Tablet shoppers on a budget now have attractive offers, with several options to choose from when it comes to sub-$100 Windows slates.
As expected, for a low price tag such tablets are not exactly powerhouses ready to replace a laptop, but they can nonetheless useful and allow users to perform some tasks.
When looking for a budget Windows tablet, three options are worth considering - Toshiba, HP, and E-FUN all sell sub-$100 tablets, each with their own benefits and caveats. Users will be able to work with Word files, watch movies, browse the web, and other such basic tasks, but nothing too demanding. Being Windows tablets, these devices also come with Internet Explorer 11 and Skype.
These low-cost Windows tablets come with Intel mobile processors and decent graphics, and also allow users to mirror tablet screens through Miracast on larger displays. In other words, for basic Windows tasks, portability and decent performance these tablets are good options on a budget, and they also come with free Office 365 access and 1TB of Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage. This is good for one year, after which users will have to pay subscription fees.
If you are looking for a Windows budget slate that offers decent performance at a sub-$100 price point, the three best options currently on the market are the HP Stream 7, the Toshiba Encore Mini, and the E-FUN Nextbook. Here's what each of them has to bring to the table:
HP Stream 7
The $99 HP Stream 7 is among the first Windows tablets to come at a sub-$100 price point. The slate comes with a 7-inch screen with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage capacity, a microSD card slot for additional memory, a 2-megapixel main camera, a 0.3-megapixel front shooter, and eight hours of battery life. The Stream 7 also sports a unique feature called the HP Connected Music app, which allows users to share music across multiple devices in a household. For more details about this tablet, head over to the product page at this link.
Toshiba Encore Mini
The Toshiba Encore Mini has similar specs to the HP Stream 7 and comes with a similar price tag, currently selling for $99.99 on Microsoft's online store (initially the tablet launched at $119.99). On the other hand, the Encore Mini has a lower resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels on its 7-inch display, and only packs 16GB of internal storage capacity, i.e. half that of the Stream 7. For more details on the Toshiba Encore Mini, head over to the Microsoft Store here.
E-FUN Nextbook
Lastly, the E-FUN Nextbook sports a slightly larger 8-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, packs 16GB of internal storage capacity, 1GB of DRAM, a 2-megapixel rear camera, and a 0.3-megapixel front shooter. One of the highlights of this tablet is the fact that it sports a micro-HDMI slot, which allows users to connect it to high-definition TV sets. Microsoft recently announced that the E-FUN Nextbook will go on sale at Walmart on one of the busiest shopping days of the year in the U.S., making its retail debut on Black Friday for $99. The tablet will also come with a free 16GB microSD card to double its storage, as part of the Black Friday promotion.
In conclusion, if you're looking for a budget Windows tablet to perform basic tasks and serve as a complementary device, these three low-cost slates are worth taking into account. If you're looking for something more powerful, the price will go up.
