Toshiba Thrive - big brother vs. little cousin?

[Kyotee]

I'm pretty certain I've narrowed the selection for my first tablet purchase down to a Toshiba Thrive. But I'm not sure whether to go with the full size 10.1" or the smaller 7" version. Has anybody here used them both? Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of each tablet as they relate specifically to each other? Can the 7" fit in a pocket? Does it also require a bulky charging brick, or does it charge via USB? Is the 10.1" more powerful or easier to use? Does it have a better screen? I'm not ready to get one just yet, but I want to do it before I go back to college, because I think it will be really useful for that. Any advice and information anybody could give me would be really appreciated.

 

[myadtviola]

I have had my 10" thrive for two weeks now? Love it. Since you mentioned school, I'd imagine you'll want to write on the tablet?
Get the 10". You can get documents to go full version and write like mad.
Assume you have an android phone, let that be your more portable device.

Sent from my AT 100 using Android Tablet Forum

 

[OllieG]

I'm inexperienced with the larger Thrive, but have been using a year old 10" competitor. This week I purchased a Toshiba Thrive 7, so I am moving from a 10" tablet to 7".

First, let me say I love the Thrive 7. The screen is beautiful, the device is responsive and I can take it everywhere. (But I do seem to be burning through the battery.)

Homework
I cannot imagine doing homework on my 7! Not that I dislike it, but because using an on-screen keyboard is a pin compared to a physical keyboard and the 7" screen is really small. Mind you, I do think a physical keyboard could be the solution and I have used one with my 10" tablet and was BARELY OK with this setup. You really want to use a mouse and menu system to select and format text, etc.

Non-Homework comments
So far the only benefit of the 7" screen has been portability: while on my San Francisco packed, standing-room-only, subway commute I'm now able to read without whacking my neighbors in the head. With my wide-screen 10 inch I was always very self-conscious of the small spectacle I was creating, trying to obscure the nature of such a long device. Also, as I consider the other electronic devices onboard my trains, such as the iPads and Kindles, only Kindle readers appear to match the Thrive 7's portability.

The Thrive 7 fits in my coat and cargo pants pockets, but not a shirt or normal pants pockets.

The power port on both the 7 and 10 inch Thrives is a long proprietary port on the device's bottom edge. the power cord that comes with the device plugs into either the wall or a normal USB source into the device's bottom edge port.

At home 7" feels small and I might return to using my year-old 10" as the 7"'s tradeoff of screensize to portability is a detriment, not a benefit.

If you're not riding crowded subway trains and are using a keyboard to type up notes and carrying the Thrive in a backpack, I would chose the 10" and not the 7".

 

[Kyotee]

Been away for a bit. Thank you both very much.