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Consumer electronics manufacturer Toshiba expanded its line of Satellite Ultrathin notebooks with the announcement of the 14-inch Satellite E45t and 15.6-inch Satellite E55t and E55Dt models, which feature touch-screen displays and voice control capabilities.
The 14-inch Satellite E45t will be available on Aug. 4 at Best Buy stores, BestBuy.com and Toshiba Direct. The 15.6-inch Satellite E Series will be available in September at retailers and e-tailers nationwide and direct from Toshiba. The non-touch E55D will sell for $580, the touch-screen E55Dt is priced at $700, and the E45t will retail for $818.
Satellite E Series models feature touch-screen displays with 10-finger touch support, and the Satellite E45t features a 14-inch diagonal HD display, while the Satellite E55t/E55Dt features a 15.6-inch diagonal HD display, and all models run Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system.
The E Series features a brushed aluminum casing with Toshiba’s Skyline design and stand at less than an inch thin. Both also include reinforced LED backlit keyboards, while the 15-inch models also include a built-in, 10-key numeric pad. Battery life ranges from 7 hours and up, depending on model and processor.
The series offers a choice of processors from Intel and AMD, including some models equipped with 4th generation Intel Core processors. Models equipped with AMD Accelerated Processing Units feature the quad-core A6 APU. Other Ultrabook features include Dragon Assistant voice control technology, Intel Smart Response technology and Intel Wireless Display.
Dragon Assistant on Ultrabook models leverages the power of speech recognition technology, giving users the ability to control applications using their voice. By speaking, “Hello Dragon,” the assistant launches and allows users to search the Web, find content on their notebook, play media, check and reply to email, update Facebook and Twitter, make Skype calls and shut down, restart or put the laptop to sleep.
Among other features, the line offers storage options ranging from 500GB to 750GB and a variety of connection ports, including HDMI, Ethernet, SD Card slots and two USB 3.0 ports, one with USB Sleep & Charge, and one USB 2.0 port. Stereo speakers are equipped with DTS Studio Sound for enhanced audio, and the notebooks are also configured for dual-band 802.11ac WiFi capability.
“Thin is in,” Carl Pinto, vice president of marketing for Toshiba America Information Systems’ digital products division, said in a statement. “Our expanding line of ultrathins is designed to be more accessible to consumers looking for a thinner, more stylish PC that delivers the same class of performance and features as a traditional laptop–at a price point that is competitive with a traditional laptop.”