TOSHIBA EXCITE 10 SE

The Toshiba Excite 10 SE represents an attempt to produce a lower-priced but still high-end tablet, an alternative to the company’s own Excite 10 LE for those users looking to save some money. However, the old adage does come to mind, i.e. “You get what you pay for.” This Toshiba tablet ends up supplying the basics in such a device, but one could do better with several comparable models from other suppliers (including Toshiba itself).

This cost-cutting probably shows most in the tablet’s makeup itself: Crafted of only plastic on the outside, the only difference in look and feel of the Excite 10 SE versus any generic tablet one can find at WalMart is, well, the Toshiba name emblazoned upon it. The 1.6 GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 processor might likewise be impressive in a knockoff, but disappoints coming from a company that had been cranking out tablets with this CPU for nearly a year previous to this Excite’s release. Similar can be said of the operating system, which is a mere Android 4.1.1.

Onto the other specs, which are just as ho-hum. Ports are limited to a micro SD card slot – a drawback considering the simple 16 GB standard storage (and no deeper versions available). Also included are WiFi and Bluetooth (but 3.0!) connectivity along with low-resolution cameras, GPS, gyroscope and digital compass. Resolution is 1280 x 800 pixels, but given the tone of this review thus far you probably could have guessed as much.

In the end, it seems the Toshiba Excite 10 SE tablet’s only advantage in the marketplace is price. We’d advise looking elsewhere – even within Toshiba’s own line – for well more at a few extra dollars.