Toshiba Encore 2 Advanced User Review 8" 32 GB Model WT8-B32CN
- Deanna Argenio May
- Mar 6, 2015
- 4 min read
1 GB RAM Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU z3735G 1.33 GHz
32 bit OS framework 21 GB Internal file storage available out of the box. 3.83 GB Recovery Partition
Battery life with constant use, approx. 5 hours.
Battery life with mod to min use approx. 10+ hours Charging time from 16% of battery life, approx. 2 hours.
Straight Out of the Box
Tip!!: If the tablet comes pre-loaded with a trial version of Office 365 do not INSTALL it as one of the first things you do, and DO NOT UNINSTALL it after it is installed unless you don't have a use for any of the features. The reason will become clear further into the article.
Tablet Performance: Off the cuff, the tablet runs like a champ! Fast, fast, fast. But, I'm not a gamer. I will however, open and close apps, download, change settings, install and uninstall. This peppy little machine has its limits, with repeated abuse it will eventually act as if it plans to complete a command, only to provide you with a blank box in the task bar. This, however, does not stop the machine. Kudos to the OS, most functions still work. Shut down the tablet and give it a little break. You'll be good as new on reboot.
Metered Connections: One of the first things I would do is find the PC Settings-Search and Apps-Search, and turn off 'Get search suggestions and web results from Bing over metered connections.' OneDrive also offers the metered connections on/off setting. Unless you pay as you go, you may not want the hassle of discovering an unexpected charge after unintentionally hooking up to a metered connection at a hotel or such.
Disconcerting Issue:
'Send to OneNote 2013' print driver does not work.
Personally, I find this to be quite hilarious......Encore 2 runs full blown Windows 8.1, encourages the user to install Office 365, sets the 'Send to Microsoft One Note 15 Driver' as default, but it doesn't work!?!
I have the SOLUTION, but it's NOT these three I've located from other resources.
1. The XPS Printer must be installed for the OneNote Printer to function. (True, but it's installed, so don't worry about this.)
2. Editing the registry, suggested by Microsoft to fix the issue if the XPS printer IS installed but not working properly. (Again, not an issue with the Encore 2.)
3. Uninstalling and/or Repairing Office. (There is no repair option, so don't try this! Once Office is uninstalled, it's gone! Office 365 is not part of the recovery partition for the Encore 2. You'll have to download another trial version.)
Trial Version Available Here:
THE SOLUTION:
1. Uninstall OneNote. OneNote is freely available and FREE. It IS part of the recovery partition and is pre-loaded in the Encore 2. When OneNote is uninstalled the 'Send to OneNote' print driver is also uninstalled. The pre-loaded version of OneNote conflicts with the Office 365 Trial version of OneNote and the print driver.
2. Now, go ahead and install your Office 365 Trial. OneNote and the 'Send to OneNote' printer will be installed and will work perfectly.
If you've already installed the Office 365 Trial, I don't have an answer for the issue. My best guess is for you to uninstall OneNote, reboot the tablet, then reinstall OneNote. I have not validated this suggestion. If this works for you....please leave a comment. I'll update my post.
Power Users: If you want to be or are a power user you will need eagle eyes or find ways to adapt to a needlessly miniaturized desktop and the tiny buttons you will be dealing with. Adapting yourself to use of the magnifier and voice recognition apps helps a LOT. Setting voice recognition to start when the PC starts saves you from toggling (swiping) between the desktop and start menu. To start the magnifier. You simply say, "Open Magnifier". Alternately, you can pin the magnifier to the task bar. In the Desktop, moving the task bar to the right side of the tablet, unchecking the 'Use small icons' check box in Task Bar and Start Menu Properties also helps to relieve a little eye strain.
I have set the Display settings to Custom Sizing of 125%. I'm unsure how this will affect the use of applications. If you are not aware, apps are scaled for use on mobile devices, a standard application is not. Custom sizing may increase the size of certain, all, or none of the elements of a standard application. So far this is working well for me, but I have found I must often hold the tablet in landscape orientation.
System Restore is turned OFF (or is it?): Under the standard Control Panel, System Restore is turned off. This is because of the limited space on the tablet for storage. If you use a tablet for gaming or download a lot of video, setting aside .5 GB for a few Restore Points may seem like a hardship. I, however, am turning it ON. On the other hand, on the Start Menu-PC Settings-Update and Recovery-Recovery, there is an option to 'Refresh your PC without affecting your files'. This appears to be more like a disk cleanup function....where you don't have much control over the process. Windows 8 is assuming that everything you want to keep, photos, video, music, etc. is stored on OneDrive. Using this option deletes everything on the Tablet including downloads and installed programs, an image is then reinstalled from the recovery partition, your settings are retrieved from OneDrive, and your Windows Store apps are reinstalled (the information about these apps is stored on OneDrive.) Do not confuse an app with an application. If you did not download Mozilla Foxfire from the Windows App Store, it will not be on your tablet after you use this option.
Cool Advantage: Microsoft gives you an additional 15 GB of free online storage when you agree to sync your files on OneDrive. I don't know if they take it away should you change your mind.
This has been a basic 1,2,3 for advanced users. In the next few days I hope to see how fun the camera is to use, and to detail hooking the tablet up to my home network.
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