Toshiba Launches New Satellites

Written by Adam Gosling

Tuesday, 29 April 2008

Toshiba has released new notebook computers for the Australian market and is targeting both the business and consumer sectors with better looks on the outside and better specs on the inside. A range of 16 consumer and eight business models will be released in April and throughout May, 2007 in what the company calls an "unprecedented release". "From mobile phones to notebooks, technology has become an everyday, public-facing component of our lives, so we, as business and home users want our personal style to be reflected in these devices," said Mark Whittard, General Manager at Toshiba ISD. "Toshiba's latest range features market-leading, fully-featured, portable and affordable notebooks with no compromise on style or performance. The next two months will see an unprecedented release of notebooks designed for individuals, whether they're home or business users, or a combination of both." The biggest changes to the outside of the laptops comes in the consumer notebook range which gets a a new look and feel. But Toshiba hasn't forgotten the inside either, with faster processors, better graphics and audio-visual support, bigger hard drives and more RAM. Meanwhile, the business notebooks not only get improved performance and connectivity, Toshiba has added some new innovations to the form factor. On the consumer side, the company has refreshed the A200 and added the new Satellite L300, Satellite M300, Satellite A300, Satellite U400 and Satellite P300, with prices ranging from an entry level A$849 to A$2799 at the high-end. Faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors are the go backed by a new range of ATI graphics cards and if you like, dual disk drives for the content hungry and gaming community. Toshiba's Harman/Kardon stereo speakers provide sound quality and there's a new multi-media pad for instant access to your entertainment  functions. On the outside the new Satellites have latchless black, high-gloss design ID with grey pinstripes, and stylised white, orange and blue LED front panel lights. The Satellites are also designed to play nicely with your other mobile devices and can be used to recharge your MP3 player, phone or PDA even when the notebook is hibernating or turned off with the Sleep-and-Charge USB port. On the security side, Toshiba has added facial recognition software to work with the webcam so you can secure your notebook from everybody except your twin brother or sister. The 15-inch A300, L300 and A200 are available now, with the  A300 coming equipped with the Windows Vista Business with XP downgrade media. You can find more specs at the bottom of this story. The business range gets new Satellites also with a total of eight new or refreshed models across the Tecra, Satellite Pro and Portégé devices. The new Satellite Pro's are the A300, M300, P300 and L300 with refreshes taking place in the Tecra P5, Portégé M9, M700 and R500 models. Again, the entry level is a modest A$825 to A$3500 (ex. GST). Screen sizes range from 12-inch-17-inch, but details are still pretty scarce on the unreleased models. The 12-inch Portégé R500 model which is available with a 64GB solid state drive option is now available as are the Satellite Pro P300 (160GB and 250GB) and M300 (160GB HDD). It might be easiest to check out the product sheets at Toshiba's Australian Website to get accurate specifications. Satellite A300: (A$1499 plus $100 cashback, A$1999, A$1599, $2399 plus $100 cashback and A$2499 inc GST) Available in six models:                     Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5670,                     Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5750,                     Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5850 or                     Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9300 2GB or 4GB memory 200GB, 320GB, 400GB (200GB+200GB), 500GB (250GB+250GB)or 640GB (320GB+320GB) hard drive 15.4" widescreen Windows Vista Business with XP downgrade media or Windows Vista Home Premium with 64bit media Webcam with facial recognition software 4 x Hi-Speed USB 2.0, USB Sleep and Charge FM radio tuner HDMI-CEC Weighs from 2.69kg Satellite L300: (A$849 plus $150 cashback or A$949 plus $150 cashback inc GST) Available in two models:                     Intel Celeron Processor 550 or                     Intel Pentium Processor T2370 1GB memory 120GB hard drive 15.4" widescreen Windows Vista Home Basic or Windows Vista  Home Premium Webcam 3 x Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Weighs from 2.72kg   Satellite A200: (A$1099 plus $100 cashback inc GST) Intel Pentium Dual-Core Processor T2390 1GB memory 160GB hard drive 15.4" widescreen Windows Vista Home Premium Webcam 4 x Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Weighs from 2.72kg   Older news items Acer Prices Gemstone Blue In Aus -16/04/2008 Acer Aspires To A Bigger Picture -14/03/2008 Dell Hits Out At Panasonic -04/03/2008 ASUS Squeezes XP On To EEE -04/03/2008 Apple Gets Touchy With New MacBooks -27/02/2008 Tag This Now: