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Heading downstairs now to Hall #2, I found myself leaving behind the hot girls and feeling a different type of heat; that of several thousand people crowded together. When I saw a poster on the wall indicating the current location where I was standing, I read Hall 2, Hall 3, Hall 4 and Hall 5 as Hell 1, Hell 2… But that’s really besides the point. I’ve been to enought fairs to know what to expect. Forth on the list of vendors is of course, as the title already states, Toshiba.

Toshiba
Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake of the movie King Kong has been advertised and getting alot of hype from different sources. Toshiba was not one to miss out on the bandwagon. King Kong Deals was the tagline on their booth decorations. And why not, they did have some great offers.

To start things off, they had alot of freebies bundled together with purchases, including the following:

• Double memory!
• Double warranty period!
• Microsoft Office OneNote 2003
• Acronis True Image 8.0 Personal (backup software)
• Norman Virus Control Single Edition - 1 year licence (Not to be mistaken for Nortan Antivirus)
• USB Webcam
• Wired headset
• Optical mouse
• Notebook lock (Kensington?)

All of which is valued at RM1,688 (USD440).

The first notebook that I saw was the Satellite A80-P432 that comes with the following features:

• Intel Centrino Mobile Technology
• Intel Pentium Mobile Processor 740 running at 1.73GHz with 2MB L2 cache and 533MHz FSB
• Intel PRO/Wireless Network (WIFI)
• Genuine Windows XP Home Edition
• Microsoft Office OneNote 2003
• Toshiba ConfigFree Connectivity Tool
• 512MB DDR SDRAM (after FREE upgrade)
• 60GB HDD with shock absorber
• CD-RW/DVD combo drive
• 15.0″ XGA Clear SuperView TFT display
• Intel Graphics media Accelerator 900 (up to 128MB shared Video RAM)
• SRS TruSurround XT sound technology
• 6-in-1 card reader
• S-video TV-out ports
• 2 year (after FREE upgrade) carry-in international limited warranty

This notebook was also available in a different flavour (A80-P431) that comes with an Intel Centrino 1.60MHz processor. Price wise, the former was priced at RM3,999 (USD1,000) while the latter is RM3,699 (USD975). The A80-P43x has the same minimum specification for entry level notebooks as do many all other vendors. Although it lists a lot more, IMHO, its just marketing. Most other manufacturers are offering similar features except that they just don’t shout it out loud. However, for the price you pay, you do get a host of pre-installed software and freebies. Although I’m not quite sure how useful the said software will actually turn out to be. Perhaps they can do away with the software licencing and instead reduce the price…

Anyway, since leaving Acer’s booth, my attention has strayed from ultra-slim notebooks to table PCs. The one by Toshiba that caught my eye was the Satellite R10-P2301 which boasts the following features:

• Intel Centrino Mobile Technology
• Intel Pentium Mobile Processor 725 (1.60GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 400MHz FSB)
• Genuine Windows XP Table PC Edition 2005
• Microsoft Office OneNote 2003
• Toshiba ConfigFree Connectivity Tool
• 512MB DDR SDRAM (after FREE upgrade)
• 40GB HDD with shock absorber
• Slim SelectBay CD-RW/DVD combo drive
• 14.1 XGA TFT display
• Built-in dual axis motion sensor for one-touch screen rotation
• Table PC access code signature logon utility
• Shock protection system with bumpers
• HDD protection system with 3D motion sensor
• 2-years (after FREE upgrade) carry-in international limited warranty

The R10’s screen is connected to the main body by a single point swivel located at the centre position under the screen. I’m not sure how strong that single joint is but I must say that its going to be the weakest link of the entire package. During my last employment when I was carrying an Acer notebook, both hinges broke after some abuse! Imagine the tablet PC’s single pivot point going through the same abuse. However, I suppose most table PCs are built that way and I haven’t yet heard of any complaints (although I must admit that I’m not in the loop about such things). Anyway, the tablet PC can actually pass itself off as an ultra-slim notebook model. That was the impression I got when I first saw it sitting on the counter. It was only after I had taken a closer look and noticed the swivel that I figured it to be a tablet (which is great).

Once again, they opted to leave out the weight of the units described above, so I went digging around Toshiba’s website but that turned up empty handed (well, actually the R10 might be listed but I don’t have Acrobat Reader installed so I can’t open the PDF specification file to have a look). That being the case, I suppose you’ll just have to go and heft the notebook yourself to get a feel for the weight. The tablet PC is small and lightweight but the same can’t be said of the A80. On a side note, while I was browsing Toshiba’s site, I found the product links go in circles. Why would they go to the trouble of creating different ‘categories’ of business types when they all point back to the same product specifications?

Toshiba describes its Satellite series of notebooks, ultra-slims, and tablet PCs as “Quality Meets Affordability”. I won’t argue with them since they are fronting a good number of deals. However, I’m not sure that Toshiba is my favourite choice.