Toshiba intros CULV satellites

Notebook-not-netbook line launched

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

29th September 2009 10:35 GMT

Not much bigger than netbooks, Toshiba's new Satellite laptops show just how the once well-segmented notebook market is now just a single continuum.

Launching the Satellite T110, T130 and Satellite Pro T130 this morning - though none of them will ship until late October, after the debut of Windows 7 - Toshiba executives insisted the machines were proper notebooks not netbooks, despite the fact that the T110 has an 11.6in screen and a single-core budget processor.

Toshiba's Satellite T110: netbook size, notebook internals

The T110 comes with either a Pentium or Celeron CPU, up to 3GB of DDR 3 memory, a 250GB hard drive, 802.11n Wi-Fi, three USB ports and an HDMI connector.

The T130 ups the screen size to 13.3in - both displays have a 1366 x 768 resolution - and the disk capacity to 500GB. Neither machine has an optical drive, but they do have a rather nice looking slimline plastic casing spoiled only by a bulky battery which is cleverly kept well away from the sides of the machines so as not to appear in photographs.

That said, since the power packs grant the two machines up to nine and eleven hours' single-charge runtime, Toshiba claimed, that's a small price to pay. And neither battery pokes out as far as most netbook extended-run equivalents do.

The T130 ups the display to 13 inches

All three are based on what Intel calls its Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage (CULV) platform, though the we'd note that the word 'consumer' and the phrase 'ultra-low voltage' don't really coincide.

Prices will start at £429. The Pro version will include Windows 7 Business Edition and a Core 2 Duo processor option. ®

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