While it's now easy to get a desktop with a terabyte or more of storage, it's still pretty hard to find a laptop with even 300GB. That's why I am very impressed with the Portege R600-ST4203 laptop that Toshiba announced Thursday.
The Portege R600-ST4203 is one of world's first laptops with 512GB of storage and it's definitely the first with that much storage in the form of a solid-state drive (SSD). Until now, most SSDs for laptops have remained in the 32GB to 128GB capacity range.
A Protege R600 laptop from Toshiba.
(Credit: CNET)The Portege R600-ST4203 is the newest model in Toshiba's Portege R600 ultraportable series. It weighs just 2.4 pounds and is only 0.77 inch thin, which is about as thin as the Macbook Air. It has a durable, shock-absorbing chassis, and a 12.1-inch wide-screen LED display. The laptop includes Windows Vista Business and is powered by Intel's Ultra Low Voltage Core 2 Duo SU94005 processor.
The SSD used in the Portege R600-ST4203 is Toshiba's newest second-generation SSD, which features SATA standard and multilevel cell (MLC) NAND flash memory technology. The MLC NAND technology helps increase the density of the SSD, thus allowing more storage space. However, this means it is not the fastest SSD you can find. High-speed SSDs normally use single-level cell NANDs, like the Intel X-25E Extreme does. Nonetheless, Toshiba's 512GB SSD will likely be faster than traditional 5400rpm hard drives found in most notebooks.
Toshiba expects the new machine to provide customers with an enhanced level of protection, portability, reliability, and fast data access. The company claims that the adoption of this 512GB solid-state technology enables the user to enjoy shorter boot times, faster application loading, and access times that are 300 percent faster than 128GB or smaller SSDs.
While those claims still need to be verified, one thing is for sure: the new laptop isn't cheap. It's going to be available for purchase early next month exclusively on Toshiba's Web site for an estimated $3,500.
When we saw Alltel's original Samsung Hue, we thought it was a decent phone, but we had a few issues as well. Most of all, we didn't care for the flat and slippery navigation controls. They didn't ruin our experience completely, but they weren't ideal for rapid texting.
With the new Samsung Hue II, however, we found some much needed refinements. The keypad and controls remain flush, but they're separated into individual buttons, which gives them a better feel beneath the finger. We also liked the good call quality, vibrant display, and functional feature set that includes Bluetooth.
The exterior has been redesigned just a bit, but you get the changeable faceplates. On the downside, the exterior display is a tad small, even if it's no longer vertical. Also, while the phone has a nice feeling in the hand, the hinge was a tad loose.
But even with those caveats, the Hue II is a dependable midrange phone for Alltel and we appreciate its improvements from the original Hue. Check out our Samsung Hue II review for the full story and see our Samsung Hue II photos.
The Portege R600 is a 12-inch ultraportable laptop that weighs 2.4 pounds and measures less than an inch thick.
(Credit: Toshiba)Toshiba released the Portege R600 today, an amazingly thin and hopefully more durable version of the R500 ultraportable. We liked the R500 the two times we reviewed it, but we had the system for only a few weeks at a stretch. If you look at the user comments on our reviews, you'll soon notice a trend of readers questioning the R500's build quality and complaining about its flimsy chassis. The Portege R600 looks very similar to the R500, weighing 2.4 pounds (with integrated DVD burner), and measuring 0.77 inch thick along its front edge. Toshiba states the R600 will arrive in a durable chassis; we can't wait to get our hands on one to put it to the test.
The Portege R600 uses the Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage SU9300 or SU9400 CPU on the Intel GS45 chipset, up to 5GB of RAM, and either a 160GB (spinning) hard drive or a 128GB SSD. Toshiba promises 8 hours of running time from the system's six-cell battery. Other features on the R600 include an LED-backlit transreflective display with a 1280x800, Toshiba's USB Sleep-and-Charge technology, and an eSATA port. Also on board is Toshiba's EasyGuard package, which monitors system components and includes hard drive protection, a spill-resistant keyboard, a fingerprint reader, and a Trusted Platform Module. Pricing starts at $2,099. Toshiba's U.S. site has yet to be updated to include the R600, but our neighbors to the north have the goods.
Also announced today is the Portege A600, which is a 12.1-inch ultraportable that adds a little heft but trims the price of the R600. The A600 weighs 3.2 pounds, measures 1.2 inches thick, and starts at $1,399. You also lose out on the R600's solid-state hard drive option and three-year warranty; the A600 is backed by one year of coverage.
Lastly, Toshiba released the Portege M750, an update to the M700 that moves Toshiba's convertible tablet to the Centrino 2 platform. It features a 12.1-inch LED-backlit display, an integrated optical drive, and a $1,699 starting price.
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