Toshiba Excite 13 Vs. Other Android Tablets: Is Bigger Not Always Better?

Bigger is always better, they say, and following on the same lines, Toshiba has recently announced the launch of its latest tablet with a gigantic screen size, delivering more screen real estate than any other tablet on the market. Yes, it's none other than Toshiba Excite 13. In addition to this, the company has also launched two new tablets in the Excite lineup series -- Excite 10 and Excite 7.7.

The company has further claimed in its press release that the new Excite slates are equipped with thinner and lighter designs, high definition displays and a wide range of ports and features.

But wait, what about Excite 13? With its large screen size, what do you think would be the weight of the tablet? Well, it weighs around 997 grams (2 pound), which is quite heavy when compared to other tablets in the market, however, on the brighter side, the tablet is just 0.4 inches thin. On the other hand, considering the dimensions of other popular Android tablets in the market, Asus Transformer Prime TF700T is just 586 grams, while the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2(10.1) is again just 588 grams and both the tablets more or less also have the same thickness of 0.4 inches.

Toshiba is known for its relentless research methods through which it has made its products better. In the past as well, the company releases in the wireless technology has offered the consumers with some really innovative design features backed by cutting edge technology. So what did Toshiba actually have in mind? It has launched the massive screen Excite 13 tablet, especially when other tech giants in are more concerned with releasing smaller tablets.

Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems Inc, Digital Products Division explained in the press release, One size does not fit all, so we are carefully considering how and where people are using tablets and designing form factors to best suit various needs. With amazingly thin and light designs, our new Excite family of tablets continues to incorporate what consumers have come to love about Toshiba tablets: essential ports for a more complete tablet computing experience plus durability that ensures they can go the distance.

According to Toshiba, the customer research team's review came out with the result that most tablet owners use their tablets at home. So it is the company's attempt to provide these owners with a greater display user experience, although it did sacrifice some portability in favor of a sharing-friendly gigantic screen.

In a report by Wired, Jared Leavitt, a Toshiba spokesman told the website that Excite 13 is being positioned as a home tablet. He says, The larger size makes it an ideal kitchen tablet. You can watch how-to videos while you're cooking, or look up recipes. And then later, you can bring it into the living room to watch videos with the kids, or to look at family photos with friends.

Industry experts believe that Toshiba Excite 13 may not actually compete against Android OS powered tablets or Apple tablets as far as screen display is concerned. It has evolved into a new category by itself, directly targeting the home PC and laptops market. Mashable also reports that Toshiba suggested ideas as to how the new tablet can be used at home. They informed in their report that, Excite 13 is the best option for watching a movie or playing games together in groups. The larger screen can actually allow kids at home to share the tablet for playing games, instead of providing each kid with a different tablet. It will also enable a clearer view from a longer distance as compared to a 10-inch Android tablet's display.

Toshiba also points out that Excite 13 is a spectacular platform for casual gaming sessions. Technically speaking, the tablet can be used as an electronic board game for people gathered over a cup of coffee.

Talking about the other specs of the tablet, when compared to Google's other best Android OS tablets, including Asus Transformer Prime TF700T, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2(10.1), Sony Tablet S and others, Excite 13 is packed with all the major specs starting with the aforementioned Tegra 3 quad-core CPU that has 32 GB or 64 GB of storage to work with. Here are the other listed features of the tablet:

• 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS
• 13.3-inch AutoBrite LED Backlit display with 1600 x 900 pixels of resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio
• 1.3GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB RAM
• 5MP rear-facing camera and an additional 1.3MP front-facing shooter
• micro USB 2.0, micro HDMI port, 32GB or 64GB internal memory storage, a full-size SD card for memory expansion up to 32GB
• 13 hours of battery life, 7 days of standby time
• 4 speaker sound system with exclusive sound enhancements

The Excite 13 tablet will also be available at $649.99 for the 32GB model and $749.99 for the 64GB model for purchase from June 10 this year. While many consumers would assume that the price tags are comparatively higher than the Asus Transformer Prime TF700T tablet's $599.99 to $699.99 price range for 16GB and 32 GB versions. Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) is rumored to be available at $399.

However, the suggested price for the Excite 13 tablet is only $50 more than the other model's 32GB version and additionally, the buyers would get a 30 percent more screen space accompanied by all major features and specs, so the price should not considered very expensive at this point. And additionally, Toshiba has claimed that the Excite 13 would have a battery life of 13 hours, which is a lot more than the 8 to 10 hours battery life expected by the Asus Transformer Prime TF700T and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) tablets.

So do you think this 13-inch tablet is worth a try? Do share your views.