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In the tablet game, there seems to be only one question - what's the right size? Samsung with their Galaxy Note figured a 5-incher qualified only as a hybrid. The iPad proved people would buy a 9-incher en masse, the HP reaffirmed it, and the Blackberry thought it stumbled on something magical with its 7.7-inch tablet.
But Toshiba has unequivocally answered the question nobody was asking - "what size is too big?" The Toshiba Excite 13 inch tablet is the answer to that question.
The Excite line already had the basics covered - a 7.7-inch and 10-inch tablet - when they decided to go pull a Galaxy Note.
The official PR line on the Excite 13 is that it offers "more screen for more of everything" and this certainly holds true. Whereas a 13-inch computer might not seem Godzilla-sized in your hands, the Toshiba Excite 13 does.
This also leads to a feeling that you're somehow doing something superior, like every video is an IMAX film, and that your tablet is technically superior through screen real estate alone.
Fortunately, the illusion isn't quickly shattered by looking over the spec sheet. the 13.3-inch tablet has an LED backlit display boasting a 1600x900 resolution (at 16:9 aspect ratio - tailored perfectly for HD videos).
A quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with GeForce graphics keeps the processes snappy and the gaming good, while 1GB of RAM insures the processes never make the device feel sluggish. In our tests, the tablet could respond as quickly as we could possibly hope.
Swiping between home screens can be done quickly with the swipe of a finger, though we have to admit even that slight swipe seems astronomically huge to what we've experienced on other tablets.
Holding the damn thing is also a bit of a problem, as it's a "two hands at all times" type tablet. The Excite 13 isn't so much heavy as it unwieldy. But once you get yourself acquainted to the idea that what you're holding is more computer than tablet, you can start to excitedly imagine all the possibilities a tablet this size could offer. HD Videos would rock, a bluetooth keyboard would make the device the sleekest laptop imaginable, Angry Birds with eagles displayed in their real-life size.
We're excited to review the monstrosity in all it's gargantuan glory, so keep an eye out for our full-length review.
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