The Toshiba Thrive has not been on the market for all that long, so it is nice that Toshiba has listened to its users of the tablet, and have released an update that fixes the so called coma problem.

According to some users, the Toshiba Thrive was experiencing problems when the power button was pressed to go into sleep mode. But the real issue is that it never actually woke up when the power button was pressed again.

Lucky enough for you, if you did experience this issue and have got the Toshiba Thrive to wake up again, a simple download can fix this problem via the Toshiba Service Station utility application that can be found on your Toshiba Thrive unit. A Toshiba spokesperson released this statement: -

“A limited number of Thrive Tablet users have experienced a Resume issue when in Sleep mode. Toshiba has released a software update to resolve this issue, improving the sleep-and-resume performance, as well as enhancing the multimedia playback capabilities of the device. The software update can be downloaded through the Toshiba Service Station utility app found on the Thrive Tablet.”

Obviously, if you still haven’t got your Toshiba Thrive to wake up from its coma, a simple battery pull can help restore your tablet back to working order so you can download the update which should fix the sleeping disorder.

The update also comes with some minor multimedia playback enhancements, of which we don’t know too much about but at least you can stop your Toshiba Thrive from refusing to do anything apart from sleep on the job.

Were you one of the unlucky ones to have this happen to you? Did the update fix this? Let us know in the comments below.

We will start things off on a positive note, Wollman highlighted 3 aspects of the Thrive which cannot be ignored, one of these aspects is its price. Prices start at just $429, for those of you who are “in the know” this is cheaper than most of today’s most impressive tablets, therefore we are sure it will turn some heads, but Engadget’s review score does suggest that spending a little more on an alternative tablet may be wise.

Other things in the Thrive’s favor are its ports, these days plenty of manufacturers use non standardized ports to save on space, however we were impressed by the fact that the Thrive features a standard USB port, a miniUSB port and a proper HDMI-out port. It does not end there either, you also get a memory card reader which is compatible with SDXC cards. The fact that there is a USB port and support for large memory cards make its easier than ever to back up photos etc, Engadget also say that the file manager and printing apps which come with this tablet as standard are great.

So why the 6/10 score? Well as the score suggest the Thrive is far from perfect, these days people want long-life from a single charge, in tests with a movie on loop, WiFi on and Bluetooth off it delivered just 6 hours 25 mins, this is by no means awful, but noticeably less than the iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 which both achieved over 10 hours of life in a similar test. Over time batteries do deteriorate, therefore it is nice to see that the Thrive’s battery is removable, simply remove the cover and the battery can be taken out easily. While we are on the subject there’s a range of covers available, as standard the Thrive is black, but you can buy additional covers for $20 each, so far we have heard of blue, raspberry, lavender, sliver and green options.

As with most of today’s tablets there are front-facing and rear cameras, you can see sample photos taken with the rear-facing camera here and the front-facing camera here. As you would expect the front-facing camera is going to be used more for video chat functionality, so stills aren’t that great, as for the rear camera the stills lack sharpness and the colors captured are by no means vibrant. The 5 megapixel camera’s photos look very grainy and we are told that the position of the camera makes taking landscape images awkward, Engadget say that it does not “Thrive” in low-light conditions either.

Finally we must mention build quality and materials used. When you pick up an Apple tablet it feels light and thin, yet solid, the same can’t be said about the Thrive. It is 15.7mm thick and weighs 1.66 pounds, this makes it nearly double as thick as the iPad 2 and as for its weight it is heavier than the first-gen iPad, to put this into context the Thrive is roughly 150grams heavier than the iPad 2. When describing the build quality Engadget use adjectives such as cheap and flimsy, however they do compliment the rubberised back cover which gives it grip and added protection.

You can find out much more detailed information regarding the Toshiba Thrive by checking out Engadget’s full review here, they also talk about different capacities, prices and even a 3G version of the Thrive. It has to be said that in terms of performance the Tegra 2 SoC did not disappoint, like other tables Flash content caused things to slow down, however in benchmarks it was just as impressive as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

According to a recent tcmagazine.com article by Cristian, the 10.1-inch Thrive is expected to be launched on July 10th, although the tablet will be available for pre-order as soon as June 13th. The Toshiba Thrive tablet will be available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB models, priced up at $429, $479 and $579 respectively.

The Toshiba Thrive is powered by an NIVIDA Tegra 2 processor, runs the Android 3.1 Honeycomb operating system, and comes with a 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 resolution multi-touch screen that’s enhanced with Resolution Plus technology and a user replaceable battery, which is able to be charged in 1.5 hours.

It also comes with a non-slip Easy Grip interchangeable backplate, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera that enables 720p video capture, a 2MP front-facing camera, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, an SD card slot, mini USB, full size USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI output, an ambient light sensor and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Will you be pre-ordering the Toshiba Thrive tablet?

Earlier on, we gave you some information regarding it’s specs when compared to the likes of two juggernauts already on the market by way of the iPad 2 and Motorola Xoom.

Fresh details have now seen the device listed for pre-order at $449 for an 8GB version of the device, and $579 for a beefy 32GB version. Alleged specs of the device have also been outed as well and they include a 1Ghz Tegra 2 dual-core processor, a 10.1 inch display, 1GB of RAM and a 5 megapixel rear camera backed up with a 2MP front-facing camera.

The device also comes with Android 3.0 Honeycomb which makes it very similar to the Motorola Xoom, although that will soon have 4G LTE support if you are looking for exact differences between the two. But are these specs and the Toshiba brand enough for you to fork out $449 for one?

Don’t forget that the Xoom is listed at $599 for the WiFi model, while the iPad 2 is currently available for $499 for the 16GB WiFi Model. So the Toshiba Thrive is obviously cheaper, but will you risk it considering it is their first tablet device? Let us know your thoughts on this.

It did not take a genius to know what Toshiba were going to call their 10-inch tablet, as a website had already been parked for it. We should start to see the first set of commercials soon for the new device; we do find it strange that you can already pre-order the tablets, which come in either 8GB or 32GB.

That is the first thing that we will look at, the iPad 2 comes in a choice of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB; the Xoom only comes in 32GB. However, Apple’s tablet fails in the fact that it does not have an SD Card slot, whereas the other two do.

The Thrive looks like it will use the same Tegra 2 dual-core 1GHz processor, the iPad 2 uses the A5 dual-core 1GHz CPU. Both the Xoom and Thrive have the same 5-megapixel rear and 2-megapixel front-facing cameras. Again, the iPad 2 fails here as well – cameras have never been Apple’s strong suit.

Toshiba’s upcoming tablet has the benefit of an HDMI port, and although this is very good the iPad 2 has no need for this if you have Apple TV. The reason for this is the fact that you are able to stream everything direct to your TV and enjoy your content on a big screen.

Looking over all specs you have to wonder why the likes of Xoom and even the new Galaxy Tab cannot match sales of the iPad 2? However, specs are not everything, it is also down to usability and what they offer the users, Apple has the App Store – need we say more?

How do you think the Toshiba Thrive will perform in the tablet market?