Toshiba debuts low-cost HD DVD Satellites, Qosmios
updated 01:55 pm EDT, Mon October 1, 2007
Toshiba HD DVD Notebooks
Toshiba today launched multiple notebooks that it hopes drive down the cost of watching HD video on its systems, including its first ever notebook of the kind below the $1,200 mark. The $1,150 Satellite A205-S7468 makes an HD DVD combo drive standard and gives users the ability to watch video at 720p on the 15.4-inch display. Toshiba also promises unusually fast 802.11n Wi-Fi and a 200GB hard disk for the price. A relatively modest 1.5GHz Core 2 Duo is helped by 2GB of RAM for smooth performance in Vista Home Premium, Toshiba says. The S7468 ships today along with the $1,000 S7458, which drops HD DVD for a conventional DVD drive, as well as the $880 S7443 which comes with a slower 1.46GHz Pentium dual-core and a 160GB hard disk.
Two Satellite P205 models now also come with HD DVD standard, the system builder says. The S7476 and S7482 bring the same HD DVD combo drive of the A205 to a 17-inch desktop replacement format with a harman/kardon 2.1-channel speaker system. While the S7482 is otherwise close to the top-spec A205, the S7476 adds a 256MB Mobility Radeon HD 2600 with HDMI output to drive HD video up to 1080p on an external screen. It also boosts processor speed to 1.66GHz and carries an exceptionally large 300GB of hard disk space. Both ship now at prices of $1,250 and $1,450 respectively.
Two models in the PC maker's high-end Qosmio F45 line also receive the HD DVD upgrade. The AV423 and AV425 add Dolby Home Theater virtual and real surround to the equation and add faster overall performance. An AV423 starts with a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of memory, a 250GB hard drive, and 802.11n wireless; choosing the AV425 adds a much improved 2GHz Core 2 Duo as well as 300GB of storage and a 256MB GeForce 8600M GT with HDMI output. They go on sale today for $1,300 and $1,650 each.
