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.
The product is planned for a Q3 release which means, of course, that we’re looking at a potential Ivy Bridge candidate here. Toshiba wouldn’t confirm this but they didn’t deny it when we asked! The keyboard is very similar (same feel) as the Z830 keyboard but will only have backlighting in some models. It will run a hybrid HDD/SSD and has a good set of ports. Materials appear good quality although there’s clearly some cost-cutting in the mix as it didn’t feel as high-end as the Z830. The image set below was taken in a nightclub but we managed to get a few reasonable shots for you, including a brief showing of Windows 8 before the lid was quickly closed by the Toshiba rep!
Its stupid to come out with a 14 inch ultrabook. Why stretch the definition of ultrabook so far? It was originally meant to be light and portable. At below 4lb, this is not really light. Soon, the 15 inch ultrabook and the 17.3 inch ultrabook will be launched.
It perverts the original definition of ultrabook.
Micheal I see your point, but maybe all sizes deserve to weigh less even 17 inchers. Of course 13 inch will always weigh less and it is a nice form factor, I am personally interested in ssd only devices, and i did not pass by the z830 to buy this more mainstream model. At least it looks like the vent is on the side and it would be ironic if it sounded not as noisy as in the already released toshiba models (although it would be a crime if it was the same) toshiba has lost me as a costumer i think (and i am writing this on a big toshiba laptop) I hope the HP Spectre or LG Xnote or anything new is out soon. Any good build around 1.3 kg or less 13.3 or higher ultrabook with low noise fan none vobble screen all ssd and 8 or os hours of battery life will get my money (oh yeah full size ports a must and a nice screen and no mucking up in area) lol hey just make it really nice and i will like it lol. Looking forward to all the other models. February is my birthday so hurry industry lol