After underselling their Thrive tablets and failing to meet expectations with the previous Excite lineup, Toshiba has completely revamped their tablet offerings. The Japanese electronics company has unveiled three new Android-based tablets, in hopes that one of the devices will catch on. Although all three products will share an identical 10-inch form factor, indistinguishable plastic casings, and run on the same Android 4.2 OS, the major differences all lie beneath the proverbial hood.
In a move that is reminiscent of how Samsung has marketed their products in the past, Toshiba is releasing their tablets at opposite ends of the price spectrum.
The Excite Pure, the cheapest device of the three, keeps things simple sporting a 1,280 x 800 screen, 16GB of storage, and running on the Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. Additional features include front and rear-facing cameras, as well as MicroHDMI, MicroUSB and MicroSD ports. Priced at $299, the Excite Pure aligns itself with the competing Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 – two devices that have already demonstrated industry success.
At $499, the Excite Pro offers several specification upgrades when directly compared to the Excite Pure. The display has been improved to a 2,500 x 1,600 resolution and the powerful Tegra 4 takes over processing duties. That being said, Toshiba must compete with other major players in the form of the Nexus 10 and the illustrious Apple iPad.
As the name suggests, the Excite Write makes use of a stylus tool produced by Wacom. By combining this feature with a number of useful apps, namely the TruNote app, the user can replicate the effects of traditional pen and paper. Although this extra tool is nice to have, the $599 price tag might seem a little steep. All in all, it will be interesting to see how the Excite Write matches up to the popular Samsung Galaxy Note.
All three tablets are slated to go on sale June 25 through Toshibadirect.com, and will be released to other major retailers in early July.
