UPDATE: Toshiba is expected to release a notebook PC this year that uses a chip based on the Cell processor, the same chip used in Sony's PlayStation.
Toshiba Qosmio G40
(Credit: Toshiba)The Toshiba Qosmio G40 notebook will sport a SpursEngine SE1000 chip based on the Cell Broadband Engine, which is also used in the Sony PlayStation 3.
The Cell Broadband Engine is a multi-core chip architecture jointly developed by IBM, Sony, and Toshiba. It is derived from IBM's Power Architecture, which was once used in Apple notebooks and desktops. Today, IBM uses the Cell processor in a line of blade servers.
Samples of the SE1000 chip began shipping from Toshiba on April 8. Toshiba has said it expects sales of 6 million units within the first three years.
SpursEngine reference board
(Credit: Toshiba)The SpursEngine can do high-definition video encoding and decoding of MPEG-2 and H.264 streams, among other capabilities. The four processing elements inside the chip have a clock frequency of 1.5GHz, while boasting a relatively low power envelope of 10 to 20 watts.
Some other features of the SpursEngine: Its multimedia engine can deliver up to 48 GFlops (billion Floating point operations per second) or 12GFlops per processing element. Every element has 256KB of integrated memory. The circuit board (photo) supports a PCI-Express Base Specification Revision 1.1.
Toshiba also plans to release a TV with the Cell processor.
With all the excitement over the new color-coordinated Dell Inspiron laptops (and the groovy 13-inch XPS m1330) last week, the guys over at Toshiba must have been kicking themselves. Instead of just giving their laptop lineup a new paintjob and some upgraded processors, they've got a whole stack of new and revamped systems, emphasizing the company's commitment to the HD DVD format (which may or may not be the best long-term plan, but that's another story).
_270x180.jpg)
Toshiba's Qosimo F45
We've always liked the Qosimo line of high-end media center laptops, and the new 15.4-inch Qosimo F45 is no exception. We primarily like these for their Harman Kardon stereo speakers with built-in subwoofer--this is one of the only 15-inch laptops we've seen with a subwoofer--and the handy AV control pads, which look like tiny iPod wheels planted right next to the keyboard. The new Qosimo avoids the rainbow of colors offered by Dell, instead opting for what the company calls a "striking piano-key white glossy finish."
One of the four available configurations, the $1,649 F45-AV412, has an HD DVD drive (although we're still not convinced 15-inch laptops need high-def drives), while the non-HD-DVD configs run from $1,299 to $1,349.
Meanwhile, the new Satellite U305 is a totally different beast. It's a 13.3-inch small business laptop, and while it isn't as flashy as other 13-inch laptops such as the Apple MacBook and Dell XPS m1330, it is available in both Santa Rosa versions (using Intel's latest Centrino Duo platform) and an exceedingly thrifty non-Santa-Rosa version, using older parts, but starting at just $899.
_270x273.jpg)
The Satellite X205's 'Flare Carmine' design
For laptop gamers (and there are a few of you still out there), Toshiba last week revealed the new Satellite X205, a 17-inch desktop replacement that is one of the first laptops with Nvidia's DirectX-10-compatible GeForce 8700M GT graphics processing unit. Of course, that doesn't come cheap, and the X205 (with a red flame lid design) starts at a whopping $1,999, with an HD DVD drive.
- prev
- 1
- next
