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The Tegra 3 tablet battle is in full swing now, with four full-featured tablets on the market at the current moment (ASUS Transformer Prime, Transformer Pad 300, and Acer Iconia Tab A510 being the other three). Today, we're going to take a look at the newest one of the bunch: the Toshiba Excite 10. This is the first device to come out of Toshiba's newly announced Excite line, with 7.7" and 13.3" models coming in early June.
Toshiba has come a long way and changed up its philosophy on Android tablets quite a bit since the original Thrive, but is it enough to take the Tegra 3-tablet-crown? That's a tough call, because at this point in the game, it's hard for many users to put one device above the others - it could be the keyboard-sporting Transformer Prime or Transformer Pad for some, or the all-day-battery like Toshiba PA3307U-1BRS Battery , Toshiba PA3331U-1BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3331U-1BRS Battery , Toshiba PA3356U-1BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3356U-1BRS Battery , Toshiba PA3356U-2BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3356U-2BRS Battery , Toshiba PA3356U-3BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3356U-3BRS Battery , Toshiba PA3357U-1BAL Battery , Toshiba PA3357U-1BRL Battery , Toshiba PA3357U-2BRL Battery -life-packin' Acer A510 for others. It's difficult to say where the Excite 10 fits into all this, as its high price tag and questionable build quality left me scratching my head. While there are things that I absolutely love about the Excite, it definitely has its fair share of downsides.
The first thing I noticed about the Excite 10 is its attractive aluminum back. It feels nothing like the aluminum on the Transformer Prime; in fact, I initially though it was plastic. While that may sound like a negative, it's actually one of my favorite things about the device: since it's aluminum, the shell is stronger than plastic; however, it doesn't have the cold, metallic feel of the Prime. With that said, though, the backing of this device doesn't feel as "sturdy" as the Prime (but doesn't scratch as easily, either).
At a mere 0.35" thick and 1.32 lbs., the Excite 10 is one of the thinnest and lightest tablets I've ever held. That doesn't take away from the feeling of a premium tablet, though; it feels solid and well-made. There's little-to-no flex on the back of the device, no "creaking," and none of the buttons have any play in them whatsoever.
On the left side of the device you have the power button, orientation lock, and volume rocker. The top is clear of any and all buttons - the only thing you'll find here is the microphone. The right is adorned with the 3.5mm headphone jack, microHDMI port, microUSB port, and the full-size SD Card slot. The stereo speakers are located on the bottom of the device, with the proprietary charging port in the center.
Speaking of buttons and ports, the power button is recessed more than I would like; both the volume rocker and orientation lock switch extend out from the side of the device quite a bit farther than the power button, making it difficult to find without actually looking at the device. This is something that may go away over time, but after about a week of using the Excite 10, I still have to look nearly every time I need to toggle power.
The speakers are located on the bottom of the device, and while they produce pretty fantastic sound for a tablet this size (more on that later), they're easily muffled if the tablet is placed in a stand that puts the tablet directly on the surface below it. Adversely, if placed in a stand that angles the speakers down towards a hard surface but still lifts the tablet off of it, it actually bounces the sound upward, resulting in a bit more volume.
The proprietary charging port is located in between the two speakers. While a device with a proprietary port is nothing new, you should see the adapter for this thing. It's HUGE. Like, I'm afraid to bring it around my other chargers because I fear it may eat them-huge. The overly-large adapter is complimented by an overly-fat cable, too.
Overall, the build quality is pretty good, but there's an overall lack of polish and attention to detail, which I find bothersome. Speaking of lack of attention to detail...