Mobility

Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive

By // July 19, 2011, 9:48 AM PST // billdetwiler

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  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive

    The Thrive is Toshiba's first entrant in the rapidly growing field of Android tablets. Follow along as I crack open this 10" tablet for a look at the hardware inside.

    Check out the TR Dojo blog for my full cracking open analysis of the Toshiba Thrive.

    Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Box

    As of this writing, the Toshiba Thrive is available in 8GB ($429.99), 16GB ($479.99), and 32GB ($579.99) versions. The current versions only support Wi-Fi connectivity. Toshiba has not announced 3G or 4G models.

    Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: In the box

    The Toshiba Thrive has a dual-core NVidia Tegra 2 1GHz processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 10.1-inch touchscreen display (1280x800 - 16:10 aspect ratio), a 2.0 MP front camera and 5.0 MP rear camera. The Thrive comes with Android 3.1 Honeycomb installed.

    Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Box contents

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Front

    The Toshiba Thrive weighs 1.6 lbs. and measures 10.7" (W) x 7.0" (H) x 0.6" (D). Despite being one of the thickest and heaviest tablets I've cracked open, the Thrive wasn't uncomfortable to hold or use.

    Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Back

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Docking connector and speakers

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Power button, screen rotation lock switch, SD Card slot

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Top edge

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Bottom

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: USB, HDMI, and Mini-USB ports and CD-IN and headphone/microphone jack

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Back cover lock/unlock switch

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Popping loose the back cover

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Removing the back cover

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Back cover removed

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Removing the battery

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: 2030mAh 10.8V Li-ion battery back

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Removing the system battery

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Removing the internal cover screws

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Uncovering the camera PCB ribbon cable

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Disconnecting the camera PCB ribbon cable

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Disconnecting the LCD screen ribbon cable

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Lifting off the inner cover

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: First look inside

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Disconnecting the digitizer ribbon cable

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Front panel assembly

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Removing the display bracket screws from the front panel

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Disconnecting the rear-facing camera

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Disconnecting the camera PCB ribbon cable

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Lifting the LCD and metal bracket away from the front panel (digitizer)

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: LCD assembly and front panel (digitizer)

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Front panel (digitizer)

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: EETI EX5404 Projected Capacitive Touch Controller IC Solution

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Removing the camera PCB

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: 2.0MP front-facing camera, interal microphone, and camera indicator light

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: LCD and attached metal bracket

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Removing the LCD screws from the metal bracket

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Metal bracket and LCD assembly

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Metal bracket

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: 5.0MP rear-facing camera

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: AU Optronics B101EW05 LCD (1280 x 800)

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Motherboard attached to internal cover

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Removing the button and system indicator light PCB

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Disconnecting the button and system indicator light PCB ribbon cable

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Button and system indicator light PCB

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Disconnecting the display cable from the motherboard

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Disconnecting the storage PCB ribbon cable from the motherboard

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Removing the storage PCB

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: SanDisk SDIN4C2-16G MLC NAND flash storage chip

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Disconnecting the wireless antenna wires

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Removing the wireless card

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: AzureWave AW-NH931 802.11 b/g/n Wireless LAN, Bluetooth and FM Rx Combo Half Mini Card

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Broadcom BCM4329 Low-Power 802.11n with Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and FM (Tx and Rx)

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Disconnecting the CD-IN and speaker cables from the motherboard

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Removing the motherboard screws

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Removing the motherboard

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Internal cover with speakers, USB port, and antennas attached

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: DC-IN connector and speaker

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Speaker and wireless antenna

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Wireless antenna

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Motherboard (with EMI shields) - Front

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Motherboard (with EMI shields) - Back

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Motherboard - Front

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Motherboard - Back

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: 1.0 GHz dual-core NVidia Tegra 2 application processor (A09B350 1039A3)

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Winbond WPCE775CA0DG IC

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: TPS 658621C Multi-channel Power Management Unit with Li-Ion Battery Charger

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Parade PS8122 1:2 HDMI/DVI Demultiplexer

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: AzureWave GPS-S17 SIP GPS module IC

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: 1MB Hynix H8TJR00X0MLR LPDDR2 RAM chip

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: BD9528 0454

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: SMSC USB3315 Hi-Speed USB Transceiver

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Wolfson WM8903 Ultra low power audio CODEC

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: FM34NE B04LB

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Texas Instruments SN75LVDS83B FlatLink transmitter

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Alcor Micro AU6254 USB2.0 Hub Controller

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Intersil ISL88731C Level-2 Lithium-ion battery charger

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Invensense MPU-3050 Triple Axis Gyroscope with Embedded Digital Motion Processor

  • Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive: Completely disassembled

    I've worked on, supported, and disassembled electronic devices since I was a kid, and I really appreciate the Thrive's construction and design. The device has a case that's tricky, but not difficult to open. The internal hardware is attached with screws and not glued to the front panel or back cover. And, many internal components can be replaced individually.

    Unfortunately, the Thrive's full-size components, "componentized" construction, and user-replaceable battery also make it one of the bulkiest and heaviest 10" tablets on the market.

    Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

Related Topics:

Mobility Security Hardware Software Apple Android Google

Cracking Open the Toshiba Thrive

The Thrive is Toshiba's first entrant in the rapidly growing field of Android tablets. Follow along as I crack open this 10" tablet for a look at the hardware inside.

Check out the TR Dojo blog for my full cracking open analysis of the Toshiba Thrive.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler

About Bill Detwiler

Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop supp...

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