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Toshiba is rolling out an expanded line of Intel-based notebooks aimed at the corporate market that each comes with a magnesium alloy casing and can be used with a common optional docking station.
The new notebooks are designed to give businesses systems powered by the latest fourth-generation Core processors from Intel, armed with the chip maker’s vPro and Trusted Platform Module (TPM) security technology.
The new systems are an indication of how important Toshiba—which has a substantial consumer business—sees the corporate space, according to Duc Dang, senior manager of marketing and product development for the Digital Products Division at Toshiba America Information Systems.
“The enterprise market is a growth market, and not just domestically, but globally,” Dang told eWEEK. “There’s a lot of opportunity for us in the enterprise space.”
The magnesium alloy casing gives the systems a chassis that is both more durable and lighter than plastic alternatives, according to Toshiba officials. In addition, having the common optional dock will mean that businesses won’t have to invest in multiple docks for different systems.
Among the new offerings announced Oct. 7 is a redesigned line of thin-and-light business laptops from Toshiba’s Digital Products Division. The company is unveiling the 13.3-inch Portege Z30, 14-inch Tecra Z40 and 15.6-inch Tecra Z50. The systems range in size from 0.7 inches to 0.8 inches, and in weight from 2.6 pounds to 3.9 pounds. They all come with Toshiba’s shock-absorbing design and honeycomb reinforcement structure for greater durability, as well as the company’s AirFlow II cooling technology, according to officials.
The thin-and-lights come with either fourth-generation Core i5 or i7 chips, as well as a fingerprint reader and optional smartcard technology for extra security. Storage capacity ranges from 128GB to 750GB hard drives or solid-state drives (SSDs), and up to 16GB of memory. The Tecras offer optional GeForce 730M discrete graphics from Nvidia.
The backlit keyboards are spill-resistant, and the systems include the Dual Point pointing system to enable mobile workers to use the touchpad or Accupoint technology. Like all Toshiba corporate notebooks, the systems undergo Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT) in Japan, which creates conditions that in some instances can simulate three years of usage scenarios.
The devices will be available Oct. 18 starting at $1,229.
The Portege R30 laptop is another thin-and-light system that is powered by a fourth-generation Core M chip from Intel, and is about an inch thin and weighs about 3.2 pounds.
The system comes with a built-in optical drive, up to 16GB of DDR3 memory and up to 750GB of storage. The Portege R30 comes with three USB 3.0 ports and a full-size HDMI port, a media care reader and a LAN port, and offers all-day battery life.
It will be available at the end of November.
The Tecra W50 is Toshiba’s first mobile workstation, featuring a 15.6-inch high-definition display and a weight of less than 6 pounds. It’s powered by a quad-core Core i7 chip and Nvidia Quadro graphics, and includes a built-in optical drive and four high-speed memory slots that can be configured up to 32GB. There are two USB 3.0 ports, a USB 2.0 port, a media card reader and HDMI, PCI-Express and VGA ports.
The workstation will be available Oct. 18 starting at $1,999.