Toshiba Launches Six New Intel Tablets and Laptops, Including $110 Android Tablet
by Brett Howse on May 27, 2014 6:38 PM ESTToday Toshiba announced a suite of six new Intel powered tablets and laptops, ranging from an ultra-affordable Android Tablet to a Yoga like Ultrabook.
Excite Go
Starting with the first tablet, Toshiba launched a 7” Android 4.4 tablet called the Excite Go. This small form tablet is decidedly low end, but also comes with a low end price tag of only $109.99. Powered by a quad-core Intel Atom, it has a 1024x600 display, weighs in at less than a pound (354 grams) and comes styled in a Satin Gold finish. This tablet is expected to be available early July.
Encore 2: 8" & 10.1"
The next two tablets announced are running Windows 8.1 – and right after Microsoft announced Windows 8.1 with Bing, we see the result of this new SKU with the two tablets being far less expensive than previous versions. The new Encore 2 branded tablets come in both 8 and 10.1” sizes and also are powered by quad-core Intel Atom processors but step up from the Android device with a modest increase in resolution – 1280x800 – for both of the Encore 2 devices. Also included is Micro HDMI and microSD support for adding an additional 128 GB of storage over the optional 64 GB internal NAND. As with the Android tablet, the finish is again Satin Gold, with prices starting at $199.99 for the 8” and $269.99 for the 10” version with availability in early July.
Satellite Click 2
Next up were a pair of 2-in-1 laptops with detachable keyboards branded as the Satellite Click 2 and Satellite Click 2 Pro. The Click 2 features a 13.3” 1366x768 display, a quad-core Intel Pentium Processor, and a 500 GB hard drive. Networking is provided by 802.11ac, which is nice to see becoming a standard even on lower priced devices. At 0.9” thick including keyboard, it’s not as thin as some of the more expensive devices out there, but that can be forgiven somewhat with the MSRP of $586.99. Toshiba is touting their quick-release latching mechanism for easy removal of the keyboard base, and the Click 2 is one of Toshiba’s first devices to have an audio system tuned by Skullcandy and DTS – obviously we’re not sure if the tuning was for accuracy or to improve bass response, and will have to wait for shipping devices to be tested to see if this is any sort of improvement. Toshiba expects this device to begin shipping in June.
Satellite Click 2 Pro
The Click 2 Pro keeps the 13.3” screen but bumps the resolution up to 1920x1080. Also added are front and rear cameras, and a push-pull hinge mechanism which allows the screen to be attached and detached with a single hand. The chassis is anodized brushed aluminum and shrinks from 0.9” of the Click 2 to 0.78” including keyboard on the Pro. 802.11ac Wi-Fi is also standard as well as microSD, Micro HDMI, and Micro USB 2.0 ports. The keyboard on this version has backlit keys, two additional USB 3.0 ports, and an optional keyboard with both a secondary battery as well as an additional 500 GB hard drive to go with the 128 GB SSD of the tablet. The Pro is powered by a Haswell Core processor and features Harmon Kardon sound. The MSRP starts at $1028.99, and the optional base with battery and hard drive bump the price up to $1279.99. Availability is also late June.
Satellite Radius
Finally, the Satellite Radius multimode laptop was introduced. This device features a 360° flip and fold hinge much like the Lenovo Yoga series. The display is a 15.6” 1920x1080 touchscreen. The chassis is brushed aluminum with Harmon Kardon speakers and DTS Sound audio processing. The device comes with either an i5 or i7 CPU, 8 GB of memory, and up to 1 TB of storage. 802.11ac Wi-Fi is standard, and there is a HDMI port capable of 4k output as well as three USB 3.0 ports and dual-array microphones. There is also a large range of sensors normally found in tablets, such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, and of course the ambient light sensor. MSRP starts at $925.99 with availability in early June.
Toshiba Devices | ||||||
Excite Go | Encore 8 | Encore 10 | Click 2 | Click 2 Pro | Radius | |
Display | 7" 1024x600 | 8" 1280x800 | 10.1" 1280x800 | 13.3" 1366x768 | 13.3" 1920x1080 | 15.6" 1920x1080 |
CPU | quad-core Atom | quad-core Atom | quad-core Atom | quad-core Pentium | Haswell Core | Haswell Core i5/i7 |
Storage | up to 16 GB | up to 64 GB | up to 64 GB | 500 GB (HDD) | 128 GB SSD + optional 500 GB (HDD) | up to 1 TB |
Price (Starting) | $109.99 | $199.99 | $269.99 | $586.99 | $1028.99 | $925.99 |
Unfortunately, Toshiba has not yet provided full specifications for these devices so we've reached out to them for more details. This post will be updated if more information is provided.
Source: Toshiba
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Death666Angel - Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - link
Man, I was momentarily thrilled to get a quad core Haswell Pentium in the Click 2. Then I remembered that Intel is selling Atom cores under the Celeron and Pentium brands. You should really note that.coder543 - Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - link
The modern Intel Atom cores are really powerful, more than worthy of the name Pentium... not that "Pentium" is known for being hugely respectable.invinciblegod - Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - link
"not that "Pentium" is known for being hugely respectable." Man, how times change.tunapez - Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - link
True, how the mighty(brand name) hath fallen. On a lighter note, x86 Celeron's are still junk that should have been relegated to the trash/recycle bin with the rest of the crust, IMO.I recently acquired a Clover Trail( Z2760/dual 1.80GHz) tablet and gotta admit, I forget it's a netbook sometimes. Very useful as a toy, reader, browser, mail, FTP... somewhat useful for remote and light code editing w/ mouse & keyboard. Useful in a pinch & beats carrying a laptop around on the days when I don't need one, anyway. Now if we can get some firmware to truly disable secureboot/gUEFI rather than a 'disable secureboot' option that does not.
CaedenV - Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - link
I have been looking for a laptop for school and have played with some of the quad core Atom devices on the market. I have to say... they are really quite adequate. Sure, not power house processors, but more than fast enough to keep up with HD video streams and display web pages faster than most internet connections can spit them out. I really like the ASUS T100 and would be all over it if there was a 4GB/128GB Ram/Storage option... but there is not.Sadly I think I am going to have to wait. Broadwell comes out late this summer right before school starts, and Airmont (Atom refresh) comes out this fall. Both promise much better battery life, and lower thermals (less fans, and more turbo functionality), so maybe they will be worth the wait.
Death666Angel - Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - link
Well, I don't think HD video streams are a good standard of performance since any SoC in the last 4 years can probably display them adequately.I've used a Celeron quad core Atom laptop and having my usual Firefox tabs open while editing a normal scientific Excel spreadsheet. That results in regular (every ~4 minutes) lags where nothing happens for 2 seconds. And opening more websites with more complex layouts gives the same stutter. And that laptop didn't even rely of mechanical storage. I also absolutely don't value any battery life over 5 hours as I simply don't need it. And paying over 500USD for an Atom powered laptop/tablet is too much in my opinion. I see no reason why it should be over 400USD.
MrSpadge - Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - link
Haswell core 3 and 4 would be useless in such a device with limited cooling and power budget. On the other hand Haswell dual core or Atom quad core makes sense for such devices.Flunk - Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - link
They're now about as powerful as the old Core 2 chips so they're reasonable for light loads.MScrip - Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - link
Dang.... no love for traditional laptops anymore?Impulses - Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - link
I'm trying to see what the Click 2 Pro does better than the new Surface Pro for the price... It has a hinge, I guess. Price still seems kinda high.