Toshiba readies new notebooks

Toshiba will announce three new portable computers on Monday, refreshing its existing high-end, mainstream, and ultra-portable product lines.

Toshiba, which has been locked in

Toshiba Satellite 2515CDS

an increasingly tight race for notebook market leadership with Compaq, expects the new systems to firmly reestablish the company as the No. 1 vendor.

Interestingly, none of the new notebooks feature Intel's newer mobile Pentium II processors. Pentium MMX chips, which run cooler than Pentium II processors, are less of a battery drain than the newer chips, according to Chris Pollitt, group manager for Toshiba's portable product marketing.

For the high-end market, Toshiba will introduce the new Portege 3010 CT, a system that weighs under 3 pounds and measures under one inch thick. The new Portege includes a 266-MHz Pentium MMX processor, a 4.3GB hard drive, 32MB of memory, and a 56-kbps modem for $1,999.

The new Libretto 110CT, about

Toshiba Libretto110CT

the size of a videotape and weighing around 2 pounds, features a 7.1-inch active-matrix display, a 233-MHz Pentium MMX chip, and a 4.3GB hard drive for $1,799. The new Libretto rivals Windows CE devices in terms of form factor, but offers a full Windows 95 experience, Toshiba said.

Toshiba's new Satellite offers a rounded, sleeker form factor, which will be seen throughout the Satellite line, according to Pollitt. The new Satellite 2515CDS, priced at $1,399, features a 266-MHz Pentium MMX, 32MB of memory, 4.3GB hard drive, 56-kbps modem, and a 12.1-inch dual-scan display.