Picked up the 16GB version of the AT270. (Also known as the AT275 or the Excite 7.7).
Overall very pleased. I had originally purchased the Asus TF700T and returned it (creaky screen, sluggish performance, crashed several times etc).
By far, the fastest tablet I have owned/used.
What I like:
- The screen! Super AMOLED Plus screen is amazing for pretty much everything (I use the tablet primarily as an E-Reader with some video on the go/web browsing). This screen is similar to what was used by Samsung in their 7.7 Tab.
- Super fast Tegra 3. Blazing fast performance. Compared to my IPad 2 and Samsung 7.0 Plus, it's like night and day.
- Micro SD slot: This is of course a huge plus and one of several reasons why I chose this tablet over the Nexus 7 (the screen was the main reason).
- The weight; I read quite a bit and was looking for the lightest tablet in this size and the Toshiba wins at 332 Grams (compared to 340 Grams for the Nexus 7). Ironic as it has a larger screen but still weighs less.
- Battery life: Engadget tested this tablet compared to the Nexus 7 and the IPad 2 using a looping video playback at 50% screen brightness with Wi-Fi enabled and all standard background services running.
AT270: 10:34
Nexus 7: 9:49
IPad 2: 10:26
Asus TF700T (without dock): 9:25
- Supports external flash/hard drives without needing to root via OTG USB port. Pretty handy and no rooting required!
- HDMI out via Multi Dock accessory. Again, a big deal, still trying to find the dock as it's only for sale in US via Toshiba Direct and they will not ship to Canada (Toshiba Canada will have it in 3 weeks either way, just hate waiting). Again given that the Nexus 7 has neither an HDMI out port, external attachment or MHL support, this is a big plus.
- Did I mention the HDMI multidock? Full sized HDMI out port (unlike typical micro-HDMI ports requiring adapters on tablets), 2 full sized USB ports, and headphone jack. It also comes with it's own charger which means you don't have to swap around your devices to connect it to power.
Charge via power connector cord to USB port. Nice to be able to charge via a USB port. (see my note below on the micro USB OTG though).
What I don't like:
- HDMI support only via dock. This is a minor quibble. If I am going to connect it to a TV, the tiny dock sitting beside the tv that happens to hold the tablet and charge at the same time, I'm fine with that. Also no MHL support.
- External drives only support FAT32 and EXFAT, no NTFS. Again this is a minor quibble. It's very simple to format external devices in EXFAT format for transferring large files (1080P mkv files for example).
- Doesn't seem to charge through the OTG Micro USB port. Not sure yet, it may be the USB ports on the front of my PC case don't provide enough voltage. I will confirm this. It does charge via the power connector via it's USB end so this is irrelevant.
- Does not include an OTG usb cable with the package. Kind of an odd omission on a premium tablet. I have about 20 of them from various phones but still one should be included.
- The default included video player with the tablet would not play mkv files. Again minor given you can download the MX Player app for free. Guess I was a bit spoiled by my Samsung.
- No case selection. This is not unique to this tablet. So far there are 2: The Toshiba one from the Toshiba store (both Canada and US). Terrible design for a $40 case... Or the Vangoddy that I ordered from Amazon for $20 which is actually pretty decent. I would prefer a Moko or Blurex like the one I have for my Samsung Tab 7.0 Plus, and hopefully they will eventually release one.
- The price... This is a tough one. Sells for $449 for the 16Gb model. About $200 more than the Nexus 7. Is it worth $200 more? In my opinion yes. This is a premium device. If anyone recalls when the Samsung 7.7 came out with the same screen it was selling for $600. Plus this device has a much more complete feature set than the Nexus 7.
Overall very pleased. I had originally purchased the Asus TF700T and returned it (creaky screen, sluggish performance, crashed several times etc).
By far, the fastest tablet I have owned/used.
What I like:
- The screen! Super AMOLED Plus screen is amazing for pretty much everything (I use the tablet primarily as an E-Reader with some video on the go/web browsing). This screen is similar to what was used by Samsung in their 7.7 Tab.
- Super fast Tegra 3. Blazing fast performance. Compared to my IPad 2 and Samsung 7.0 Plus, it's like night and day.
- Micro SD slot: This is of course a huge plus and one of several reasons why I chose this tablet over the Nexus 7 (the screen was the main reason).
- The weight; I read quite a bit and was looking for the lightest tablet in this size and the Toshiba wins at 332 Grams (compared to 340 Grams for the Nexus 7). Ironic as it has a larger screen but still weighs less.
- Battery life: Engadget tested this tablet compared to the Nexus 7 and the IPad 2 using a looping video playback at 50% screen brightness with Wi-Fi enabled and all standard background services running.
AT270: 10:34
Nexus 7: 9:49
IPad 2: 10:26
Asus TF700T (without dock): 9:25
- Supports external flash/hard drives without needing to root via OTG USB port. Pretty handy and no rooting required!
- HDMI out via Multi Dock accessory. Again, a big deal, still trying to find the dock as it's only for sale in US via Toshiba Direct and they will not ship to Canada (Toshiba Canada will have it in 3 weeks either way, just hate waiting). Again given that the Nexus 7 has neither an HDMI out port, external attachment or MHL support, this is a big plus.
- Did I mention the HDMI multidock? Full sized HDMI out port (unlike typical micro-HDMI ports requiring adapters on tablets), 2 full sized USB ports, and headphone jack. It also comes with it's own charger which means you don't have to swap around your devices to connect it to power.
Charge via power connector cord to USB port. Nice to be able to charge via a USB port. (see my note below on the micro USB OTG though).
What I don't like:
- HDMI support only via dock. This is a minor quibble. If I am going to connect it to a TV, the tiny dock sitting beside the tv that happens to hold the tablet and charge at the same time, I'm fine with that. Also no MHL support.
- External drives only support FAT32 and EXFAT, no NTFS. Again this is a minor quibble. It's very simple to format external devices in EXFAT format for transferring large files (1080P mkv files for example).
- Doesn't seem to charge through the OTG Micro USB port. Not sure yet, it may be the USB ports on the front of my PC case don't provide enough voltage. I will confirm this. It does charge via the power connector via it's USB end so this is irrelevant.
- Does not include an OTG usb cable with the package. Kind of an odd omission on a premium tablet. I have about 20 of them from various phones but still one should be included.
- The default included video player with the tablet would not play mkv files. Again minor given you can download the MX Player app for free. Guess I was a bit spoiled by my Samsung.
- No case selection. This is not unique to this tablet. So far there are 2: The Toshiba one from the Toshiba store (both Canada and US). Terrible design for a $40 case... Or the Vangoddy that I ordered from Amazon for $20 which is actually pretty decent. I would prefer a Moko or Blurex like the one I have for my Samsung Tab 7.0 Plus, and hopefully they will eventually release one.
- The price... This is a tough one. Sells for $449 for the 16Gb model. About $200 more than the Nexus 7. Is it worth $200 more? In my opinion yes. This is a premium device. If anyone recalls when the Samsung 7.7 came out with the same screen it was selling for $600. Plus this device has a much more complete feature set than the Nexus 7.
