ToshibaReviews

(Source: Brighthand)

When speaking of the Libretto U100, think microscopic! Measuring only 210mm x 165mm x 29.8mm, the Libretto U100 easily fits in quite about any bag.

Now we know that sometime earlier on, we basked in the U100’s magnificence. BUT, we spoke little with regard to its optical drive (yes, that’s what the image is!). About half an inch in thickness, the likelihood of people carrying the dock around with them all the time comes into question. To make matters worse, Toshiba considers the dock optional, so there goes an additional $342 if a multiformat DVD drive is on your checklist.

To top this off, here’s some material physics by Brighthand - “Case construction is of plastic. Materials snob that I am, this would normally be a problem for me. But I have to admit the U100 is quite solid and squeak free. Perhaps when a device is this small it is less susceptible to torsion/flex. It feels well-constructed.” Make no mistake, this Libretto is a winner in our books!

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(Source: DigitalAdvisor)

For the not-so-hard-core gamers and graphics programmers, meet the P105-S6084 of the Satellite portable line.

Let’s get straight to the point. For $1,499.99, you’ll get a 1.66-GHz Core Duo Centrino laptop with Windows XP Media Center edition (doesn’t require system boot to play), 2 GB of RAM (upgradable to 4 GB), 120-GB Serial ATA hard drive, 5-in-1 bridge media adapter, a Firewire port and four high-speed USB 2.0 ports. Gee, don’t forget the increasingly-common fingerprint reader too. With a 17-inch widescreen, it weighs in rather heavy at 7.1 pounds. Gym time! To paraphrase Yahoo!News, two components disappoint: the video system (integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950) and the optical drive. The drive only writes at a maximum speed of 8x and does not support LightScribe technology.

By the way, the S6084 is very similar to the Satellite P105-S6024 . Just in case you were wondering.

To recap, the S6084 has a capable processor, plenty of fast memory, and a spacious hard drive — characterising a well-balanced notebook and a powerful multimedia, gaming PC.

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(Source: Lancashire Telegraph)

Everyone knows the value of Toshiba notebooks. Even thieves.

55 Toshiba Pro Satellite laptops worth £36,000 were stolen at Ivy Bank Business and Enterprise College, Byron Street. The perpetrators sneaked into its computer suite and filled up two sacks with the Toshiba goodies. Lancashire Telegraph quoted a cabinet member for schools saying “I condemn this theft. The people who took these computers are robbing the children of Burnley and they should be ashamed of themselves. I’m sure the school will be absolutely devastated.”

Can’t blame them though…kidding…seriously, kidding. Never steal. Err…buy original. First-hand, that is.

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(Source: Geekzone)

PDA buyers TAKE NOTE! Toshiba bills the 2.1lbs (thanks to a Magnesium Alloy chassis), 7.2″ widescreen Libretto U100 as the ultimate pint-sized travel mate, and they might just be right.

As one of the smallest full-featured Windows XP PCs around, the Libretto is small in everything except power and performance. But miniaturization comes at a cost - US$1,999 (without optical-drive dock). However, some consider it good value for this type of computers.

Next, a little bit of history: Toshiba launched the original Libretto series of ultra portable notebooks back in April 1996 and has been marketed in North America sporadically in the past, but it is a strong brand in Asia. Now it’s back with the U100, powered by a Mobile Intel Pentium M Processor 753 (1.2Ghz), with 512MB RAM. Besides a 60GB hard drive (although it only spins at 4200 RPM) and optical disc available through a dock station, it comes with HDD Shock Protection with motion sensor. In fact, make sure you disable those warning messages that appear every time you move it!

I’ll leave you with a quote from Geekzone : “Imagine having a Latte and taking this small notebook out of a bag, connecting to a Wi-Fi hotspot and work. I had some people come to me and ask about this Libretto when doing this”. Cool, huh? Yet another way to fame!

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(Source: Bartovic Blog)

As Asian athletes book their places at the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Toshiba too has made the cut for the December 1st-15th (this year!) sporting event. The vendor will ship around 200 of its new Tecra A8s to Qatar as organisers of the Games have signed a deal with Toshiba — a month ago — to supply notebooks to their employees. ITP Technology wrote that the A8s will be utilised for “administrative and back office functions during the games” while “Toshiba said it was a good strategic win for it in the region”.

A look at the 14.1-inch screened Tecra A8 brings us to a 6.4 lbs, Intel Core Duo (T2300E 1.66 GHz), ATI Radeon Xpress 200M chipset type business notebook with 1 GB DDR II SDRAM and around 2.4 hours battery life. OS provided: Microsoft Windows XP Professional. It now sells for as low as $669.00.

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(Source: Technology News Daily)

As demand for next-generation digital consumer products rise, Toshiba Corporation’s line-up is set to incorporate MIPS Technologies Inc.’s MIPS32 24KEc Pro and 24KEf Pro cores as its microprocessor. Such applications include DTV, HD DTV, and set-top boxes.

As Electronic News reports, “the MIPS32 24KE core family leverages the high performance 24K microarchitecture while incorporating the MIPS DSP application specific extension”. Toshiba and MIPS Technologies do have some history together: Toshiba’s MIPS-based designs include the 128-bit Emotion Engine multimedia processor developed with Sony for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system.

In a joined statement by both parties on this new partnership, a Toshiba official expressed that “as an existing licensee of the MIPS architecture, we are pleased to extend our long and successful relationship.” MIPS’ president and CEO added: “We’re delighted to deepen our long-standing commitment to Toshiba by providing them with both our industry-leading architecture and high performance core technology”.

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(Source: ZDNet)

Joining the ever-expanding family of Toshiba tablet PCs recently is the new, 14.1-inch screened, high security Tecra M7-S7331. This “tough nugget”, as SiliconRepublic.com describes it, is aimed at mobile executives on the move who cringe at the thought of repercussions of leaked/lost company data in the event of a stolen laptop.

Sleek and stylish, it boasts anti-theft security and shock-absorption technologies through “an anti-theft protection timer, fingerprint reader and hard disk drive protection with a 3D accelerometer. It also has magnesium case work, Norton internet security and a Kensington lock”. Powered by Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology (T2400, 1.83Ghz) and weighing in at 5.9 pounds, it also comes with 1GB of RAM, 100GB hard drive space, and battery life of up to 4.06 hours. All this is yours to enjoy with the exchange of hands of $1,899, of course.

A lower-end version, the Tecra M7-S7311 — priced at $1,599 — only differs from this M7-S7331 by the following: Intel Core Duo T2300E, 1.66GHz, 512MB RAM and 80GB hard disk storage.

All in all, “the Tecra® M7 is the premier high-performance Tablet PC for mobile users that demand the increased productivity of a Tablet PC, bolstered with the Toshiba’s exclusive EasyGuard™ Technology* feature set that boldly elevates system performance, reliability, and security.”

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(Source: Reg Hardware)

Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on the world’s first high-definition optical disc recorder based on the HD DVD format. This baby — equipped with an unbelievable 1TB hard drive — went on sale this morning in Tokyo with a heart-stopping price tag of ¥398,000, or about US$3,400. Yes, cutting edge technology doesn’t come cheap.

The initial launch was to be held a full two weeks before the sun came up this morning, but was postponed as manufacturing difficulties meant that Toshiba might not be able to fulfil the public’s lust for everything state-of-the-art.

As the world’s first consumer-oriented HD DVD player capable of writing to next-generation recordable media, RegHardware states that its stunningly huge hard disk storage is sufficient for 130 hours of HD content and comes with “digital terrestrial and satellite tuners, along with an analogue tuner for back-up and a wide array of digital and analogue video and audio inputs and outputs, including HDMI”. A network port is also included. The player reads all the usual formats, but will only write to DVD-R/RW/RAM, including their dual-layer versions.

Besides it heavy retail price, other reasons that might steer buyers away from the queue line would be its bulky package (the machine records 15.2kg on the scales and measures 45.7 x 40.8 x 15.9cm) and the fact that it will only support MPEG 2-encoded content, not the preferred MPEG 4 AVC or VC1 ie. Windows Media Video 9 codecs.

Those without deep pockets but still dreaming of one should contain their excitement and wait several months (around 3) as prices are expected to fall by a hundred thousand yen or so by then.

Our conclusion: The RD-A1 is simply ass-kicking, although wallet-kicking too!

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(Source: CNET)

iPod-killer No. 999, but this time this one actually proves its credentials. Not only does the Toshiba Gigabeat S MES30VW gets the thumbs up (a.k.a. Editor’s Choice award), but it also does so with an overall rating of 8.3 out of 10 when reviewed by CNET.

While it’s a pity this portable media player comes with only 12 hours of battery life for audio and 2.5 hours for video, you have to admit its bevy of features trumps the iPod video upside down. Just look at its support for tons of photo, music and video file types, subscription services and digital camera transfers, as well as an FM tuner and the intuitive Portable Media Center operating system.

The verdict on Toshiba’s MED30VW is clear. It’s great. It can be improved, of course, but until then, let CNET’s bottom line enchant you to the purchase queue: “Many prospective MP3/PVP buyers have been waiting patiently for this compact, easy-to-use, one-stop shop for media files–looks like the Toshiba Gigabeat S was worth the wait.”

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(Source: Toshiba)

Buyers Incorporated Inc. (BLI) recently announced the results of their semi-annual “Pick of the Year” awards, and it appears that three of Toshiba’s e-STUDIO-series multifunction copiers were among the products selected. They are the e-STUDIO282, e-STUDIO352 and e-STUDIO850 - in ascending order of copier speed (pages per minute).

The e-STUDIO282 was awarded a Pick as an Outstanding Multifunctional Imaging System in the Segment 2 category, the e-STUDIO352 in the Segment 3 category and the e-STUDIO850 in the Segment 5 category.

[News via Toshiba]

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