Toshiba Encore 2 Hands-on

While Windows 8/8.1 has almost become a nightmare for Microsoft, Microsoft still needs to contain its rivals before Windows 9 is launched. What is the most effective way to compete with Apple's ipad? Obviously the price, so we saw the Toshiba Encore 2--A Ultra-low priced Windows 8.1 flat.

Toshiba Encore 2 's offer is lower than before, the 8-inch version is only 200 U.S. dollars (about 1230 yuan), 10-inch version is only 270 U.S. dollars (about 1661 yuan), and once again pulled down the price of Windows 8.1 flat. Of course, low prices usually mean some compromises, such as fuselage material and workmanship, but Toshiba Encore 2 is still on average, achieving a high price/performance ratio.

　　Fuselage design

Toshiba Encore 2 has a plastic fuselage, white and champagne style, in a black, Silver tablet computer is still very conspicuous. Although there is no metal fuselage, but the workmanship is good, and not particularly strong sense of cheap, and the fuselage is only 9.5 mm thick, weighing 0.5 kg, at any time carry no burden.

Whether it's 8 inches or a 10-inch version, the screen resolution is 1280*800 pixels, although not delicate but sufficient. The fuselage also designs the mainstream interface, including Micro HDMI, Micro USB, memory card, etc., and supports 802.11 b/g/n wireless and Bluetooth 4.0 connections.

　Hardware configuration and performance

Toshiba Encore 2 uses the Intel Atom z3735g four core processor (Bay Trail architecture), 32-64GB storage, RAM is only 1GB, which is one of the main reasons for its low price. From the comprehensive performance test results, Toshiba Encore 2 is indeed inferior to Dell venue Pro and other high-end models. We also tested the Toshiba Encore 2, which is fluent at least in the Metro interface when opening multiple browser tags, reading and writing emails, and watching online video, but if you want to use a traditional desktop to run photo shop and other large software, you need to endure a little bit.

　　Comprehensive performance test

Battery life, Toshiba Encore 2 can achieve about 5 hours of normal strength, for a complete version of Windows 8.1 is still relatively mainstream, and not significantly inferior to other models. In addition, because of Microsoft's small size Windows equipment promotion and concessions, it also has a year of Office 365 free access, very suitable for students to use.

　　Summarize

Toshiba Encore 2 is currently the cheapest Windows 8.1 flat, although performance is slightly inferior, but with a Bluetooth keyboard, it is clear that a good Office application experience, Metro applications can also meet a certain entertainment needs. Of course, the overall ecosystem is not as good as Apple's ipad, but with its low-cost, complete Windows 8.1 system and free Office 365, it should be attractive to the student community.

　　Advantages:

• Low price

• Good workmanship

• Good battery life

　　Disadvantages:

1GB RAM

• Poor camera quality

• Intermittent performance problems