everything from one place… You can chat on google, skype, aim, yahoo,
etc. (even sms with a new HP webOS phone) all from the same place built
right into the messaging app. Email is the same way & is the best
email interface I have ever seen, and I am excited to have it on my
computer next year when HP starts putting webOS on every PC they sell
(some time of window you can run webOS apps in most likely).

7. Love video skyping on this!

8. Could it have a rear camera, sure, doubt I would use it much
(thats what my smartphone &/ camera is for) especially if it is a
poor quality camera like the leading device.

9. I could go on and on (so could my wife who is trying hard to win
one currently for herself, and my kids who are jn love with coloring
games, air hockey, and of course ANGRY BIRDS HD!) If you are wanting to
get a tablet, start here, if you dont like it, return & switch to
another platform, but this is one you really need to try for a bit
!

The Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablet these past few weeks, and the revelation that Apple is attempting to block sales of the device in Europe as well, it’s a good time to sit back and find out whether this tablet is actually worth the hype.

While critics say the 10.1 is a rip-off of the iPad, others say it’s just as powerful and even better to use. So is the Galaxy 10.1 for you?

What’s the consensus?

There’s a lot to like about the Galaxy 10.1. | Read more »