Toshiba has taken another stab at the
tablet market with the AT200, its follow-up to the AT100. Also known as the
Excite, the AT200 is touted as the world’s thinnest tablet, at 7.7mm. It’s also
exceptionally light for a 10.1in-screen tablet, at just 502g.
It looks great in its ultra-thin chassis
with silver/black stripes, and the rear cover looks sleek with a
brushed-aluminium finish.
A scratch-resistant screen and metal sides
give the AT200 strength and durability, although we could easily bend the
device lengthways and width ways.
The AT200 runs a Texas Instruments OMAP
44301.2 GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM. Performance is good, but not
up to that of the Asus Transformer Prime or iPad (see page 138). It recorded
979 points in Geekbench.
We noticed some lag when opening apps and
carrying out tasks. Web browsing was also sluggish and tiresome on the AT200.
Pages rendered in a reasonable time, but scrolling and zooming were painful.
Games ran more smoothly.
The AT200 comes with 16- or 32GB of
storage, expandable via a microSDHC card. Connectivity comprises Wi-Fi and
Bluetooth, but not 3G; there are also headset, Micro-USB and Micro HDMI ports.
The 10.1in TruBrite touchscreen has a
resolution of 1280 x 800. The screen is bright, colourful and responsive, but
the brightness level drops when viewed from the side.
We also found graphical glitches in some
apps, mostly noticeably in the Google Play Store, where parts of the interface
would randomly flash on the screen.
Installed software includes Toshiba Places,
McAfee Mobile Security, ThinkFree Office, PrinterShare and Evernote.
The front 2Mp webcam and 5Mp rear cameras
are nothing special. The camera app ran slowly, taking an age to capture a single
photo, and the results didn't impress.
The AT200 runs with Android 3.2 Honeycomb,
although Toshiba promises a future upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
The AT200 lasted around two days between charges with light use.
Verdict
The AT200 looks good in its sleek,
lightweight metal case. We enjoyed good battery life and connectivity, but the
device was let down in key areas, such as web browsing speed. We'd also like to
see Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (or even 4.1 Jelly Bean) in place.
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Information
Price: $514
Contact: toshiba.co.uk
Read more: tinyurl.com/bua6nrm
Specification
Texas Instruments 0MAP 44301.2 GHz
dual-core processor; Android 3.2 Honeycomb; lO.lin (1280 x 800) capacitive
touchscreen; 1GB DDR2 RAM; 16/32GB storage; PowerVR SG X 540; 802.11a/b/g/n;
Bluetooth 2.1; 5/2Mp rear/front cameras; Micro-USB; Micro-HDMI; microSDHC
slot; lithium-polymer battery; 256 x 176 x 7.7 mm; 502 g
PC Advisor Gold
Build: 8/10
Features: 8/10
Performance: 6/10
Value: 6/10
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