Toshiba's Centrino 2 offering: 3 biz laptops

On Monday, Toshiba celebrated the release of Centrino 2 by announcing three new business laptops built on the new platform: the Tecra M10, Tecra A10, and Satellite Pro S300.

Designed for large businesses, the 14-inch Tecra M10 and 15-inch Tecra A10 incorporate Centrino 2 components and vPro technology for remote management, plus a common motherboard and image that the company claims will make service and support easier for IT departments. Both Tecra systems also offer the option of a 64GB or 128GB solid-state drive, and they incorporate Toshiba's EasyGuard technologies, which include hard drive protection, spill-resistant keyboards, fingerprint readers and Trusted Platform Modules.

The small-business-oriented Satellite Pro S300 also incorporates the EasyGuard technologies--a first for the Satellite Pro line. In another first for the Satellite Pro line, the S300 has built-in support for Toshiba's express port replicator.

All three laptops include an eSATA port for high-speed data transer, and Toshiba's "Sleep-and-Charge" USB ports, which let you charge USB devices (cell phone, MP3 player) even if the laptop is in sleep or hibernate mode, or is powered off, as long as it's plugged into an outlet. Another new addition: a tweak to the integrated Webcam that lets you scan and store business cards.

All three systems will be available starting in early August.