Toshiba Thrive vs iPad 2: And the Winner is?

Toshiba Thrive is not the sexiest 10-inch tablet out there, but it's got a few things the iPad doesn't. It's about $100 cheaper than iPad at Best Buy, and you get 16 gigabytes of on-board storage with it. iPad 2 starts at $500 for the 16 gigabyte version, and it's about twice as thin as the Thrive, though the screen is slightly smaller. iPad 2's fatter and larger companion also comes with a removable battery if you are so inclined to buy an extra for all day usage without charging. iPad gets pretty good battery life, but the battery is not removable.

Thrive is an Android tablet, but there is no word on if it will receive the Android 4.0 update. There is no real reason that it wouldn't, but if it does get the upgrade, it could be two or three months. It's also Wi-Fi only, so if you're looking for a travel companion, iPad 2 might be a better option with its 3G radio. Thrive has 1280x800p resolution, a full gigabyte of memory, front and rear-facing cameras and three types of full-size ports unlike most tablets. It's got a full-size SD card reader, USB port and HDMI port. You could easily hook it up to your HDTV and plug in files with a standard size flash drive. Pretty handy; and iPad has none of those ports.

iPad 2 does have iCloud support, instant on and video mirroring, however. iCloud is great for storage and syncing your content, and instant on just means it wakes up very quickly. Video mirroring is Apple's way of making up for the lack of an HDMI port. You can connect your iPad to your HDTV with a cable and special adapter. They cost nearly the same as an HDMI cable anyway. Tell us in the comments if you found a Thrive on Amazon or somewhere else for even less than $400.

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