You’ll need a business budget too, as the WT310 is one of the more expensive Windows 8 tablets that we’ve seen recently. Prices for this 11.6-inch tablet start around £740 for a model with a modest Celeron processor, but our review unit included Windows 8 Pro and an Ivy Bridge Core i5 running at 1.5 GHz, along with 4 GB memory and 128 GB flash storage for a rather hefty total price of £1078. This model is now heavily discounted though, available on amazon.co.uk for around £485 in January 2015. See also: 38 best tablets of 2015 UK.
Toshiba WT310 Windows Tablet review: build and design
The 11.6-inch screen means that it’s a little chunkier than most 10-inch tablets, but it still weighs only 825 g and measures 12.4 mm thick, so you can pick it up quite easily in one hand and tap away on the screen with the other. And, of course, it’s no trouble to carry it around in a briefcase or in a backpack when you’re off-duty. It’s a bit noisy for a tablet, though. There are three vents on the back of the unit, and the cooling fan makes a low, but noticeable hum at regular intervals during prolonged use. The screen is excellent, with a very bright, clear IPS panel that provides full 1920 x 1080 resolution. Viewing angles are close to 180-degrees all round, so it’s ideal for watching streaming video, browsing the web, or impromptu PowerPoint presentations. The speakers are a bit of a let-down too, sounding particularly thin and weak, and barely audible even from a few feet away. Fortunately, the WT310 does include a micro-HDMI port so that you can hook it up to a larger monitor or TV screen when you need to give presentations to a larger audience. There’s also a dock unit available, that provides an Ethernet port and additional connectors when you’re in the office. (See also: The 28 best Android tablets of 2015 UK.)
Toshiba WT310 Windows Tablet review: performance
Performance is good, with a score of 3910 points when running the PCMark 7 benchtest. That’s not going to break any records, but the WT310 is more than adequate for running Microsoft Office and other business applications, and its touch-screen controls responded quickly and smoothly at all times during our tests. Unfortunately, the WT310 wouldn’t run our Stalker game test at all, so your lunch-hour gaming sessions will probably be restricted to Solitaire or Angry Birds. More importantly, we found that the tablet’s battery life was relatively limited. We got four hours (240 minutes) of streaming video during our tests. That’s not particularly impressive for any tablet. (See also: 13 best budget tablets 2015 UK.)