Hands-on review: Toshiba AT300

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Toshiba's latest 10.1-inch tablet is a fine attempt to undercut the new iPad – it comes in at £329 for the 16GB version and £379 for the 32GB variant.
The device will be known as the Toshiba Excite 10 in the US. Quite why Toshiba has decided to give the UK a lesson in boring branding is anybody's guess.
Tosh hasn't exactly set the world alight with its tablet offerings thus far, but the AT300 packs quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 as well as Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It's no slouch in terms of specs or when it's in use. The AT300 replaces the AT200 which featured a dual-core processor and Android 3.0 Honeycomb (the AT200 was also priced more expensively, too).
The biggest problem Android tablets have is standing out from the crowd and offering consumers a compelling reason why they shouldn't go and buy an iPad. Unfortunately the AT300 doesn't really give a truly compelling reason, but that price point competes effectively with the iPad 2.
It's nice and light at 590g, while the aluminium finish feels very nice in the hand. It's also pancake thickness at 8.95mm. The footprint is 261 x 179mm. The glossy 1,280 x 800 LED display is Gorilla Glass for extra strength. The display is crisp and bright, though pales in comparison to the new iPad or an OLED display.

As you'd expect there are two cameras – a 5MP one on the rear (with LED flash) and a 2MP on the front for video calling. The AT300 also features a full-size SD card slot so you can build on the internal storage of either 16GB or 32GB.
We're not dead keen on the edges of the device, but there's plenty to be pleased about, with micro HDMI and micro USB ports and single 3.5mm headphone jack/mic in addition to that SD slot. A 10 hour battery life is cited - we'll have to test this out properly when we get our AT300 review sample.
The Toshiba AT300 release date is June.


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