Toshiba unveils radical new laptop designs

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By Tim Danton

Posted on 21 Jun 2010 at 07:00

Toshiba today announced three new mobile computer designs to coincide with the 25th anniversary of its first laptop. The Libretto W100 features dual 7in touchscreens, the Portégé R700 is Europe’s slimmest and lightest “full-function” laptop, while the AC100 is a mobile internet device powered by a Nvidia Tegra processor and Google Android.

Due for sale in July, the Libretto W100 runs Windows 7 but abandons the traditional keyboard for a second 7in screen. You can still use the Libretto as a traditional laptop, with an on-screen keyboard complete with haptic feedback filling the bottom screen, or you can view a completely different application on the second screen.

The Libretto is designed to work in both horizontal and vertical positions, switching automatically thanks to a built-in sensor. Reminiscent of Microsoft’s now-binned Courier concept device, this could allow you to make notes in the right-hand screen while viewing a document in the other. See our first impressions of the Toshiba Libretto W100: first-look review, and more photos of the device, on the PC Pro blog.

While the Libretto will likely gain the most headlines, Toshiba’s Android-powered device – the AC100 – could have the most long-term impact. Its key advantages over smartphones are a 10.1in screen and full Qwerty keyboard.

The AC100 remains light, at 870g, and Toshiba has worked with partners such as YouTube to take advantage of the larger screen. It will include an 8GB solid state disk, 512MB of RAM, a 1GHz Nvidia processor, 802.11n wireless and, on some models, built-in mobile broadband.

“There’s a huge battery life of up to eight hours,” said Tony Alderson, product manager of Toshiba’s consumer laptops, “and that’s not downhill with the wind behind it type figure, that’s full usage browsing the internet, watching videos type figure. Indeed, it will last seven days on standby as well.”

PC Pro has had the advantage of using the device for a couple of days, and we’ve posted a first-look review of the Toshiba AC100 on our blogs. It's due for release in August.

Toshiba’s final announcement, the Portégé R700, can’t match the AC100 or Libretto W100 for innovation, but is still a substantial release. Its key inclusion is a Core i3 or Core i5 processor in a 13.3in ultraportable. Previously, ultraportables have used ultra-low-voltage chips.

Toshiba claims this inclusion is possible due to a unique motherboard design, which positions all the heat-generating components in one small area of the chassis. A low-speed fan then continually pushes air over these components to prevent overheating, even when the system is pushed flat out.

The end result, according to Toshiba, is battery life up to eight hours on the standard battery, despite the 13.3in screen and high-end processor. The R700’s weight starts at 1.3kg and prices from £629 exc VAT. It goes on sale immediately (see the blogs for our first impressions of the Portégé R700).

All three mobile devices were launched to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Toshiba laptops, and the company’s UK marketing director, Matt McDowell, made it clear this was no coincidence. “Hopefully we’ve demonstrated we’re redefining mobile computing again by launching a new era of innovative, smaller form factors.”