Asus Eee Pad Transformer Vs Toshiba Thrive - 10-Inch Tablet Battle

In a 10-inch tablet world dominated by the iPad 2, which is currently the most popular, but also the best reviewed device of this kind on the market, there are also other gadgets that try to make room to the hearts of the customers. Two of the best 10-inch tablets out there right now are the Asus Eee Pad Transformer and the Toshiba Thrive, which we are going to compare and contrast in the following.

Design and display

While both tablets appear elegant and distinguished at a first sight, if you look closely to their dimensions you can see some big differences. The Toshiba tablet measures 272 x 175 x 15 mm and weighs 771 grams, while the Asus slate measures 271 x 171 x 12.98 mm and weighs 680 grams. It is therefore very clear that the Transformer is more portable, the Toshiba tablet appearing quite bulky.

Also, the Transformer offers you the optional keyboard dock, which means that Asus has the functionality problem covered too.

In terms of display, both tablets feature 10.1-inch screens with 1280x800 pixels resolution. However, the Thrive comes with the special Toshiba Adaptive Display Technology and appears to be better in terms of image quality and clarity.

Performance, storage and software

Both tablets offer the same NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor and come with 1 GB of RAM memory. However, the Toshiba Thrive features a better front-facing camera than the Slider, while offering a identical rear-facing camera capable of video capture at a resolution of 1080p.

In terms of storage, both devices come in 16 and 32 GB versions, while the Thrive is also available in an 8 GB internal memory variant. As far as the operating system goes, the Toshiba and the Asus tablets are both powered by the Android Honeycomb 3.1.

Connectivity, battery life and pricing

There isn't much to choose between these two tablets in terms of connectivity, giving that they are both compatible with Bluetooth, Wifi and HDMI. In terms of battery life, also, the gadgets are quite similar, offering over seven hours of autonomy when using them pretty heavily.

As far as price goes, at a first glance, the Transformer is more affordable, being available at about 450 dollars, for the 32 GB version, while the Thrive is priced at about 475 dollars, for the 16 GB version. However, if you want all the features and the functionality that the Transformer can offer, you will have to separately buy the docking station, which costs about 150 dollars.

Wrap-up

Even though they don't have the popularity and the success of the iPad 2, the Toshiba Thrive and the Asus Transformer are two above-average tablets with high performance levels, good designs and decent portability. It is difficult to clearly state which one of these two slates is better, both of them having their strong, but also their weak points. However, one thing is clear; you will not be disappointed if you buy any of the two 10-inch tablets.