Toshiba's 7-inch Thrive Tablet to Ship in November, Too Early to Talk Price Cuts?
Toshiba's 7-inch Thrive Tablet to Ship in November, Too Early to Talk Price Cuts?
Posted 09/28/2011 at 10:17am
| by Paul Lilly
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All eyes right now are on Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet, and that could spell trouble for Toshiba. Like the Kindle Fire, Toshiba's tablet is scheduled to ship in November. And also like the Kindle Fire, Toshiba's Thrive is a 7-inch slate with a dual-core processor running Google's Android OS. The problem Toshiba will have is in convincing consumers the Thrive is worth twice as much as the Kindle Fire.
MobileMag quotes a Toshiba representative as saying the starting price of the Thrive is "less than $400," which more than likely means $399. That's $200 more than the Kindle Fire, which is available for pre-order for $199. Let's see how the two compare:
Toshiba 7-inch Thrive
- 7-inch LED backlit display with 1280x800 resolution
- Nvidia Tegra 2 processor
- 1GB RAM
- 5MP rear-facing camera with LED flash
- 2MP front-facing camera
- mini-USB; micro-HDMI; microSD
- 16GB or 32GB NAND flash storage
- 15 Wh battery
- Android 3.2 (Honeycomb)
- $399
Amazon Kindle Fire
- 7-inch IPS display with 1024x600 resolution
- Texas Instruments 1GHz OMAP dual-core CPU
- 512MB RAM
- No built-in cameras
- USB 2.0 (micro-B connector)
- 8GB internal storage + free cloud storage
- Up to 8 hours of continuous reading or 7.5 hours of video playback (Wi-Fi turned off)
- $199
It's not entirely fair to compare these devices in a head-to-head match up because one is shooting to be a pure tablet and the other a hybrid tablet/eBook reader of sorts, but fair or not, this is what consumers will be looking at. Toshiba's 7-inch Thrive tablet edges out Amazon's Kindle Fire in hardware, but is it worth paying double? We wouldn't be surprised if Toshiba cut the price of its Thrive tablet ahead of launch.
Which one do you find more enticing?
Image Credit: Toshiba
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Tenhawk
September 28, 2011 at 2:35pm
Uh, it's two hundred dollars more... best guess at anyrate, and while the thrive IS a full tablet compared to the cut down Fire, I have to ask... do most people USE those extra features?
I don't even use the camera on my smartphone, so I can't imagine using the cams on a tablet for more than maybe scanning a few things through Google Goggles... and compared to most people I know, I'm a power user.
The Fire is going to burn a lot of more poweful tablets is my bet. Slates like the thrive will go up like matches in a furnace. The only real question is can the Fire cut into the iPad's turf? On the surface there doesn't seem to be a snowballs chance in hell of that happening, but like I said... most people don't USE the extra features of a full tablet. It's a media consumption device, so if the fire can pull off what it claims it can and provide a fast, smooth, experience across the web, streaming video, and reading... that's better than 80% of the iPad's market right there.
An apple afficionado I know is already plotting to buy one or two Fires for his kids, mostly cause he wants his iPad back mind you. lol
In the end it's going to come down to two deciding factors, I think. The first is a lock for Amazon, and that's their name brand and MASSIVE ecosystem... the second is whether they can make good on their boasts. If the Fire is everything they claim, we've got a new sales winner. That's not to say it'll be the best tablet out there, but it could very easily be the best SELLING one.
irisclara
September 28, 2011 at 1:28pm
That Toshiba's looking petty sweet. For only $100 more you get a real tablet. Forced cloud media on a wifi only device will only suit people who never leave home. Freaking Fire doesn't even have an sd slot. The Fire isn't competing with tablets, it's competing with the Nook Color.
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