We spent a few hours with Toshiba in Germany yesterday and came away impressed by the commitment that this Japanese company has with the Ultrabook segment. In 2011 we saw the very thin, very light Toshiba Z830 but in mid 2012 there’s now three models to choose from. Entry level with the U840, business with the Z930 and the interesting wide-screen U840W which we think is going to find some friends.
In the USA the models numbers are slightly different but the U845, U845W and Z935 correspond closely to what Europe will see.
While the rest of the world waits for confirmation of specs and availability, the guys down under have already reviewed the Toshiba U840 Ultrabook. It’s a product that won’t be confused with the Toshiba Z830 but there are questions to be asked about the price. The U840 appears to be built for the mainstream market and yet the price is higher than the Z830. We hope that’s just early pricing that will drop quickly.
I’m somewhat surprised to see this news today. Toshiba Australia are officially offering the Toshiba Satellite U840 Ultrabook for sale on their website. Why am I surprised? Because Toshiba USA showed us the device at CES in January and said it was due in Q3. Clearly Toshiba already have the device ready and Toshiba USA really only spoke for their region.
At a Toshiba Press event this evening we got a glimpse of the 14” laptop that will be the next Toshiba (USA) Satellite Ultrabook (not high-end Portege brand as the Z835 is in the USA.) At ‘under 4lb’ it’s not the ultra-light that the Z830/Z835 is but you’re looking at a device that will be cheaper than the Z830 and will be targeted at a more mainstream customer. We even caught a brief glimpse of Windows 8 running on it.
