Toshiba is updating its Encore line of Windows tablets with two new models… and the smaller tablet is one of the cheapest Windows tablets announced to date.
The 8 inch Toshiba Encore 2 will have a starting price of just $199 when it launches in early July. Toshiba’s 10 inch Encore 2 tablet will also be pretty cheap, with prices starting at $270.
Both tablets feature Intel Atom Bay Trail processors, 1280 x 800 pixel displays, up to 64GB of storage, and up to 10 hours of battery life. They also each have microSDXC cards, micro USB 2.0 ports, 5MP rear cameras, front-facing HD cameras, and micro stereo speakers.
The 10 inch model has a micro HDMI port, but the 8 inch version does not. 
The tablets come with a 1-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 Personal which basically means you can use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook on the tablet for a year and you get any upgrades that become available in that time for no extra cost. But you don’t get any extra licenses to install the software on another machine.
Toshiba’s new 10 inch Windows tablet measures 0.4 inches thick and weighs just under 1.4 pounds.
The 8 inch model is also 0.4 inches thick, but it’s a bit lighter at just 14 ounces.
It’s likely we’ll see more dirt cheap Windows tablets in the coming weeks. Microsoft and Intel have been doing their best to bring down the price of this type of product to help Windows machines compete with Android and iOS devices. But Toshiba’s the first major PC maker to announce plans for a $199 Windows 8.1 tablet which will be sold in the US.
Toshiba’s in trouble.
Shall we stop with the old way of thinking. For the people that will buy this based on price not specs Im confident this w8 tablet will get the job done. Check YouTube for people running w8 on hardware less powerful than this. I marvel at the idea of windows on 1gb of ram and dual cores. I went low power desktop, 3 years ago and never looked back.
Processor is Intel Z3735F.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Atom-Z3735F-Tablet-SoC.116934.0.html
Should be alright for a cheap x86 tablet. I’ve got my eye on one…
Good find! Seems to be exactly the same as the Z3740D only in a different package and half the price. Now only the RAM is the question, if it really turns out to have only 1GB, I’d stay away from it: https://www.theverge.com/2014/5/27/5752156/toshiba-encore-2-low-price-windows-tablet-release-date
wow.. they are making the new generation inferior than the current generation (unless they bump the processor specs) . I just bought the Encore from Amazon for around $210 – and the 8″ one has a MicroHDMI out – that is why we bought that rather than the Dell Venue 8 Pro or the Lenovo 8″ WIndows 8 tablet.
Not much point in buying used/refurb versions of older generation
devices at these prices. Also coming are uber cheap
Windows laptops, also without Office Home and Student.
MS and Intel are burning money to defend market share.
I wonder whether sellers of used/refurb will adjust their selling
prices to reflect their much-devalued inventory, or will they hole out,
hoping to snare uninformed consumers. Either way, their sales
could dry up fast.
Which Bay Trail processor is it? It’s a little thick at 0.4 inches, but considering the price……
There are rumors about the 8″ version having only 1GB of RAM. Which sounds really bad, 2GB is the bare minimum. With the introduction of WiMBoot I was expecting 16GB devices but definitely not 1GB RAM devices…