Toshiba recently released a very thin yet very powerful laptop known as the Portege R700. The Portege R700 was such a success with business consumers that Toshiba is now designing other laptops to be more like the R700. Toshiba has just unveiled the Tecra R840 and R850 and the Portege R830, a laptop that is a refresh of the R700.
The R830 looks the same aside from a strip on the edge of the lid which looks to be made of magnesium alloy, though it is actually plastic. This is said to improve the signals of the different antennae housed underneath it. This refresh also adds USB 3.0 as well as an Intel Sandy Bridge processor which, according to Toshiba, should increase the rated battery life to a max of 11 hours instead of 8.
If you want this device and you are not necessarily part of the business world, then no worries because Toshiba is releasing a consumer version for $889 known as the R835 which will have a one year warranty as opposed to the business version’s three year warranty and will also lose the enterprise features like Intel’s vPro technology, a docking connector and an ExpressCard slot.
The 14-inch R840 and 15.6-inch R850 are also getting Sandy Bridge processors, USB 3.0, chiclet keyboards and an overall slimmer physique. Both these laptops are now made with fiberglass-reinforced casings as well as the same Honeycomb rib structure that helped make the R700 strong and sturdy.
The R840 is 25% slimmer than it’s last-generation counterpart, the Tecra M11, and that is due in large part to Intel’s Airflow Cooling technology. This technology rearranges all of the heat-generating components in a single row and draws cool air from outside of the notebook as opposed to within.
In addition to that, Toshiba claims that the battery can last as long as 10 hours on a single charge. The R850 will get you a number pad, which is not included on the R840, but at the expense of all that cooling technology. However, this device is extremely thin, coming in at an inch thick at its thinnest, something Toshiba is extremely proud of.
The R830, R840 and R850 have base prices of $1,049, $899 and $879 respectively and are available now via Toshiba’s website. The consumer-based R835 is available through Best Buy or the Microsoft Store.
Source: Engadget – Toshiba puts its business laptops on a diet, intros the Portege R830, Tecra R840 and Tecra R850