Review: Toshiba AT200 Tablet

By Mike Wheeler

When talking slates/tablets the word ‘iPad’ is probably the first that comes to mind, closely followed by two other words ‘Galaxy Tab’. Other vendors have tried to breach the duopoly with varying degrees of success – most of which have not been that successful for varying reasons – to heavy, lack of compatibility with majority of smartphones, not enough memory or too expensive.

However, Toshiba might have found something to rattle the cages of the usual suspects with its latest slate the AT200 – – if marketed correctly.

Out of the box there are a couple of things that are readily apparent – one obvious, the other more subtle. First, the obvious – it is light – I mean, really light. Its specs say it weighs 535grams, and without having to put it on a scale, I have no trouble believing this.  The second is that it is easy to start up, which you might think a strange observation until you read the review we wrote on its predecessor the AT100.

So far so good. What about functionality? Not too shonky at all. It is super easy to navigate, and again, unlike our experience on the AT100, the touch screen works a treat. It has an LED-backlit LCD, with excellent resolution. We found playing movies and files exceptionally easy, with good streaming and bright, crisp pictures.

Other features include front and rear facing cameras, which do an OK, but not spectacular job, stereo speakers (which sounded great), and a tonne of connectivity for such a small device – HDMI, USB and microSD cards for storage. It has an exceptional battery life – we played with it on and off for three days and didn’t have to recharge it. To be fair, it wasn’t on constantly, but it was impressive enough.

The only downside I can see is that it comes with Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system as opposed to the Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0. The good news is that there will be an update available for free, but you have wonder why they didn’t load the newer operating system to begin with.

Overall, we liked it a lot. It certainly offers up an alternative to the usual fare on the market at the moment. If Toshiba markets it right, and gets a decent price point, they should shift a few units especially in the consumer market.

Pros: Battery life; functionality; light; connectivity
Cons: Should have come with Ice Cream Sandwich

RRP
$579

4.5 Shacks Out of 5

Brought to you by CyberShack.com.au