Toshiba Excite Go AT7-C8 7.0-Inch 8 GB Tablet full review

Toshiba Excite Go AT7-C8 7.0-Inch 8 GB Tablet

 this 7 inch tablet has an amazing price and lightning fast speed (from the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system and the dual-core Intel Atom processor) but the trade-off is the screen resolution. It is watchable but the images, while good, are not crisp and sharp. The resolution is more like a standard, non- high definition, computer screen. For example the built-in camera is .3 megapixels where as a basic iPod's is 5 megapixels - big difference.It does have a capacitive five finger multi-touch LED backlit screen which makes it really responsive so navigating is easier. Unfortunately the screen is not fingerprint or oil resistant so it needs to be wiped off frequently. The back is a textured matte deep silver finish resin that is easy to grip and fingerprint proof.

Toshiba Excite Go AT7-C8 7.0-Inch 8 GB Tablet

It has no HDMI port so it cannot connect to a monitor or television with an HDMI cable, but wireless connectivity is built-in. I used Chromecast to wirelessly connect and watched HBO Go content from the tablet on my TV without any buffering. It should also work with WiDi, Miracast and possibly others. The resolution comes from the ap, not the device -- so it looked great on the TV.

There is a micro USB port and it has 1GB on-board memory and 8GB eMMC(an embedded multi-media controller - flash memory) storage. It also has a micro SD slot for additional memory which supports up to 128 GB. And, there is a 3.5 mm microphone/headphone combo port.

One of the wireless connections is Bluetooth 4.0 which allows more than one device to be connected at the same time. I connected both a wireless Microsoft keyboard and an external speaker so I could type while listening to music and both performed perfectly. And, the sound is excellent. I listened through earphones and used the Bluetooth capability and played music through a couple different speakers (maximum distance is 30 feet) and experienced no issues. The sound from the on-board mono speaker is mediocre, at best.

It also supports WI-Fi 802.11 b/g/n but only at 2.4 GHz. It does not support dual band Wi-Fi an important distinction because most new routers also support 5 GHz which usually provides more dependable and faster connections.

Out of the box the device's battery was almost completely uncharged. It comes with a USB charging cable - no AC adapter. After plugging into my PC, at the three hour mark it was 57% charged and finished overnight. Maximum use on a charge is seven hours. There is a huge on-line user guide (117 pages) which details virtually everything.

Small issues and benefits. The device did not select the proper time zone after I set the automatic location - I had to manually select it. And, the device was not automatically discovered by my PC - something that usually happens instantly. If you like writing aps, the benefit of using an android is it can be written on various platforms with less red tape and no additional fees.

Toshiba Excite Go AT7-C8 7.0-Inch 8 GB Tablet photos