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Toshiba puts its business laptops on a diet, intros the Portege R830, Tecra R840, and Tecra R850


Toshiba's thin-but-full-powered Portege R700 was such a hit among business types that the company is now designing other machines in its svelte image. Tosh just unveiled the Tecra R840 and R850 -- both of which ape the R700's slim build -- along with the Portege R830, a refresh to the R700 itself. The R830 looks the same, though it has a strip on the edge of the lid that looks like it's made of magnesium alloy, but is actually plastic -- a material that's expected to improve the signals of the the various antennae housed underneath it. And -- surprise, surprise -- this refresh adds a USB 3.0 port and Intel Sandy Bridge processor, which the company says should bump the rated battery life to a max of 11 hours, up from eight. Not the corporate type? The company will also sell an $889 consumer version, the R835, that has a one-, not three-year, warranty, and loses enterprise-grade features -- namely, Intel's vPro technology, a docking connector, and an ExpressCard slot.

Meanwhile, the 14-inch R840 and 15.6-inch R850 are also getting Sandy Bridge CPUs, USB 3.0 ports, chiclet keyboards and all-around trimmer silhouettes. These laptops are now made with fiberglass-reinforced casing and the same Honeycomb rib structure that made last year's R700 sturdy enough to grab one-handed. Of the two, the R840's slim-down is more dramatic: it's 25 percent thinner than the last-generation Tecra M11, as you can see in the comparison shots past the break. That's largely thanks to Intel's Airflow Cooling technology, which rearranges all of the heat-generating components in a row and draws in cool air from outside the notebook, instead of within. And Tosh claims the battery can last up to ten hours on a charge (11 with an SSD) -- a vast improvement over the five and a half to six hours it promised the last time around. Moving up in size to the R850 will get you a number pad, but not that cooling technology. But it is about an inch thick at its thinnest, a point the PC maker is pleased as punch about. The R830, R840, and R850 start at $1,049, $899, and $879, respectively, and are available now on Toshiba's site, with the consumer-friendly R835 on sale at Best Buy and through the Microsoft Store.
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NEW TOSHIBA LAPTOPS FOR BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS REDEFINE THIN AND LIGHT

New Tecra and Portégé Laptops Set New Standard in Balancing Performance, Mobility, Durability and Extended Battery Life Ratings

IRVINE, Calif. - April 12, 2011 - Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced its new range of high-performance business laptops. Reengineered from the ground up with thin, light and highly-durable designs, the new Tecra® and Portégé® laptops redefine mobility for business
professional offering full performance and long battery life ratings in three form factors as well as a standard three-year limited warranty.

"Our new business laptops build on the success of our award-winning Portégé R700 ultraportable laptop, providing professionals what they need and want – the performance needed to handle demanding business tasks in lightweight and durable designs." said Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc.,
Digital Products Division. "We focused on delivering what our customers asked for by reducing weight, increasing battery life and without sacrificing performance."

The Tecra and Portégé laptops are the thinnest Toshiba business laptops ever made. The Portégé R830 is redefining ultraportable and the Tecra R840 is about 25 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than its predecessor, Tecra M11. The Tecra R850 is equally impressive with its slimmer size.

High Performance Technologies
The new Tecra and Portégé laptops feature the latest mobile technologies designed to meet the demanding needs of business users, including 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processors, high-speed 7200 RPM hard drives or 128GB Solid State Drive and optional AMD Radeon™ discrete graphics with 1GB of dedicated graphics memory. The laptops also include a broad range
of standard ports including USB 3.0, eSATA/USB Combo with Toshiba's USB Sleep & Charge technology, DisplayPort™ or HDMI®, ExpressCard, Gigabit Ethernet and docking connectors. Featuring a wealth of connectivity options, the laptops have Intel AMT 7.0, Bluetooth® 3.0+EDR, Intel 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi and are Intel Wireless Display capable.

Enhanced Durability, Security and Style
For increased durability and strength without adding excess weight, the new Tecra laptops are built using a unique fiberglass-reinforced casing with a honeycomb rib structure. The new Portégé features a Toshiba exclusive Magnesium Alloy casing with a honeycomb structure.

Equipped with Toshiba's EasyGuard® Technology to help protect against accidental spills and bumps, the laptops also are designed with a suite of security features, including multiple level passwords, a fingerprint reader and optional SmartCard reader to help thwart unwanted access. A Trusted Platform Module offers high-level data encryption and available Computrace® aids recovery in case of theft.

The Tecra laptops boast a stylish, textured Graphite Black Metallic with Line Pattern finish and premium raised tile spill resistant keyboards with Accupoint pointing devices. The Portégé R830 maintained its predecessor, the R700, award winning design and finish.

Lowering Total Cost of Ownership
The new Tecra and Portégé laptops were also designed to share the same image with similar graphics, the AC power adapter and the Hi-Speed Port Replicator II. The Portégé R830 and Tecra R840 also share the same 6-cell and optional 9-cell battery. This commonality in product design makes product deployment and support easier and helps reduce total cost of ownership.

Tecra R840 Series
Featuring a14-inch diagonal HD LED-Backlit widescreen display, the Tecra R840 is the ideal all-around mobile business laptop. At about 25 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than its predecessor, the Tecra M11, the Tecra R840 is the thinnest 14-inch Tecra laptop ever made. Tecra R840 Series laptops can be configured with Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors
and features a battery life rating of up to 11 hours when configured with a Solid State Drive.

Detailed specifications can be found at us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/tecra/R840.

Tecra R850 Series
The ultimate mobile desktop replacement laptop, the Tecra R850 features a 15.6-inch6 diagonal HD LED-Backlit widescreen display and built-in 10-key numeric pad. At about an inch thin and a starting weight of 5.3 pounds, the R850 is about 19 percent thinner and 6 percent lighter than its predecessor, the Tecra A11. Available with Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7
processors7 the R850 Series laptops feature a battery life rating of up to seven hours8 when
configured with a Solid State Drive.

Detailed specifications can be found at us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/tecra/R850.

Portégé R830 Series
The next generation of Toshiba's award-winning ultraportable Portégé family, the Portégé R830 continues to be the world's lightest 13.3-inch6 full-performance ultraportable laptop featuring an integrated DVD drive. With a starting weight of just 3.1 pounds9 and about one inch thin, the Portégé R830 can be configured with 2nd generation Intel Core i3, Core i5 and
Core i7 full performance processors7 as a result of Airflow Cooling Technology. The Portégé R830 Series laptops also feature a USB 3.04 port and Bluetooth 3.0 and can be configured with standard hard drives or solid state drives.

Detailed specifications can be found at us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/portege/R830.

Consumer Model Also Available
Toshiba will also offer consumer editions of the laptop, the Portégé R835 Series. Starting at $888.99 MSRP, the laptops feature Magnesium Blue covers and are powered by 2nd generation Intel Core i3 or i5 processors7, 4GB of DDR3 memory and 640GB hard drives. In addition, the laptops feature a built-in USB 3.0 port4 and are Intel Wireless Display 2.0 capable, for
wirelessly connecting the laptop to a big screen HDTV. Portégé R835 laptops do not include ExpressCard or docking capabilities and come only with a one-year limited warranty.

Pricing and Availability
The Tecra R840 Series ($899.00 to $1,479.00 MSRP), Tecra R850 Series ($879.00 to $1,399.00 MSRP) and Portégé R830 Series ($1,049.00 to $1,649.00 MSRP) will be available on April 12, 2011 through select Toshiba Preferred Partner Program resellers, e-tailers and directly at toshibadirect.com. More information about WSCA and Toshiba's mobile solutions can be found at us.toshiba.com/wsca.

The Portégé R835 is currently available at Best Buy, the Microsoft Store and direct from Toshiba at toshibadirect.com.