Toshiba showed off its latest not-a-netbook range this week and TechRadar was on hand to see what all the fuss is about.
The Satellite T110 and T130 range are slimline, small-form laptops which teeter into netbook territory with their 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch screens.
Not that Toshiba want the lappies to be lumbered with the netbook tag, with the company quick to remark that their computers use Intel's Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage (CULV) processor – a budget chip which is much more powerful that the Atom processor that inhabits most netbooks on the market.
While Toshiba is pleased with how thin it has made its laptop range, at 22.2mm the devices are not the thinnest on the market, but they do a good job of looking sleek and stylish – which is half the battle in what is already a saturated marketplace.
At 1.58kg, again the 11.6-inch isn't the lightest to market but you wouldn't have any problem slinging it into a backpack.
When it comes to connectivity, the T110 and T130 both come with 3x USB 2.0 hubs and an HDMI connection. The USB ports are 'sleep & charge', useful for app-heavy mobile phones and the like which sap juice on a day to day basis.
The smaller T110 will pack a 250GB hard drive, but if you want extra space then get yourself the 13.3-inch version which can be loaded with up to 500GB disc space. It does well with the memory too, with up to 4GB DDR3 RAM available for the machine.
Under the bonnet could well be the sticking point for those purchasing this new Satellite range.
While each laptop is equipped with either Intel Pentium or Intel Celeron Single Core processor, it is just single core, with no double core version in the pipeline for the consumer versions of the laptop.
Maybe we will see one pop up at CES 2010 – who knows? For now, the single chip will have to do, unless you get yourself a Satellite Pro T130, which will mean you will have to splash the cash.
One of the more impressive features of both the T110 and T130 is battery life. Toshiba is boasting 11 hours, and if this is the case then as a workhorse the laptop range will shine.
For the fashionistas out there, you will be pleases to know that the Satellite T110 will be available in standard black (Tosh has come over all Gollum and is calling it 'precious black'), and metallic red.
Those who are eying up the 13.3-inch T130 can get the laptop in black, red and white.
Both the Satellite T110 and T130 have a release date of 22 October (unsurprisingly the street date for Windows 7) and prices start from £429.
For more information, point your browser to www.toshiba.co.uk.
