Toshiba has two new tablets featuring Intel Atom Bay Trail processors, Windows 8.1 software, and support for a pressure-sensitive digital pen. The Toshiba Encore 2 Write is the company’s low-cost alternative to Microsoft’s Surface Pro.

The 8 inch Toshiba Encore 2 Write has a starting price of $349, while the 10 inch version sells for $399 and supports an optional Bluetooth keyboard cover.

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Both models feature 2GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, 1280 x 800 pixel displays, an 8MP rear camera, 1.2MP front camera and up to 11 hours of battery life. But it’s the pen that makes the tablets special.

Toshiba calls the digital pen that comes with these tablets a TruPen, and it supports more than 2000 levels of pressure sensitivity.

The pen may not slide into the tablet case when it’s not in use… but you can clip it to the tablet to make the pen a bit harder to lose.

You can use Toshiba’s TruNote app to not only create notes or artwork, but also to search. Just hightlight text you’ve written and you can choose to search the web for that text. Or you can search the app for older notes… or search by shape. So if you remember creating chart or drawing but can’t remember what you called it, you can try jotting a similar shape and searching.

The pen also supports hover actions, which means you can wave it over the top of the screen to move a cursor as if you were hovering a mouse. This can make it easier to interact with desktop Windows apps on a computer with a small screen and no mouse or touchpad.

The tablets have micro HDMI, microSD, and micro USB ports and it should be available January 11th.

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14 replies on “Toshiba launches Encore 2 Write Windows tablets with Wacom pens”

  1. Does anyone know if this is 32-bit or 64-bit?

    The Microsoft Store lists it as 32-bit
    https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Toshiba-Encore-2-Signature-Edition-Tablet/productID.312644300

    But I saw it listed somewhere else, not sure where, as 64-bit.
    I know the processor itself is 64-bit, just like my Vivotab Note 8, but for the Vivotab, the OS is still only 32-bit. Which sucks. And I’m worried this is the same, but I can’t find anything. The official Toshiba spec sheet doesn’t say.

    If its 64-bit, I’m upgrading, if not, sticking with my Vivotab.

    1. General rule of thumb, unless it offers at least 4GB of RAM then it’s 32bit for mobile Windows devices… So far these have primarily been devices with the Z3795, like the Asus Transformer Book T200, Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 10, and a few other business class tablets from HP and others that raise the price too high for general consumers…

      While premium features are distinctly lacking in the smaller tablet ranges…

  2. Almost fits all my needs, except the lack of dedicated Page Up & Page Down keys

  3. …why 1280×800 Toshiba? whyyyyy o_o I may still get one. $399 for a Wacom-bearing Windows tablet may be too much to pass up.

    1. Asus vivotab note 8 had a stylus and is $300 or less. Dell venue 8 pro and 11 pro have one too but it isn’t wacom

      1. For my purposes, the Dell styluses are less than optimal, as are the current crop of Surface Pro tablets, because of some unresolved micro-jitter issues that NTrig pens always seem to have. The Vivotab 8 is a good value, but I would rather have a 10 inch screen for drawing, even at the same resolution.

        1. I was dismayed over the reviews of the Dell pen too, but if it helps any, they came out with a brand new revision of the pen that is actually starting to get compared to Wacom and N-Trig in terms of quality. There’s an active thread about it over at the Tablet PC Review forums: https://forum.tabletpcreview.com/threads/new-dell-stylus-11-3-14.64415/
          I haven’t quite decided whether to pull the trigger on one of the Dell tablets now, but I’m certainly much more likely to. In Dell’s business outlet now, they occasionally have the i5 Venue 11 Pro models discounted to around $450, which is a pretty good price.

          1. I found relevant the comparison with the stylus on SP3 wich are rated as the best and the Dell new stylus is said to be equal… I’m a bit disappointed cause in shop the stylus on SP3 is not impressive !

            BTW I haven’t receive mine Venue 7140 5Y10 since 2 weeks cause lot of people order one in Europe. A good review on notebookcheck was publish, first in German the 23 December. Now, I don’t know if I should cancel it and wait for an Encore Write.

      2. Clarification for the Vivotab Note 8, the 64GB model goes above $300 (only the 32GB goes below) and it lacks a HDMI port and only has one microUSB (2.0) and one microSD slot, while the pen that comes with it isn’t as usable as the one Toshiba seems to be offering… The Asus Vivotab Note 8 also offers less battery life…

        So the increased pricing seems justified in comparison…

        1. I got my 64gb vivotab refurbushed for $200, pretty sure I’ve seen new ones for less than $300.
          This 8″ Toshiba doesn’t have an HDMI port (only the 10inch), and I believe it has the same usb and microsd slot.
          The vivotab stylus does suck, I’ll agree with that. The $30 wacom replacement pen makes a big difference.

          1. You can’t compare refurbs to new… that’s like comparing a new car to a used car!

            Besides, refurbs get less warranty period at usually only 90 days and usually drop the extras like the free MS Office Home & Student 2013… though you may still get the one year Office 365 deal instead…

            I also have a Asus Vivotab Note 8, btw… and the pen that comes with it is definitely not as usable as a more traditional sized WACOM pen… many owners actually get a regular WACOM pen and recalibrate as the small pen is harder to hold and lacks the dual usage of the normal pen that you can flip over to use as a eraser and the button is harder to press on the small pen…

            So, at least you’re getting a larger pen with this Toshiba… but it is disappointing that it is similarly limited in ports as the Asus…

          2. can you tell me which wacom replacement pen works with vivotab note 8 tablet ?

            (i see a $30 “wacom bamboo create pen” at the amazon website but the discussion there seems to say that it doesn’t work with vivotab note 8.)

    2. (It’s kind obvious that) on such a small screen en for preserving battery, why would you ask more resolution… For my part, I hope the screen is not too dark en that the rear camera don’t lack autofocus.

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