The heart of the Toshiba Excite Pro is its stunning 10.1-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) display. With a pixel density of 299 pixels per inch, this screen is a visual marvel, rendering text with the crispness of a high-end e-reader and presenting media with vibrant, true-to-life colors. For professionals who spend hours reviewing documents, spreadsheets, or detailed design mockups, the clarity reduces eye strain and improves overall productivity. For entertainment, it transforms movies and games into immersive experiences where every high-definition detail is visible, from the subtle textures in a film’s cinematography to the intricate artwork in mobile games. The display is not just a component; it is the centerpiece that justifies the device’s “Pro” moniker, providing a canvas where both work and play look exceptional.
Under the hood, the tablet was powered by the NVIDIA Tegra 4 system-on-a-chip, a quad-core processor paired with a 72-core GPU. At the time of its release, this represented a significant leap in mobile computing power. For work-oriented tasks, this translated into seamless multitasking. Users could effortlessly switch between a heavy spreadsheet, a web browser with multiple tabs, and a email client without experiencing the lag that plagued lesser tablets. The processing muscle ensured that business applications, from CRM tools to video conferencing apps like Skype, ran smoothly and reliably. The Tegra 4’s GPU was specifically designed for gaming, enabling console-quality graphics and physics. Titles that leveraged this power offered a gameplay experience that was rare on Android tablets at the time, making the Excite Pro a legitimate device for mobile gaming enthusiasts who refused to compromise on visual fidelity.
The design philosophy of the Toshiba Excite Pro leaned towards a premium, professional aesthetic. Its sleek aluminum unibody construction felt solid and durable in the hand, projecting an image of sophistication suitable for a boardroom meeting. However, this premium build came with a significant trade-off: weight and thickness. Weighing approximately 1.2 pounds (around 540 grams) and measuring about 0.35 inches (8.9 mm) thick, it was noticeably heavier and bulkier than key competitors like the iPad Air or Google Nexus 10. This impacted its ultimate portability, making it less comfortable for prolonged one-handed use or casual reading. The device featured a standard micro-USB port for charging and data transfer, a micro-HDMI port for easily connecting to external monitors and projectors—a boon for presentations—and a full-size SD card slot. This expandable storage, a feature often omitted by competitors, was a critical advantage for professionals needing to access large files or photographers transferring images from a camera.
A tablet’s utility for work is often defined by its accessories, and Toshiba offered an optional keyboard dock that transformed the Excite Pro into a laptop-like companion. This dock provided a tangible tactile keyboard and a responsive touchpad, making long-form typing and navigation far more efficient than relying solely on the on-screen keyboard. When docked, the tablet was a credible tool for writing reports, composing emails, and managing data. For creative work, the tablet’s high-resolution display and processing power made it a capable, though not perfect, platform for photo editing with apps like Adobe Photoshop Touch. The micro-HDMI output allowed users to mirror their screen on a larger display for collaborative work or to enjoy games and movies on a big screen, bridging the gap between a personal tablet and a home entertainment system.
On the software front, the Excite Pro launched with a relatively clean version of Android, which was a positive for users who preferred an uncluttered experience. However, this is also where the device faced one of its most significant long-term challenges: software support. Like many Android manufacturers of the era, Toshiba was slow to deliver major Android version updates. This left the device stuck on an older OS version while the broader ecosystem moved forward, potentially causing compatibility issues with newer apps and missing out on critical security patches. This lack of sustained software support has become a major consideration when evaluating the device’s longevity and current viability, especially compared to tablets from Google or Apple, which typically receive many years of consistent updates.
When evaluating the Toshiba Excite Pro against its contemporaries, its position becomes clearer. Compared to the iPad Air, it often boasted a higher-resolution screen and expandable storage, but it was let down by its heavier build, less polished app ecosystem, and inferior long-term software support. Against the Google Nexus 10, it was a more than capable competitor, with similar performance and the added benefit of that crucial SD card slot. Its value proposition was its attempt to be a powerhouse in both domains without a significant compromise in either—offering a top-tier screen and performance for play, and the connectivity and accessory support for work.
Ultimately, the question of whether the Toshiba Excite Pro was the best tablet for work and play does not have a definitive yes or no answer. In its prime, it was a formidable and highly ambitious device that excelled in specific, critical areas. Its magnificent display and raw processing power provided an elite experience for both productivity and entertainment. The inclusion of professional-friendly ports and a functional keyboard dock demonstrated a genuine understanding of user needs beyond basic consumption. However, its shortcomings in portability due to its weight, and most critically, its uncertain and limited software update lifecycle, prevented it from achieving lasting, universal acclaim. It was, and remains, an excellent example of a high-performance hybrid tablet that could brilliantly serve a user’s needs for both work and play, provided those needs aligned with its specific strengths and its limitations, particularly regarding software obsolescence, were acceptable. For a user prioritizing a stunning display for media, expandable storage for files, and a desktop-like experience with docks and HDMI out, the Excite Pro was a compelling, powerhouse choice. For a user prioritizing a lightweight design, a perfectly optimized app ecosystem, and long-term software viability, other options likely proved more suitable.