Toshiba has taken the wraps off a selection of new laptops, adding adding 4G WiMax capability to a broad range of its Satellite notebooks (along with the Portege R705 and Best Buy-exclusive Satellite E205). Toshiba is also beefing up its high-end Qosmio X500 notebook with Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M graphics for improved content creation, entertainment, and gaming capabilities.
The WiMax-capable notebooks are mostly aimed at the mainstream computing and business sets. “A WiMAX-equipped laptop gives on-the-go consumers the connection speeds they’re used to in the office or at home without the need for additional hardware,” said Toshiba America VP of product development Carl Pinto, in a statement.
Among the WiMax-capable units will be the Satellite A665 (featuring a 16-inch display along, a choice of Intel Core processors and Nvidia GeForce graphics, and Toshiba’s Fusion X2 styling), Satellite M645 (with a 14-inch display and some models with Nvidia Optimus technology for switching between integrated and discrete graphics), and the Best Buy-exclusive Satellite E205 (featuring a 14-inch display, Core i5 processor, and Nvidia GeForce 310M graphics). Although WiMax service isn’t included with the computers—customers will need to set that up on their own with Clearwire or Sprint), the pricing on the systems isn’t out of line: the Satellite A665 models start at $804.99, the Satellite M645 start at $759.99, and the Satellite E204 is prices at $1,079.99. Toshiba is also adding ultraportable Portege R705 to its WiMax-ready lineup: the system features a 13-inch display and a suggested base price of $899.99.
Folks looking for an entertainment and content-creation powerhouse, however, might want to look at the Toshiba Qosmio X500, which Toshiba amped up today by adding Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M discrete graphics, sporting 1.5 GB of video memory. The Qosmio 500s feature Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, an 18.4-inch display, harman/kardon speakers and Dolby Home Theater technology, three USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA/USB combo port, FireWire, and a 5-in-1 media card reader. The Qosmio X500s can also be packed with a heap of options like dual HDD and SSD drives, up to 8 GB of DDR3 memory, LED backlit keyboards, and a Blu-ray disc player. The Qosmio X500s start at a suggested price of $1,299.99.
Both the WiMax-ready Satellite notebooks and the new Qosmio X500s should be available starting September 26.
