lots of reviews (average 3.6 out of 5.0) over at amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Excite-AT305T16-10-1-Inch-Computer/dp/B007OWZRC8

and here's a review from sitegadget.com

http://sitesgadget.com/toshiba/2012-toshiba-excite-10-at305-review

Request for clarification? The product description lists 4.0 Honeycomb. But Android 4.0 is Ice Cream Sandwich, 3.0 is Honeycomb.

Nevermind. After further review, it does list 4.0 ICS under Specs.


[MOD: Features have been fixed. Thanks. ]

some ok reviews over at newegg.com

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214697

KingLouie951 wrote:Request for clarification? The product description lists 4.0 Honeycomb. But Android 4.0 is Ice Cream Sandwich, 3.0 is Honeycomb.

Nevermind. After further review, it does list 4.0 ICS under Specs.

I just got mine in from BensOutlet.com. It prompted me for an update to the existing ICS and then an update to 4.1.1 Jelly Bean.

Previous woot also $259.99

http://tech.woot.com/forums/viewpost.aspx?postid=5339335

edit:

user guide
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/modelContent.jsp?ct=UG&os=&category=&moid=3363631&rpn=PDA08U&modelFilter=AT305-T16&selCategory=3026081&selFamily=3253938

Click the other tab for the service bulletins.

If I'm not mistaken you can't root this, so it's pretty much useless. You never really own it.

Can anyone tell me how this compares to my Toshiba Thrive, which i love?

Tyross wrote:If I'm not mistaken you can't root this, so it's pretty much useless. You never really own it.

This post pretty much confirms your suspicion - it's not really rootable.
http://www.thriveforums.org/forum/toshiba-excite-10-development/10808-i-want-root-exite-at305-50.html

1staff, you may want to stick to the Thrive if rooting is important. It is to me, since that's where you get full functionality.

Tyross, at present, the Excite 10 cannot be rooted. Toshiba might have thought they were protecting users, but I think they lost a lot more customers.

http://www.thriveforums.org/forum/toshiba-excite-10-development/10808-i-want-root-exite-at305-50.html#post160921

Toshiba's ICS update for the Thrive is really crappy, and you can't root it. However, a while back one of the thriveforums.org experts remotely rolled me back to Honeycomb. Then I unlocked the bootloader and installed a very stable non-Toshiba ICS ROM.

A few days ago I installed a very unofficial yet very stable version of Jelly Bean, and it's so smooth. I'd sooner use a tablet that's a little clunkier but opened up, than a prettier tablet all locked down.

If you buy this be prepared to spend another $25 dollars to send it to Toshiba to get fixed. The one I bought from the last woot sale wasn't installed right and wouldn't take any of the system updates that were available. And, since this tablet isn't hackable you won't be able to install a custom rom in order to get around the problem.

I still think that sub $300 is an incredible deal for a quad core tablet that will run the newest Android version. I really don't think that not being able to root the tablet is that big a deal for most users. The form factor of the Excite is MUCH nicer than the Thrive and helps make up for some of the deficiencies.

There is still the light bleed issue that is mentioned in most reviews. It was not excessive on the one I received but definitely noticeable and occasionally annoying in my opinion. There also aren't a ton of accessories made specifically for the Excite, I do wish there was a dock available like the one for the Thrive.

As long as you understand all the pros/cons ahead of time you will be happy with this tablet in the end.

lstaff wrote:Can anyone tell me how this compares to my Toshiba Thrive, which i love?

The excite has a newer, faster processor with twice the cores. It also has a newer, faster type of memory. It should beat the thrive in performance pretty handily and did quite well in the performance test reviews I read. It also has a much thinner and lighter body. I thought it was quite nice looking, not big and chunky like the thrive.

Sighs....
If I can't root the device.... then no sale!
For a refurb and the listed price it should be 32GB.

Tyross wrote:If I'm not mistaken you can't root this, so it's pretty much useless. You never really own it.

To say that something is "useless" because you can't root it is probably not speaking to the vast populace of potential users out there. It's true for you, but you are in the minority.

As to the question of whether this is better than a Thrive, I can say that the Excite is noticeably faster, but for me, an inexpensive replaceable battery will keep me using my Thrive for some time to come (and I use it every day at work for email and note-taking). When the battery is the primary cause of natural-death failure in most portable electronics, that means a lot to me.

If you love your Thrive, then keep using it.

Coming from someone who's not owned a tablet yet, but am very interested in getting something to use with wi-fi to access typical apps, internet, and also to use a reader:
why would i choose this over the very highly rated Google Nexus 10 (or 7)?

bjmarte wrote:If you buy this be prepared to spend another $25 dollars to send it to Toshiba to get fixed. The one I bought from the last woot sale wasn't installed right and wouldn't take any of the system updates that were available. And, since this tablet isn't hackable you won't be able to install a custom rom in order to get around the problem.

I still think that sub $300 is an incredible deal for a quad core tablet that will run the newest Android version. I really don't think that not being able to root the tablet is that big a deal for most users. The form factor of the Excite is MUCH nicer than the Thrive and helps make up for some of the deficiencies.

There is still the light bleed issue that is mentioned in most reviews. It was not excessive on the one I received but definitely noticeable and occasionally annoying in my opinion. There also aren't a ton of accessories made specifically for the Excite, I do wish there was a dock available like the one for the Thrive.

As long as you understand all the pros/cons ahead of time you will be happy with this tablet in the end.

Wow that's funny you couldn't update because I also bought an excite from the last woot sale and it had the same problem. I'm still waiting for the box from Toshibas warehouse so I can pack this thing up and ship it for repair. People really need to check every aspect of a refurbished product before trying to sell it.

zekeg wrote:I just got mine in from BensOutlet.com. It prompted me for an update to the existing ICS and then an update to 4.1.1 Jelly Bean.

Did you get a cable with the one from Ben's Outlet!???

lstaff wrote:Can anyone tell me how this compares to my Toshiba Thrive, which i love?

Watch the glass on your thrive. It is NOT gorilla glass and mine shattered 6 months after I purchased it. Glass is not covered by warranty!
This has gorilla glass which is a huge upgrade.

Jaxidian wrote:This post pretty much confirms your suspicion - it's not really rootable.
http://www.thriveforums.org/forum/toshiba-excite-10-development/10808-i-want-root-exite-at305-50.html

Not everyone has the urge to root.

remarra wrote:Coming from someone who's not owned a tablet yet, but am very interested in getting something to use with wi-fi to access typical apps, internet, and also to use a reader:
why would i choose this over the very highly rated Google Nexus 10 (or 7)?

Or a Samsung? My 7 inch Galaxy really does the job.

stlrzfan wrote:Watch the glass on your thrive. It is NOT gorilla glass and mine shattered 6 months after I purchased it. Glass is not covered by warranty!
This has gorilla glass which is a huge upgrade.

The Thrive (as many other decent devices) may not use the trademark "gorilla glass" but they usually use an equivalent generic to this formula that is scratch and shatter resistant. They just don't want to spend money paying royalties to Corning. When it comes down to it glass is glass and gorilla glass shatters also at some point. Some phone/tablet manufacturers figure that by paying the royalties to Corning and using the term Gorilla glass in their marketing will be justified by increased sales- others (like HTC for instance) prefer to use their own brand of hardened glass at a lower price. As long as the manufacturer is reputable, you can bet that they will use a scratch-resistant, shatter resistant glass that is probably the chemical equivalent to Gorilla glass.

I've been really, really happy with this tablet (so far). Upgrade to 4.1 was a little rocky, but it's cooking along now. And yes, get the accessories deal from (site redacted). $10 shipped? Re-dunkulous. Best deal I've seen in a looong while!

remarra wrote:Coming from someone who's not owned a tablet yet, but am very interested in getting something to use with wi-fi to access typical apps, internet, and also to use a reader:
why would i choose this over the very highly rated Google Nexus 10 (or 7)?

Price point and external storage. The Nexus 10 looks great, but that starts at $399 for 16GB of storage and no SD card slot. It's a little bit more than the Nexus 7 with 32GB (and no SD card slot). So with that it's more of a size issue.

I own a Nexus 7 and really like it, but it was a real pain loading up movies and shows for my daughter for a train ride with no streaming and only 16GB of storage. Fortunately I snagged one of the Samsungs on here the other day for the wife and kid.

This one I picked up during the last sale for my Mom. Completely computer illiterate, but she's already used it to Skype with my sister overseas. It seemed to have the update problem other people have mentioned, so I'll have to look at that. Otherwise it was a great pickup for the price.

I'm still tempted to pick one up for myself, but a third tablet seems overkill at this point. Then again...

radi0j0hn wrote:Not everyone has the urge to root.

Totally agree radiojohn- and more importantly - just because they have the urge doesn't mean they should. About half of my Android devices (12 tablets/phones)are rooted. My HTC Rezound is the only one that I really need root access, and that is because I use it as a wifi hotspot (HTC locks down wifi tether, although other manufacturers do not). There are some neat things you can do with root, but Android is pretty unrestricted even without root access. Unless you have a particular thing you need to accomplish via root, that you can't possibly accomplish otherwise- there is no reason to root- just for the sense of rooting.

I got this tablet last time it was on woot, and I must say, it is pretty damn fast. I had gotten a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 for Xmas, but wanted another to screw around with, and let the kids use. The only think I like better on the kindle is the screen, it is definitely sharper for reading and movies, not that this one is not good. If I had only gotten this Toshiba I don't think I would have even thought twice about the screen. Not many options for cases, I originally bought 2 Toshiba branded cases to try out, did not like either one. Bought some no name one on Amazon for a lot less, and like it a lot better. Added a 32 gig card I had lying around, so running out of space should not be an issue. I do wish it used a normal USB charger instead of a speicfic cable. I can't seem to find the accessory bundle some of you mention. Be curious what is in it.

KingLouie951 wrote:Request for clarification? The product description lists 4.0 Honeycomb. But Android 4.0 is Ice Cream Sandwich, 3.0 is Honeycomb.

Nevermind. After further review, it does list 4.0 ICS under Specs.


[MOD: Features have been fixed. Thanks. ]

My wife bought one new, may have had Honeycomb, but can be updated to ICS. HOWEVER if you are a Hulu+ fan it will not run on this. Don't know why but it has been a sore spot for many users.

Hey guys I'm looking for a tablet other than the Ipad's. How would this compare to the Samsung Galaxy 2 10.1 that was on here the other day? Or maybe one of the Asus Transformer tablets? All my other gadgets are Apple (I know, I know) products so it'd need to be as compatible as possible. Thanks.

I hope some of you more "experienced" tablet users can help this tech-challenged chick out!!!
Does anyone know if this tablet will work on theVerizon network 4G LTE????
My beloved Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 was in my purse and stolen when my car was broken into last week. My Black Friday prize had a fine print contact for add a line and tied me up for 2 yrs. I need to find a replacement to fulfill my obligation. I really don't want to pay full retail at the store. Plus, no internet at the house, always just used internet on my Galaxy SIII.
Please, please help a girl out! And if this tablet is not compatible, what is the "verbage" in the tech specs I need to look for????? I really feel dumb! Thanks in advance for any reply....

I need a little help. I understand what it means when a cell phone is unlocked, but I'm not sure what unlocking a tablet means. I assume it has something to do with being able to add/install "things" on it?? If that's the case, what can't you install on an unrooted tablet? If there's something more to it, what is it? An explanation would be appreciated.

txmom2twins wrote:I hope some of you more "experienced" tablet users can help this tech-challenged chick out!!!
Does anyone know if this tablet will work on theVerizon network 4G LTE????
My beloved Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 was in my purse and stolen when my car was broken into last week. My Black Friday prize had a fine print contact for add a line and tied me up for 2 yrs. I need to find a replacement to fulfill my obligation. I really don't want to pay full retail at the store. Plus, no internet at the house, always just used internet on my Galaxy SIII.
Please, please help a girl out! And if this tablet is not compatible, what is the "verbage" in the tech specs I need to look for????? I really feel dumb! Thanks in advance for any reply....

You could Wifi tether this to your phone (use you phone as a hotspot). I don't know enough about your Verizon plan to know how your data plan is set up- depending on your plan, they might not charge you to do this based on your circumstance (definitely find out first). If they tell you that they want to charge you like $30/month for Hotspot- don't do it. Use a program like open garden or I've had good luck with this WIFItether Treve-E mod. You may have to root your phone for this to work. Find some techy that knows what they are doing, and they should be able to hook you up.

http://www.qbking77.com/development/free-wifi-tether-for-the-samsung-galaxy-s-iii-and-galaxy-note-ii-on-jelly-bean.html

This app says it works without root on the SIII (try 1st)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.abcdrone.fastwifitether.free&hl=en

Don't buy this. I got one from tech.soot about two weeks ago and the touch screen exhibited ghost touches rendering it useless. Other buyers also had problems. I contacted Toshiba and they directed me to the vendor (woot) who will Be refunding my money.

I am currently posting from an ASUS Memo Pad Smart which has the same specs as the Excite .Through an error on Newegg iI purchased it for $299 and received it two days later . The Memo Pad isn't technically on sale yet and the purchase button has been removed. Model is ME301T. I highly recommend it it when they become available.

I've had a Thrive for about about a year and a half now, VERY satisifed with it, and about 3 months ago I was to upgrade to the Toshiba Excite and pass down the Thrive to my brother.

I had read about the light bleed issue with the Excites, but I assumed they would have fixed those in later builds, and I really like Toshiba -- big fan of their laptops, they've always been very reliable, only laptop brand our family has ever bought in the past 10 years. Also, we have some other Toshiba devices as well which have worked out GREAT as far as quality went, so I figured I'd stick with the brand and upgrade my Toshiba Thrive to the Toshiba Excite.

What a mistake that turned out to be.

The light bleed was terrible. There was one big blotch in the lower left of the screen, and lots of little blotches around the rest of the screen, that was most visible whenever the screen was black or displaying dark colors, so trying to do anything that involved those colors (like watching a movie that was in letterbox, or had scenes at night) was pretty bad because the light bleed made for a big distraction. At the time I paid $400 for the tablet, and I figured that for that price, I would want something without such an egregious flaw so I RMA'ed it almost immediately. Google image search 'light bleed tablet' to see if you can find images that show you what it is, it's really bad.

We wound up getting my brother a refurbed Acer Iconia A200 for $200, which has proven to be a solid device (with no light bleed mind you).

werekong wrote:I need a little help. I understand what it means when a cell phone is unlocked, but I'm not sure what unlocking a tablet means. I assume it has something to do with being able to add/install "things" on it?? If that's the case, what can't you install on an unrooted tablet? If there's something more to it, what is it? An explanation would be appreciated.

This information can be applied toward any Android rooting phone or tablet

http://www.knowyourmobile.com/features/1631092/the_benefits_of_rooting_your_android_device.html

Most people should not need to root their device. I have several tablets I like to mess with, that I'm not concerned if I screw them up or anything. You have to watch when you uninstall some of the "bloatware", because some of these manufacturers will attach dependencies on some of that junk that may cause other things not to work. Or for instance when I added an ad-blocker (for rooted phones), some of the apps would not run right after that. Overclocking doesn't always work and generally the manufacturer already has it set at the best level. There are some power-saving mods you can do by underclocking- but sometimes that causes issues to (if you underclock too much). Unless you know what you are doing, or need a particular functionality don't root. I would say titanium back-up is the biggest advantage to having a rooted device (especially if you like playing with different ROMs), here is the stuff you can do with it:
http://matrixrewriter.com/android/

falameezer wrote:My wife bought one new, may have had Honeycomb, but can be updated to ICS. HOWEVER if you are a Hulu+ fan it will not run on this. Don't know why but it has been a sore spot for many users.

I'm not sure this will work, but it's a modified Hulu app

http://phandroid.com/2012/01/17/hulu-plus-app-hacked-to-support-more-devices-download/

txmom2twins wrote:I hope some of you more "experienced" tablet users can help this tech-challenged chick out!!!
Does anyone know if this tablet will work on theVerizon network 4G LTE????
My beloved Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 was in my purse and stolen when my car was broken into last week. My Black Friday prize had a fine print contact for add a line and tied me up for 2 yrs. I need to find a replacement to fulfill my obligation. I really don't want to pay full retail at the store. Plus, no internet at the house, always just used internet on my Galaxy SIII.
Please, please help a girl out! And if this tablet is not compatible, what is the "verbage" in the tech specs I need to look for????? I really feel dumb! Thanks in advance for any reply....

This is a wifi only tablet. Look for one that specifically states that it works on the Verizon 4G/3G network AND wifi.

txmom2twins wrote:I hope some of you more "experienced" tablet users can help this tech-challenged chick out!!!
Does anyone know if this tablet will work on theVerizon network 4G LTE????
My beloved Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 was in my purse and stolen when my car was broken into last week. My Black Friday prize had a fine print contact for add a line and tied me up for 2 yrs. I need to find a replacement to fulfill my obligation. I really don't want to pay full retail at the store. Plus, no internet at the house, always just used internet on my Galaxy SIII.
Please, please help a girl out! And if this tablet is not compatible, what is the "verbage" in the tech specs I need to look for????? I really feel dumb! Thanks in advance for any reply....

Have you checked with your homeowner's insurance to see if it was covered? Also, sometimes big box stores have one year zero interest same as cash. Might want to get another of the model you had.

radi0j0hn wrote:Have you checked with your homeowner's insurance to see if it was covered? Also, sometimes big box stores have one year zero interest same as cash. Might want to get another of the model you had.

Actually, yes, my loss will be covered by my HOI policy (we opted for an off premes policy) and will cut me a check for replacement value. I just don't know what I'm looking for without having to buy it at "their" store. Is there any way to know if these units can use a SIM card for Verizon?

txmom2twins wrote:Actually, yes, my loss will be covered by my HOI policy (we opted for an off premes policy) and will cut me a check for replacement value. I just don't know what I'm looking for without having to buy it at "their" store. Is there any way to know if these units can use a SIM card for Verizon?

See my post above, wifi only with this one, will not work on any cellular network.

txmom2twins wrote:I hope some of you more "experienced" tablet users can help this tech-challenged chick out!!!
Does anyone know if this tablet will work on theVerizon network 4G LTE????
My beloved Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 was in my purse and stolen when my car was broken into last week. My Black Friday prize had a fine print contact for add a line and tied me up for 2 yrs. I need to find a replacement to fulfill my obligation. I really don't want to pay full retail at the store. Plus, no internet at the house, always just used internet on my Galaxy SIII.
Please, please help a girl out! And if this tablet is not compatible, what is the "verbage" in the tech specs I need to look for????? I really feel dumb! Thanks in advance for any reply....

This one is $170, its preowned from Cowboom. It appears to be the same as the Galaxy 2 that you got ripped off- who knows... it might even be yours

http://www.cowboom.com/product/1365365