Toshiba Encore Is The First Windows 8 Tablet Under $200

Toshiba Encore has come online for order and will be released on ~~November 18~~. (UPDATED: Encore has been pushed back to Nov. 29, 2013.) Toshiba Encore is an 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet that starts at $329: http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Encore
(UPDATE 1: The Toshiba Encore became the first Windows 8 tablet with a price under $200 in May, at just $199.99)
(UPDATE 2: The new Toshiba Encore 2 Pro – 8 (WT8) released on July 13, 2014.)

There are some good reasons to get this Encore tablet and some reasons not to. What's good about it is the
Intel Bay Trail T series 1.8GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3740 1.8 GHz processor. As is the Intel HD Graphics GPU, and 2GB of DDR3 RAM. The 2MP front camera and 8MP rear camera are good specs too.

What's not so good however is the price, since its three competitors – that are all being released this November, have the same specs or better with two of them at lower prices even. These competing tablets are the Lenovo Miix 2 and Dell Venue 8 Pro both starting at $299, and the Acer Iconia W4 starting at $329 just like the Toshiba Encore.

Another issue to be aware of is the display. Though the 1280×800 resolution is identical to its competitors, the quality of Toshiba's latest tablets have left a lot to be desired. Even when they launched their retina display tablets they failed, not because of the resolution, but because of the poor quality of the displays. And customers did not forgive them.
Additionally, the battery life of the Toshiba Encore is officially max 7 hours.

So if you want cheaper 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablets that you don't have to wait too long for, check out its competitors instead.

– Tom Bowen

Jim Miller

Jim's passion for Apple products ignited in 2007 when Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone. This was a canon event in his life. Noticing a lack of iPad-focused content that is easy to understand even for “tech-noob”, he decided to create Tabletmonkeys in 2011.

Jim continues to share his expertise and passion for tablets, helping his audience as much as he can with his motto “One Swipe at a Time!”