X
Tech

Toshiba announces massive Excite 13, AMOLED-equipped Excite 7.7, and mainsteam Excite 10 tablets

Toshiba is going in all sorts of directions with its latest trio of tablets.
Written by Ricardo Bilton, Contributor
excite-10-3.jpg
Casting its net very widely on Tuesday, Toshiba announced a trio of new tablets, all of which wide variety of discrete niches and screen sizes. There's something quite literally for everyone.

Excite 10

Let's start with the Excite 10, a tablet that I admittedly confused with the Excite 10 LE, a similar device Toshiba released just last month. The difference between the two devices is mostly a matter of quality: The Exicte 10 is essentially Toshiba's mainstream device, and meant to replace the now-defunct Thrive. The Excite 10 LE, on the other hand, is meant to be a bit more upmarket, especially, it seems, in terms of weight and dimensions: At 1.1-pounds, it's both lighter and thinner than the new Excite 10.

Prices for the Excite 10 follow a predictable pattern, with the 16GB running for $449, $80 cheaper than the 16GB Excite 10 LE. The 32GB model will sell for $529, and the 64GB $649 when the device goes on sale May 6th.

Excite 13

Probably the most interesting of the trio is the Excite 13, a thirteen-inch tablet that is much unlike anything else around.

Which means, of course, that it's massive. Huge. Completely unportable. Built more for the home than the backpack, the Excite 13 is essentially the tablet equivalent to the desktop. And thats completely the point.

People will doubtlessly make fun of it. Much like the Samsung Galaxy Note, the Excite 13 felt a bit too big for its own good when I used it last week. But that may not be the biggest problem in the end because, also like the Galaxy Note, the Excite 13 fills a niche -- with all the size-related puns that such a filling entails.

On the hardware side, the Excite 13 offers a NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor and 1 GB of RAM, features that Toshiba says makes the device perfect for console-quality gaming. What's uncertain, however, is whether users will be able to hold the thing long enough to play much of anything. Also, because of the Excite 14's 16:9 aspect ratio, it's also possible that some apps may look a bit strange on its display.

As for price, you probably won't be surprised to hear that the Excite 13's sizable screen comes with an equally sizable price tag: $649 for the 32GB version and $749 for the 32 GB model.

Excite 7.7

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is the Excite 7.7, the first Toshiba tablet with a AMOLED

display. Toshiba calls the Exctie 7.7's display "brilliant" and judging by what I saw, I'm wont to agree. Visuals were sharp, colors vibrant. It;s not a bad display to look at. (Notably, the device's closest rival is  Samsung's Galaxy Tab 7.7, an identically-sized tablet that also features an AMOLED display.)

Prices for the Excite 7.7 start at $499 for the 16GB version and $579 for the 32GB version, which is a bit steep for a device of its size.

Both the Excite 10 and Excite 13 will be available on June 10th.

Editorial standards