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$329 Encore 8-inch tablet headlines trio of new affordable Windows 8.1 Toshiba portables

Toshiba's latest Windows 8.1 gadgets include a pocket-size tablet and a laptop-tablet hybrid.

Sarah Mitroff Managing Editor
Sarah Mitroff is a Managing Editor for CNET, overseeing our health, fitness and wellness section. Throughout her career, she's written about mobile tech, consumer tech, business and startups for Wired, MacWorld, PCWorld, and VentureBeat.
Expertise Tech, Health, Lifestyle
Sarah Mitroff
2 min read
Watch this: The Toshiba Encore: A budget 8-inch tablet packing full-fat Windows 8

Toshiba debuted three new Windows 8.1 gadgets early Thursday morning: a pocketable 8-inch tablet, a tablet that can snap on a keyboard to turn into a laptop, and a budget-price laptop.

While the hardware specs will hardly blow you away, the $600 and under price tags are sure to entice budget-minded gadget shoppers.

Update: Read CNET UK's full Toshiba Encore review now

Toshiba Encore, Click, and NB15T take Windows 8.1 portable (pictures)

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Encore
First up is the Encore, an 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet. Toshiba chose that size so that you could hold the tablet with one hand.

The Encore has an almost identical look to Toshiba's Excite tablets, with a polycarbonate textured silver-color back cover and rounded edges. It has a 1,280x800-pixel IPS multitouch display that is big enough to fit the Windows 8.1 Start screen in both landscape and portrait modes.

Inside, it has an Intel Bay Trail Atom processor, which promises fast performance, plus 32GB of internal storage, and a microSD slot to add an additional 32GB of storage, which is impressive for a tablet of this size. The tablet also has an 8-megapixel camera, dual microphones, and a Micro-HDMI port. Because it ships with Windows 8.1, you can run Windows 8 apps and Windows 7 programs on the Encore.

The Toshiba Encore goes on sale in November for $329 at many major retailers and Toshiba Direct.

Watch this: Toshiba Satellite W30T (Click): A 13.3-inch tablet-laptop hybrid with plenty of storage

Satellite Click
The most expensive gadget from Toshiba's new batch of hardware is the $599 tablet-laptop hybrid called the Satellite Click. For that price, you get a 13.3-inch Windows 8.1 tablet that can, naturally, click into a dock with a keyboard and touch pad, and fold closed like a regular laptop.

The full touch-screen device has a 500GB HDD, an AMD A4 processor, and 4GB of RAM, which makes the Click's internal guts look much more like a laptop than a tablet. It also has two batteries to stay alive for a long time, and can be charged via ports on the dock or tablet itself.

Outside, the Click has a brushed-metal design on the back of the tablet and on the entire dock. The Satellite Click will sell for $599 exclusively at Best Buy and on Toshiba's own site starting this month.

Toshiba Satellite NB15t
The Satellite NB15t is the cheapest gadget of the bunch. Toshiba

Satellite NB15t
At just $379, Toshiba is looking to lure in budget shoppers with its 11-inch touch-screen laptop, the Satellite NB15t. The computer has a 500GB hard drive and a low-end Intel Celeron processor, though Toshiba says you'll be able to upgrade the CPU for a price.

Weighing just 3.3 pounds, and just under 1-inch thick, the NB15t is thicker and heavier than the 11-inch MacBook Air. The laptop's design is about as exciting as its bland name, with a chunky polycarbonate base and metal accents.

The Toshiba Satellite NB15t will be available at major retailers and from Toshiba starting in November 2013 for $379.

We'll have full reviews of the Encore, Satellite Click, and Satellite NB15t on CNET as soon as they're available.