Toshiba and Netbooks
September 11, 2008
Update: Toshiba has rolled out the Toshiba Satellite NB105.
Could Toshiba be jumping into the netbook market? An anonymous user over at jkOnTheRun has mentioned that Toshiba has been showing off a netbook with decidedly normal netbook specifications:
- 8.9″ 1024×600 display
- Intel Atom 1.6GHz CPU
- 4-cell Battery (shades of Dell’s Inspiron 9?)
- Windows XP (probably Home)
- Both SSD and HDD options
This would mark Toshiba’s first forray into the sub-notebook market since their 7.2 Libretto U105 a few years ago, which was well received among certain groups. Of course, the U100 and U105 were based on architecture that was geared more towards larger laptops, and they were slightly larger and heavier than what we see with netbooks now (although not too much depending on the model), but they were amazing devices for the time, given the constraints.
It’s interesting to consider - with Lenovo and Dell jumping into the game recently, outside of Toshiba, that really only leaves Sony and Apple as the major laptop players left, and there are already reports that Sony is jumping into the netbook market later this year.
Read: jkOnTheRun
Toshiba Dynabook SS RX2 Announced
September 9, 2008
The sequel to the 12.1″ Toshiba Dynabook SS RX1 has been announced today. The RX1 is similar to the Toshiba Portege R500 which is available in North America and elsewhere.
It’s the Toshiba Dynabook SS RX2, and it appears to maintain the same 12.1″ LED-backlit display as the RX1, while seeing a few upgrades. It also has a similar Magnesium Alloy chassis and spill-resistant keyboard.
This time around, it’s powered by the Intel Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) SU9300 / U9300 (1.2GHz), and the storage options have been upgraded to either a 160GB mechanical SATA HDD, or a 128GB Solid State Drive (SSD). You can also have up to 3GB of RAM now. Battery life can hit up to 12.5 hours depending on options and battery.
This could mean that a Toshiba Portege R600 (or whatever Toshiba chooses to call it) could be around the corner for North American markets.
Read:
- Akihabara News
- Toshiba Press Release (Translated from Japanese)
Toshiba Satellite Pro 400 Hands-On (SlashGear)
June 27, 2008
Bree over at SlashGear has posted their hands-on experience with the Toshiba Satellite Pro 400, Toshiba’s latest 13.3-inch laptop. The unit reviewed had one of Intel’s latest CPUs, the Intel T8100 Penryn 2.1GHz processor.
They compared it to a regular Toshiba Satellite, and while it lacked some of the multimedia features of the regular, the non-glossy finish held up much better - it looked more “professional” and more importantly, hid fingerprints (something that bugs a lot of people).
They found the keyboard to be sturdier than others in its class, and felt the price was a good value (in fact, the price for non-Penryn models at some online retailers such as Amazon has dropped to $877).
Read:
- SlashGear - review
- SlashGear - Unboxing
Toshiba Portege R500-S5007V Announced
June 24, 2008
While I would take issue with Akihabara’s announcement that the new model of the Toshiba Portege R500 is “The World’s First Laptop with 128GB SSD” (since Toshiba announced the Portege R500-12Q for European customers back in April), it’s still a good sign that Toshiba is releasing more R500s with 128GB Solid State Drives (SSDs), especially as this model is targeted towards North American users.
In fact, this appears to be the first ultraportable laptop in North America with a 128GB SSD. It does appear to be identical to the Toshiba Portege R500-12Q.
Specifications:
- 12.1-inch LED-backlit display
- Transflective display for outdoor viewing
- Intel Core 2 Duo U7700 Ultra Low Voltage CPU (1.33GHz)
- 2GB Memory
- Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics
- Bluetooth 2.0
- 2.4 pounds
- Internal DVD Writer
- Meets EPEAT Gold laptop and Energy Star 4.0 standards
- More than 8 hours battery life (depending on configuration)
- 32-bit Windows Vista Business
You do pay a price for that 128GB of storage: $2,999
Read: Akihabara News
Toshiba Portege M800 Announced
May 8, 2008
The Toshiba Portege M800 was announced yesterday in Europe. It appears to be a “limited edition” and only available in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It might be a replacement for the Toshiba Portege M600, however that doesn’t make sense unless the market is expanded.
It has a Pearl White finish, and an exterior texture similar to some of Toshiba’s other recent laptop releases.
Specifications:
- Intel Core 2 Duo
- 13.3-inch Widescreen Display
- Around 4.4 pounds
- Intel GMA X3100 graphics
No word on pricing or availability elsewhere.
Via: Tech Digest
Press Release/Notes: Notebook Italia (in Italian)
Toshiba R500 Review (Gear Diary)
May 5, 2008
Over the weekend, Gear Diary published a new review of the The Toshiba Portege R500, Toshiba’s high-end 12.1-inch ultraportable laptop with an LED-backlit display.
Part of what makes this a little more high-end than other 12.1-inch laptops is that the particular model reviewed has a 64GB flash memory-based Solid State Drive (SSD), similar to the 13-inch Apple MacBook Air. In theory, an SSD can decrease the weight slightly, as well as increase the battery life and the response (in certain situations).
The review noted that even though the R500 gets down to around MacBook Air specs when it comes to thinness and size, it has quite a few more ports which is a big advantage, however they did not consider the display to be on par with the Air’s.
Review: Gear Diary
