Ever used an Android phone? You’ll know how to get around the Toshiba AC100 then. Toshiba has given it its own skin (with the biggest addition of a cursor – though you can turn it off) but the basics are still the same. You get five homescreens to slap shortcuts, folders and widgets on, and you can bring up a full app menu, or the menu options within apps with a rich click of the trackpad. But does it work well on this uncommon form factor? Find out in the software section of our Toshiba AC100 review right here.
Read the rest of our Toshiba AC100 review
Toshiba AC100 review: Android laptop tested
Toshiba AC100 review: Build and battery
Let’s get this clear from the get go: the Toshiba AC100 runs Android 2.1, but it does not run the Google apps you’ll find on most Android smartphones. That’s because they’re not open source, and Google isn’t down with them appearing on large screen laptop devices – yet anyway.
Now, this may not be an issue for some. The bundled Mail app on the Toshiba AC100 works well enough, and it’s still easy to wirelessly sync Exchange and Gmail contacts. Most of Google Maps renders in any Android browser (Except for StreetView), and well, why would you use a 10.1-inch machine as a satnav? Where are you going to put it, on your dash? How big is your car? Can we have it?
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But the lack of Android Market access is a real pain, and very nearly the Toshiba AC100’s downfall. The lack of this app means that you won’t be able to download plenty of other ones – you’ll have to scavenge for them on the sparsely stocked Camingo Market, or on Android freeware sites. This is going to leave Android novices baffled – if you count yourself as one, the Toshiba AC100 is almost certainly not for you.
And even if you do manage to install an app, it may not play nice with the Toshiba AC100’s screen size and various drives. Skyfire for instance worked just fine for loading basic web pages, but steadfast refused to convert Flash videos on the fly as it will on a smartphone. And third party media players like RockPlayer and mVideo Player just wouldn’t open anything, no matter what we tried.
The Toshiba AC100’s software saving grace however is its overall speed and power consumption. It boots up post haste and snaps out of sleep in under a second. Web pages – so long as there’s no flash – load completely, and incredibly quickly. The time it takes to turn on the Toshiba AC100 and load the homepage of your favourite site (Hi!) or newspaper is much shorter than when trying to do the same thing on a Wintel netbook. And though you can’t multitask with document windows side by side, a taskbar button on the keyboard means you can still juggle programs easily – and without the cost of a Microsoft Office licence too. And it’ll run and run: despite its slim size, the Toshiba AC100 runs for a full six hours on a charge.
Media playback is impressive too, and should keep most happy. The standard Gallery app opens your usual MP4s, as well as XviD/AVI files, while the Toshiba Media Player lets you pull media off your home server – and considering how easy it is to hook up to a HDTV with an HDMI cable, it could act as a useful media streamer in the lounge when you get home too.
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The software is not without its flaws however, and if you stray beyond checking your email and surfing the web, you’ll notice the frayed edges. The three way menu that pops up is a tad confusing. Toshiba’s social networking homescreen widget wouldn’t refresh, leaving us looking at the same tweet all day. The preloaded SingleClick Connect app which ought to be useful (Easy remote connection to your home network) wouldn’t let us log in or even create an account.
And most bizarre of all, Toshiba’s hidden the stock (and excellent) Android browser. It’s not in the app menus, and the preloaded Opera icon on the homescreen makes it clear how Toshiba sees you surfing. But you can still launch the standard browser from the search bar – which again, if you don’t know Android inside out, is going to lead to much head scratching.
Still, if you’re an avid Dropbox user (Trust us, you’ll want to install this essential syncing app if you buy) who needs to check email and edit documents on the move, the Toshiba AC100’s Android 2.1 software makes it a great companion computer.
Read the rest of our Toshiba AC100 review
Toshiba AC100 review: Android laptop tested
Toshiba AC100 review: Build and battery
