After testing a number of high-end devices recently, including gaming-capable PCs and the Surface Pro 4, it was a really interesting experience with the Toshiba Satelite Click 10 last week. Going from €1500 of Surface Pro 4 down to €399 of entry-level mobile 2-in-1, with the same total weight, highlighted just how much value you can get for your money…and what the differences are between high-end and low-end. My video review for Notebookcheck is embedded below in this article but I’ve also added thoughts about how the Click 10 compares with the ASUS Transformer Book T100HA (good power, storage options) and the Acer Switch 10E (a great budget 2-in-1.)
The Toshiba Satellite Click 10 follows in the footsteps of the Click 9, the unique netbook-style 2-in-1 with the big battery life. Like the Click 9 the Click 10 has a battery in both the tablet and keyboard but by keeping the weight down to 1.1 KG Toshiba have created the best battery:KG ratio in the 10-inch dockable tablet market. How’s the rest of this ultramobile PC though?
Things are hotting-up in the 8.9-inch Windows detachable sector with Toshiba announcing something that’s going to go head-to-head with the ASUS Transformer Book T90 Chi. The Toshiba Satellite Click Mini beats the T90 Chi on some specifications, but not on others.
Toshiba Satellite Click Mini
At 1KG (2.2 pounds) exactly the Toshiba Satellite Click 2 with its docking keyboard isn’t as light as the T90 Chi but there’s a reason for that. The keyboard isn’t just a Bluetooth keyboard but a true docking keyboard with USB port, charging port and battery. Video playback battery life is quoted at 8hrs for the tablet and 16 hours with the dock. This looks like the perfect seat-back companion for international flights. Expect a little less on web browsing but 12+ hours should be possible if the Click Mini falls in line with what we’ve seen on this platform from other products.
Here’s something for you to read with your coffee this Sunday morning. John Heckendon has bought and reviewed the Toshiba CB35-B3340 Chromebook with Full HD display.
The review is very positive but is also correct to highlight that the Baytrail platform isn’t the best performing. John puts the CB35 up against the Dell 11 which runs a Haswell-architehture CPU.
This, my lightbook-loving friends, is going to be a big seller in Q4 of 2014. The Toshiba CB35-B3340 is a 13.3-inch laptop with a full-HD screen, SSD, Skull Candy speakers, a 51 Wh battery and it weighs just 3 pounds – 1.36KG. The price? $330. It’s a nice product for entry-level consumers but it’s a problem for Microsoft.
The Toshiba CB35-B3340 is a Chromebook and Chromebooks based on a Baytrail-M SoC with just 16GB of SSD are cheap to produce but this one from Toshiba is well-designed, has a good keyboard and is the best I saw over the last month of touring IFA and IDF events. Skull Candy speakers hint at a consumer-focus and not classroom-focus but Toshiba hasn’t cut corners on battery life or ports. This Chromebook will give you 9 hours of usage, say Toshiba. I understand it has a 51Wh battery inside so I don’t doubt that. In fact, i’d expect over 10 hours of offline video viewing.
The question is, why can’t this be a Windows laptop? Well, Toshiba have a similar product in the CL-10B (video) but at 11.6-inch it’s not the same. The reason could be that a lot of similar-sounding products in the Windows laptop market are selling for $700 or more. Given that a Windows with Bing license costs nothing I can’t see any reason that this can’t be a Windows laptop other than product separation. That could be an issue for Microsoft because Chromebooks just took 18% of the sub $300 laptop category. In the $300-$400 space this Chromebook is a bargain.
Windows 8 tablets are racing to the bottom in price and specs, Ultrabooks are fading away and cheap Windows laptops have positioning to contend with. The 2-in-1 segment will get a boost from Core M soon but it won’t take effect until 2015. With no word on Cherry Trail products, it looks like it will be a very very tough quarter for Microsoft.
Toshiba have just launched two low-cost 11.6-inch Windows laptops that hit the same price brackets as their new Chromebook 2 which tells us one thing – no-one really knows how the $200-$300 Windows vs Chromebook market is going to play-out. Do they have overlapping audiences or are they well separated? The Toshiba Satellite CL 10-B is obviously targeted at this market with a specification list that only differs from Chromebooks by virtue of the fact that it runs Windows. 11.6-inch, Baytrail-M, small SSD. The Toshiba Satellite Radius 11 adds a 360-degree hinge. I took a look at both of these Windows laptops at IFA and here are two video overviews.
This basic Windows laptop is going to be a ‘sub 300’ product says Toshiba and we’ve subsequently heard that it will launch at 260 Euros. It still might be able to compete against the cheaper ASUS Eeebook X205 because in my opinion it’s slightly better built than the X205 and has a better keyboard but it could also have upgrade possibilities as it’s based on the SATA-capable Baytrail-M platform. With a battery capacity of 26Wh (unconfirmed) a TFT screen with a 1366×768 resolution, 2GB RAM and 16GB storage it’s got baseline specifications. Weght:1300 grams.
Toshiba Satellite Radius 11
The Satellite Radius adds a 360-degree rotating screen to the mix. It’s still a non-IPS screen and the specifications are much the same as the CL-10B apart from a larger battery and a 500GB drive. Of course the weight and price is higher. Price will play a major role in the success of the Radius 11 as it’s competing against the Lenovo Yoga 2 11 and other low-cost Yoga-like hybrids. Weight: 1500 grams.
Here’s a really nice looking 2-in-1 Ultrbook that, unfortunately, weighs nearly 2KG when docked together. A 13.3-inch Full HD screen tablet running a Core CPU in under 1KG isn’t too bad though and there are options here for hard drives and additional batteries in the base unit. The design is good because it incorporates a rear extension that not only houses the ports but keeps the whole unit stable when the screen is tilted. The Full HD screen is really nice.
Toshiba were showing off the new Chromebook 2 (CB30-B) at IFA in Berlin so I took some time to get acquainted. At an estimated 400 Euros it’s not a cheap Chromebook but it’s an interesting offering because you’ve got a Full HD 13.3-inch screen in just 1300 grams (2.9 pounds.) Like the Lenovo N20p it’s offering something a little bit different and after spending time with it I’m quite impressed. There’s a hands-on video below.
