Hands on with Toshiba's AC100 Android-based, Nvidia Tegra-powered netbook

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

 1 of 6

Gallery

Posted on 21 Jun 2010 at 06:59

Toshiba has shown off its new netbook equipped with Google's Android operating system and Nvidia's Tegra processor and we managed to get our hands on a prototype at Toshiba's London press conference.

It was launched as part of Toshiba's 25th Anniversary celebrations - that's 25 years of laptop manufacturing. Another model was the dual-touchscreen Libretto W100.

Its black and yellow appearance is eye-catching, but you'd be forgiven for dismissing the Toshiba AC100 as yet another 10.1in netbook. However, it's actually very different from the Windows and Atom-based models that currently dominate the market.

Although it doesn't have a touchscreen and has a standard keyboard and touchpad, the AC100 runs Google's Android smartphone operating system instead of Windows 7. This is just as well given the relatively small 8GB SSD. We're used to navigating the Android interface using a touchscreen, so using a keyboard and touchpad instead felt very strange. Nevertheless, the streamlined interface felt responsive and makes more efficient use of the 1,024x600 pixel resolution of the 10.1in screen than Windows does. It also booted in just 23 seconds, but the prototype we saw was still a little buggy and prone to slow-downs, crashes and random error messages.

Toshiba claims the 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 250 dual-core processor is powerful enough to play 1080p HD video which can be outputted on to a high definition TV using the HDMI port. You're unlikely to fit a lot of 1080p footage on the AC100's 8GB SSD alongside your other files and apps, but it's still a potentially handy feature to have and there is a SD card and two USB ports for connecting more storage and other peripherals. Oddly, one of the USB ports isn't full-size but is actually a smaller microUSB connector due to the lack of space on the AC100's tiny motherboard. You'll need an adapter to connect a full-sized USB connector, but Toshiba hasn't decided whether one will be included in the box or not.

WiFi and Bluetooth will be built-in, but you'll have to pay extra for integrated 3G. According to Tony Alderson, Toshiba's UK Product Manager for Consumer Laptops, the AC100 can switch between different home screens full of different apps and widgets based on which wireless network you've connected to. For example, business apps would be displayed when you're connected to your office's network while games and social networking apps appear when you're connecting to your home network.

The AC100's tapered design weighs just 870g and is remarkably slender – Toshiba states that it's just 21mm thick at its chunkiest point. The prototype unit felt a bit flimsy though and creaked alarmingly under pressure. Much better were the large and responsive keyboard and touchpad which are almost identical to the ones found on Toshiba's other laptops such as the NB300 Atom netbook.

The battery in the prototype unit we saw was a meagre 25Wh unit, but Toshiba claims it will last for eight hours of constant use and seven days on standby. Needless to say, we'll be putting this claim to the test and give you our full verdict once a finished model arrives in our Labs.

Toshiba plans to have the AC100 on sale by August. Pricing hasn't been finalised, but Toshiba is aiming for around £250 inc VAT which would be cheaper than most Windows and Atom-based netbooks. We do find it curious that Toshiba chose to use Android for a portable device with a physical keyboard, but no touchscreen, while choosing Windows 7 for its dual-touchscreen, keyboard-less Libretto W100. We would have expected it the other way around since Android was originally designed for devices with touchscreens.