Toshiba Unveils New Business Notebooks, New Channel Purchase Program

The Irvine, Calif.-based division of Toshiba America Information Systems launched EasyBuy, an option to its Preferred Partner Program that allows customers to order the new Tecra L2 series of notebook PCs through their solution providers while speeding up the delivery process, said Craig Marking, senior product marketing manager.

The EasyBuy system, which Marking said has built-in "aggressive" margins for solution providers, allows customers at the Toshiba Web site to enter the EasyBuy purchase system, order a particular notebook PC, and select which reseller from which to purchase. Solution providers also can use the EasyBuy system to order notebook PCs. In either case, delivery can be as quickly as overnight, he said.

Marking said the EasyBuy program is starting with the new Tecra L2 notebooks, but he expects it to be rolled out to cover all Toshiba notebook PCs in the near future.

Toshiba unveiled its two lowest-cost business mobile PCs with its new L2 notebook line, both of which include a 15-inch LCD and weigh just under 6 pounds, Marking said.

The Tecra L2-S022 is a Centrino-based model with an Intel Pentium M processor 7402, a 60-Gbyte hard drive, 512 Mbytes of DDR2 memory, and integrated Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG 802.11b/g wireless.

The Tecra L2-S011 has an Intel Celeron processor 3702, a 40-Gbyte hard drive, 256 Mbytes of DDR2 memory, and integrated Atheros 802.11 b/g wireless.

The S022 has a list price of under $1,000, while the S011 lists for about $800 or less, Marking said. "These are the most aggressively priced Toshiba Tecra notebooks offered to date," he said.