Toshiba's Portege R400 convertible goes on sale

If you somehow managed to skim through the CES mayhem and notice this gem, chances are it immediately landed on your wish list, and if you're looking for an ultralight, well-spec'd, EV-DO-equipped convertible tablet, here's your chance. The Portégé R400 was peeked, revealed, cuddled, and reviewed, but now the time has finally come for you to lay claim to your own. Hitting Toshiba's webstore for a (slightly steep) base price of $3,149, this unit packs an energy-efficient 1.2GHz Intel Core Duo U2500 processor, Vista Ultimate, 2GB of RAM, 12.1-inch LED-backlit LCD, XGA resolution, Intel's GMA950 integrated graphics set, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, fingerprint scanner, gigabit Ethernet port, built-in microphone / mono speaker, headphone out, six-cell Li-ion battery, PCMCIA, and a pair of USB 2.0 connectors. You'll also find a bevy of Microsoft and Toshiba software pre-installed, and while it only tips the scales at 3.79-pounds, you'll have to lug around an external optical drive if you need to spin any discs. But hey, at least you've got a tick to think things over, as it looks like even today's orders won't ship "for one to two weeks."

[Tristan @ Jan 29th 2007 4:12AM]

Is there any european site I can order this from?

[Kurt @ Jan 29th 2007 4:56AM]

You can check it out on www.love-to-lead.com
But from what I read in the european press releases it will first be available in March in Europe.

[Xavier @ Jan 29th 2007 11:36AM]

I checked out the R400 at CES and think the best feature is the wireless docking option. But when I played with it, the R400 didn't feel like a $3k+ machine. The live alerts LCD is really tiny, with room for only a few characters. There's a video demo of the R400 here: http://www.notebooks.com/?p=420

[Fred @ Jan 29th 2007 12:39PM]

Wow, $3,149?

You can get a ThinkPad X60 Tablet with
* 1.83 GHz CPU (vs. 1.2)
* 100 GB 7200 RPM disk (vs. 80 GB 4200 RPM)
for $2,242. Both configs have 2 GB of RAM, Bluetooth, Intel wireless, PC Card slot, weigh the same, though the Toshiba has a 6 cell battery at this weight vs. 4 for the ThinkPad. (Note: online store hasn't been updated for Vista, yet).

So for over $900, I get built-in EVDO with a much slower CPU and disk???

I'd rather get the much quicker ThinkPad with its lauded keyboard. An EVDO PC Card will be much easier and less expensive to replace when you have to upgrade from Rev 0 to A to B, etc.

[taylor @ Jan 29th 2007 2:51PM]

this is pointless, i dont see 1 feature that i like to make it 3-4,000 $!!! what is making this thing so damn expensive? xga screen, 1.2 ghz proc come on!

[Unbangyourmom @ Jan 29th 2007 11:26PM]

WTFBBQGRASS $3200?!?!?!