Toshiba Celebrates Laptop's 20th Anniversary With New Notebooks

The company's Irvine, Calif.-based Digital Products Division also released Toshiba's first Tecra-branded convertible Tablet PC.

The new Portege R200 is an ultralight and ultrathin notebook weighing 2.68 pounds and measuring under 1 inch thick, Toshiba said. The Portege line is one of the most popular notebook offerings for Toshiba and its channel's business customers.

The Portege R200 is the thinnest and lightest Toshiba notebook to incorporate a 12.1-inch screen, the vendor said. It offers up to 10 hours of battery life by leveraging an optional high-capacity battery with the notebook's existing battery.

The Intel Pentium M-based machine runs Microsoft Windows XP Professional and features wireless connectivity through a half-size Atheros 802.11b/g wireless LAN mini PC interface card.

The notebook also includes a fingerprint reader that allows a user to secure the laptop with his or her own fingerprint imprint so no one else can gain access to the computer. Another security feature in Portege R200 is the Toshiba Trusted Platform Module (TPM), which encrypts files stored on the notebook's hard drive.

Toshiba's libretto line of mini-notebooks, which has been available in Japan, now also is shipping to Toshiba's U.S. channel and customers. The first model they'll get is the new libretto U100, said Carl Pinto, director of product development for Toshiba's digital products division.

The new machine weighs 2.16 pounds and features a 7.2-inch diagonal widescreen LCD. The company decided to bring back libretto to the U.S. market to mark its 20th anniversary.

Like the new Portege offering, the libretto system is based on an Intel Pentium M processor, runs Windows XP Professional and includes built-in wireless connectivity. It also includes the fingerprint and TPM security features.

Finally, the new Tecra M4 integrates pen-based computing with the functionality of Toshiba's current Tecra notebook line. It is convertible, so it can be used as either a Tablet PC or a traditional notebook, Toshiba said. It includes all of the security features of Toshiba's Portege and libretto notebooks, is built on the same Intel chipset and includes wireless capability.

The new products are available now with a three-year warranty through Toshiba's various sales channels, including VARs and distributors. Pricing for the Portege R200 starts at $2,099, while libretto U100 and Tecra M4 Table PC pricing starts at $1,999.