Toshiba Australia very kindly sent us a shiny new Android tablet to play with and we produced a segment, as seen below, and liked a lot about this new tablet. The Toshiba Android Tablet AT200 is the thinnest and lightest 10.1” tablet in the market, beating all other tablets on thinness and weight. The AT200 has its own look and feel that separates it from its competitors.
However, late Friday we were informed that as of this week, the Toshiba Android Tablet AT200 was going “End of Life” in Australia. This meant no more units would be brought into the country to sell.
Coincidentally (or perhaps not), Samsung also announced a fairly sizeable price reduction across the board for its 10.1 Galaxy Tab range, which now puts it at $100 under Apple’s iPad, you can read that article here Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Price Drop .
The AT200 was originally pegged at $579 for its 16GB Wi-Fi only model, which would have put it directly up against the iPad, and $100 more than the repositioned Samsung. The unit immediately screamed high-quality, and sat in our iBeani tablet stand quite comfortably. And, albeit, it looked like a masterpiece just sitting there.
The Toshiba Android Tablet AT200 was, on paper, a pretty likeable machine. It weighed only 535 grams and was 7.7mm thin, eclipsing any other current tablet. Like its predecessor, it managed to retain a comprehensive set of connections -– headphone jack, Micro USB, Micro HDMI and Micro SD.
It also had a pretty inclusive set of software on its Honeycomb OS. This included Thinkfree Office, Splashtop for remote desktop access, a file manager, Evernote for spontaneous information gathering and McAfee security. One uncertain factor was when it would be upgraded to Android 4.0.
Our understanding is that the Toshiba Android Tablet AT200 is still alive and well in other regions around the world, so it appears to be a local decision not to continue this model on this continent. The Australian market is sometimes used as a litmus test for new products and technology for vendors as it’s fairly isolated and we’re a proud bunch of early adopters. This could indicate a subtle shift in Toshiba’s overall strategy in the tablet space.
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So where could Toshiba be heading, given this was a benchmark product in form factor at the very least? My initial guess is a ramp up to develop a strong Windows 8 tablet as part of its overall Windows ecosystem offer.
Toshiba released a touch screen all-in-one model last year, so they now have desktops, notebooks, Ultrabooks, and potentially tablets that would put them in a healthy position to offer Windows 8 across virtually all device types, except for mobile phones. Given Toshiba’s strength in the Australian market, such a strategy could be extremely beneficial.
After all, Android has evolved from the mobile platform whereas Windows has developed from a desktop/server platform, giving it a very different set of development challenges. Given Toshiba’s long history supporting Windows as its dominant operating system, there is no doubt they will come out with a strong offer at the launch of Windows 8.
The Toshiba Android Tablet AT200 cancellation and Samsung’s price move are two significant news events in one weekend for tablets. We are still to see the iPad 3 resolve into a real product from the conjecture and rumour that is feeding the hype before the announcement.
It’s going to be a real interesting few months for the tablet industry. We will see more Tegra 3 products released, ICS deployed and upgraded on more machines, and the new iPad 3 awake from its secret slumber. In the second half of the year, Microsoft will make its move with partners like Toshiba champing at the bit to get into the market with Windows 8 on multiple hardware options.
Watch the video below or read our article on the Toshiba Android Tablet AT200 a Closer Look for more information.
Does Toshiba’s announcement change your mind about Android, and are you waiting for Windows 8 on a tablet?
NAING says
Hi Ritchie,
Thanks for review of the product that I have been waiting for couple of days. 🙂
This tablet looks sexy but I saw a video posted by a person saying that tablet is low bulid quality and not as smooth as prime.
Btw how much is the price for this ? Just want to compare with prime.
With thanks,
Naing
NAING says
Sry,
The price is written in the article.
Ritchie says
No problem, we’re here to provide fair reviews of all the models we get. It’s certainly not low quality and Toshiba wouldn’t release something of inferior build, unless they wanted to risk their brand positioning.
Ange says
Not so sure about the micro USB input, how convenient will that be? Wouldn’t that mean I would need a double micro USB cable to connect all USB devices considering all external HDD uses a full USB connection.
If Toshiba had designed the tablet to run both OS (Win 8 and Android) I think there will be a lot more interest. My brother had mentioned it would be “MAD” if there was a tablet that ran both operating system.
Ritchie says
Hi Ange, thanks for your comment. The micro USB would probably need a micro to full size adapter to connect flash drives and the like. There was probably no way a full size USB would have fitted in these dimensions.
Windows 8 and Android 4 (or 5) dual boot? Now you’re talking!
Ange says
you should suggest that to Toshiba and get them to look into that. I think the tablet will be fly out the windows!