I could easily forgive the Toshiba Excite Write for failing to breach much new ground in the stylus tablet department, but its $600 price is the ultimate deal breaker. There just isn't enough offered here -- whether in performance or features -- to justify that price.
Toshiba Excite Write
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
The Write's biggest issue is integration. Or lack thereof. Toshiba's TruNote Stylus app is severely limited in function, and while the pen can be used to navigate the OS, its functionality pales in comparison to Samsung's Note line of tablets whose write-to-text features makes the S Pen feel like a truly integrated and essential component of the interface. The Excite Write simply feels like the Excite Pro with stylus support.
The Write isn't a bad tablet, but its offerings don't match up to the $600 asking price. Stylus tablet shoppers would do well to go with either current Samsung Note tablet, or wait for the new Note 10.1 2014 Edition, which looks extremely promising
Design
The Toshiba Excite Write is essentially the Toshiba Excite Pro with a Wacom digitizer under its screen and follows the company's tablet house design for 2013: a black-bezeled tablet with a textured plastic gray backside. Corners are comfortably rounded, but the back texture actually does little to keep it from slipping out of your hands.
When held in landscape, you'll find the power/sleep button on the top edge somewhat toward the left. The button is actually positioned a bit closer to the middle of the tablet's body than I'm used to, and as a result it was easy to miss it when attempting a no-look press. Thankfully, it protrudes from the surface just enough that most people will have no problem finding it with a simple finger slide across the top.