Toshiba launches laptops, camcorders and HDDs

JAPANESE MANUFACTURER Toshiba has announced a lineup of laptop computers, handheld camcorders and solid state hard drives.

The laptops are mainly aimed at the consumer market, but it will also released a tablet style PC aimed at the business market - not in the style of an IPad but more like a traditional tablet computer complete with stylus.

Toshiba announced the immediate availability of the Satellite C650, L650 and L670 laptops. It also announced release dates for the A660 series as well as the Portégé M780, a tablet style notebook. It also showed off new solid state hard drives and two new handheld camcorders that will be available in the next few months.

The Satellite C650 is Toshiba's latest 15-inch entry level laptop, a low cost machine at around £349. It has a 15.6-inch LED backed display and will mount Intel Montevina and Calpella processors or AMD processors.

Another laptop in the range is the Satellite L650, more expensive than the C650, with an improved design and extra features such as an HDMI port. It is also configurable with dedicated graphics, so can be used for demanding media applications.

The L670 is similar to the L650 in terms of features and design, but is a 'bigger brother', with a 17-inch screen. Toshiba said the bigger screen laptops are more suitable for people who are looking for a desktop replacement rather than something that they were going to carry around.

Available in June will be the A660, a high-end multimedia laptop with a 16-inch screen. This has Harman Kardon speakers,and can be configurable with add-ons such as a Blu-ray drive.

At the launch, the INQUIRER questioned Tony Alderson, consumer product manager at Toshiba, about the company's future plans.

He said, "The laptop market is quite diverse. There are so many different form factors out now and things that have happened - like the rise of the netbook in the market and the introduction of consumer multi-platforms."

"There are a lot of devices out there which is making the 'connected home environment' a lot more palatable. All sorts of devices are linking into that side and for the first time you can merge them together. It's very complicated, but it's definitely going that way."

Toshiba will also launch the Portégé M780, targeted at the business market and first spotted in February. It is a 12-inch convertible tablet PC, a device of the type Toshiba already has a long history of making. It looks rugged, with shock protection and a spill-proof keyboard. In the future, a 3G version will be released into the market.

Costing around £1,100, the M780 has a touchscreen display with twist-screen technology allowing users to either use it as a traditional laptop or twist it around so you can sketch on the screen with your fingers or the stylus that's included. Working with an Intel Core i3 processor, it can use Windows 7 touchscreen capabilities. The M780 will be available in late April.

Alderson said, "The whole tablet PC thing started many, many years ago now and we still do quite a bit of business out of that. It's the latest in the long line of tablet PCs aimed at the business market."

Of course this wasn't quite the style of 'tablet' that is causing so much of a stir in the blogosphere, with people in the future potentially looking for a touchscreen consumer experience.

Ken Chan, senior product manager at Toshiba, understood this and said, "The strong following for the Ipad, and we've already seen this at the beginning of the year, will spur competitors in designing devices that are similar. Maybe not quite the same, but similar."

"Ideas will blossom into different devices or operating systems. All the other big software developers are looking at the Ipad and asking how they can compete with it, and more importantly, whether it is actually the right product."

"There's a lot of that thinking before products will come to light. It's like the Netbook. They weren't around a couple of years ago. Asus came in with a 9-inch device and defined the form of a netbook - now everyone's got one."

Toshiba also released handheld camcorders in the Camileo SX500 and SX900, which are 'barrel gripped' flash-based devices priced at £200 and £250, respectively, with the different numbers referring to a 5x optical zoom and 9x optical zoom.

The devices are very compact, a lot smaller to the previously released H30 and X100 camcorders and look pretty simple to use. These will be available in July.

The last Toshiba products on show were new Store Art 3 portable hard disk drives, with a 750GB blue model and a 1TB black one. They have backup software pre-installed, which allows you to backup individual files or folders and create a restore point for your computer. It also has password encryption and data protection. These will be out in May. µ