Toshiba Dynabook Satellite AX, TX, TXW, Qosmio F30 notebook

Toshiba Corporation has added another laptop in their Dynabook range. it’s the first laptop we’ve seen cruise through that made use of Synaptics’ Dual Mode Touchpad (the backlit one with touchable media controls). PC laptops right now may not be the safest investment with Intel’s merom platform looming, but you don’t have a lot to worry about since the Dynabook TX will probably be Japan-only release for the time being anyhow.

The TXW sports 15.4-inch display with 1,280×800 resolution, 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 processor, Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 graphics card with 256MB memory, max 2GB RAM, 120GB hard drive, dual layer DVD super multi drive, and Vista Home Premium. It also includes four USB ports, 802.11b/g wireless, IEEE, Ethernet, and stereo speakers. The price for this laptop ranges from $1,839 to $2,049. The firm also launched some relatively cheap versions which packs 1.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 / 1.86GHz Intel Celeron M 440 processor, 120GB hard drive, and 1GB memory. As for price, it ranges from $1,115 to $1,384.

Toshiba Laptop | Toshiba Notebook Review: Toshiba Qosmio G25 AV513

The Qosmio G25-AV513, the highest-end model in the Qosmio line, offers a bright 17-inch, wide-screen display, a double-layer DVD drive, and a TV tuner, as well as a full complement of ports and connections, a rocking set of stereo speakers, and a terrific set of multimedia controls. At $1,111, this notebook is not for the casual user. You can certainly get a handful of these features for less in other entertainment-themed notebooks, such as the HP Pavilion dv4000. Still, we think the Qosmio G25-AV513 is well worth the money if you're looking for a premier, all-in-one, digital-entertainment system that's portable enough to move from room to room. With the lid closed, the Toshiba Qosmio G25-AV513 looks quite similar to the original Qosmio E15-AV101--it's silver colored, has lots of ports and lights around the edges.

Featuring a sleek, streamlined design, the Toshiba Qosmio G25-AV513 notebook PC provides you a powerful media center that you can take anywhere. It runs the powerful Windows XP Media Center operating system, which enables you to save TV programming from the built-in TV tuner and save shows to the hard drive or burn to DVD via the dual-layer, multi-format DVD burner. It features a wide-screen 17-inch display, two 60 GB hard drives (for a 120 GB total), a power-saving 2.0 GHz Pentium M (Centrino) processor, 1 GB of installed RAM (2 GB maximum), integrated 54g wireless connectivity, and Media Center remote control.

Toshiba Laptop | Toshiba Notebook Review: Toshiba Qosmio G20

Qosmio means "my personal universe", The Toshiba Qosmio G20 is one aesthetically appealing laptop to behold. Toshiba’s Qosmio range is set up for entertainment and the G20 stands at its head. With a large widescreen display and running Microsoft’s Windows Media Center 2005, Toshiba has pretty much thrown the kitchen sink at this thing in an effort to ensure that it can act as a full-on digital hub. The gargantuan 17-inch WXGA display boasting a very bright 500 nits is just one of the reasons. The wide viewing angle supported is another, but the colors look somewhat faded when glancing at the screen from an acute angle. With a 1,440 x 900 native resolution, users can't really maximize their display space to the max like they can with the Sony VAIO VGN-A49GP at 1,920 x 1,200 that allows for a better viewing experience.

As an entertainment machine it’s important that it looks good and Toshiba has done well here. With the lid closed the silver finish and the Qosmio logo adorn the otherwise featureless expanse that is the lid cover. Surrounding the eye catching 16:10 17in display is a brown brushed metal bezel, while around the keyboard, is shiny plastic enhanced by blue lights in all the right places. The effect is somewhat spolit however, by its tendency to pick up fingerprints, so you’ll have to spent time on regular grooming. No surprise that a cleaning cloth is supplied.

The reflective frame surrounding the keyboard can be quite pleasing to the eye, though with a few fingerprint smudges, it can become an eyesore very easily. The huge 406 x 285 x 43.1mm chassis weighs a hefty 4.3kg, excluding the equally heavy 600g adapter,

Toshiba Tecra A6-EZ6411 budget-minded business laptops

The more powerful Toshiba Tecra A6-EZ6411 has 14.1-inch widescreen 1280×800 display powered by NVIDIA Quadro NVS 110M with 128MB DDR discrete graphics memory and up to 128MB of additional shared memory, Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 processor at 1.83GHz, 1GB of DDR2 533MHz SDRAM, 80GB SATA HDD at 5400rpm and a double layer DVD burner. Toshiba describes this as being a "desktop replacement" due to its high specs however the light weight of this laptop (approximately 2.3kg/5lb) and compact 14.1 inch screen makes it fit comfortably at the upper end of the thin and light spectrum.

It is also based on Intel 945GM chipset and features 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g) wireless, Gigabit Ethernet, a 56k modem and a Bluetooth. Regarding ports and slots, it has four USBs, one PCMCIA slot, VGA and S-Video outputs, a 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter, Secure Digital slot and IEEE-1394. There are also a docking connector and a fingerprint reader. The Tecra A7 is very similar in specs to the A6; however it offers a 15.1 inch widescreen and has the Radeon X1600 graphics card along with several other advantages over its cheaper cousin.

On the security front, you’ll find TPM, as well as a built-in fingerprint reader. For durability, Toshiba has included an active protection system for the hard drive, a spill-resistant keyboard, and shock-absorbing materials throughout. In addition, the hard drive and display are housed within their own internal casings to better protect them from the rigors of the road.

Starting at 5.2 pounds, Toshiba Tecra A6-EZ6411 has 6-cell lithium ion battery. It is sold “in a store near you” according to the company. The Toshiba Tecra A6 has a silver painted lid and inner surfaces. The bottom, back, sides, screen and keyboard are coloured a flat black. The Toshiba logo on the lid is reflective and surrounded by a square of brushed metal. All in all, it looks quite modern and stylish.

Toshiba Tecra A8-EZ8511 budget-minded business laptops

Toshiba has announced the availability of Tecra A8-EZ8511 and Tecra A6-EZ6411 budget-minded business laptops priced at $749 and $1,199 respectively.

Toshiba's Tecra A8-EZ8511 is a portable desktop replacement that delivers all the things users want—robust performance, good graphics capability and a slew of connectivity options—at a price IT managers will like.  The 15.4-inch widescreen (1280×800) Toshiba Tecra A8-EZ8511 comes with Intel Celeron M 430 processor at 1.73GHz, 512MB of DDR2 533MHz SDRAM, a 60GB SATA hard drive spinning at 5400rpm and Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with up to 256MB of shared graphics memory. It is based on Intel 945GM Express Chipset and has Atheros Wireless LAN (802.11b/g), Gigabit Ethernet and a 56k modem.

The full-sized keyboard is comfortable and quiet, save for a couple of keys that got squeezed a little, and Toshiba had enough foresight to offer both a touchpad and pointing stick.

The Tecra A8 weighs 6.3 pounds. It's slightly heavier than the Hewlett-Packard HP Compaq nc6320 we tested earlier this year, but it has a 15.4-inch widescreen display compared to the nc6320's 15-inch widescreen display.  The Tecra A8 has a six-cell battery, which ran for almost 4 hours in our battery tests—a reasonable battery life considering the size of the laptop's display.