Sharp Shows Off Sharp Widescreen Notebook

New M400 WideNote, due out this month for around $1,800, offers up features such as an advanced power management system, 13.3" WXGA widescreen LCD and large keyboard.

Sharp earlier this week rolled out their new M4000 WideNote widescreen notebook. Powered by Intel’s Centrino chip technology, this notebook is available this month for a street price of $1,799.99.

The M4000, Sharp said, weighs 3.7 pounds and measures just over an inch thick. It has a power management system which reportedly can control virtually every power draining subsystem to maximize the estimated over six hours of batter life. The display consists of a 13.3” WXGA widescreen LCD. The keyboard has a 19mm pitch and 2.5mm stroke, providing a large type surface.

Other features of the M4000 include a built-in CD-RW/DVD-ROM optical drive, support of SecureDigital memory cards, a Type II PC Card slot, two USB 2.0 slots and an industrial design which consists of a brushed aluminum outer system housing and magnesium frame.

“Sharp has been a leader in ultraportable innovation for many years,” said Paul Bruce, Vice President and General Manager of Sharp Systems of America. “It’s exciting to see the market for ultraportables heat up as competing manufacturers begin to catch up to what Sharp has been doing since the mid 90’s with our ultraportable notebook lines, including the industry’s first widescreen notebook. The innovative Sharp M4000 WideNote takes advantage of the latest in Sharp’s engineering advancements and provides a notebook that you have to see to believe. This is the experience mobile users have been waiting for.”