Toshiba refreshes notebook line-up, offers AMD Carrizo on select models

Toshiba refreshes notebook line-up, offers AMD Carrizo on select models

Toshiba has announced a range of new laptops in its Satellite C, Satellite L and Satellite S product line-ups, including a handful of models that will come with AMD’s recently-announced AMD Carrizo processors that are targeted at the notebook segment.

Satellite C series

Rounding off the bottom of Toshiba’s notebook portfolio is the Satellite C series, which caters to budget conscious consumers in pursuit of the best bang for their buck. The new Satellite C laptops are designed for everyday tasks like email, web browsing, online banking and shopping and various productivity tasks.

Toshiba has designed the laptops with Windows 10 in mind, so they will feature dual-array microphones to better support voice apps like Cortana and Skype, and even feature a dedicated Cortana key for quick access to Microsoft’s personal digital assistant.

The Satellite C series laptops are on the large side and are available in 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch models, and the extra screen real estate should be good for productivity tasks like word processing and web browsing. They can also be configured with up to 1TB of storage and 8GB of memory and either an Intel or AMD processor.

On the design front, the brushed resin matte black finish helps confer a premium feel to an entry-level notebook.

For those of you who are keeping an eye out for AMD Carrizo, the new processors will debut on Toshiba’s C55 and C75 models.

The Toshiba Satellite C laptops are already available for purchase at a starting price of US$394.99.

Satellite L series

The Satellite L series takes it up a notch with more performance for mainstream users. This includes stereo speakers tuned by Skullcandy, up to 16GB of Ram, 1080p IPS displays and 802.11ac Wi-Fi support.

The new Satellite L laptops have all the makings of a mainstream entertainment notebook. Like the Satellite C laptops, they will also feature dual-array TruTalk microphones and a dedicated Cortana key, in addition to an integrated HD webcam.

They are available in either 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch versions, and Toshiba is claiming a battery life of up to seven hours on the smaller model and 5 hours and 45 minutes on the larger one. There is support for both Intel and AMD processors, and the L55 will supposedly be the one that features Carrizo.

The design has also been updated to a modern satin gold finish, complete with a backlit keyboard and button-less trackpad.

The 15.6-inch Satellite L series laptops are already available at US$529.99, but the 17.3-inch models will begin shipping on 29 July at US$569.99.

Satellite S series

At the top of the line-up is the Satellite S series of laptops, Toshiba’s premium range of laptops targeted at power users, gamers and media creators.

Users will be able to choose from a 1600 x 900 TrueBrite multi-touch display, an 1080p display or an ultra-high resolution 4K (3840 x 2160) IPS display, so there should definitely be a screen option for every use case.

The Satellite S laptops bring over all the features from the lower-end models, but it also includes support for more powerful hardware like fifth-generation Intel processors, support for an additional 128GB SSD or up to a 2TB single drive, 16GB of memory, and a discrete NVIDIA graphics card.

The onboard audio solution has also been upgraded to Harman Kardon stereo speakers, which will support DTS Sound and Slipstream port technology that supposedly reduces distortion and improves music fidelity.

Toshiba has also paid attention to build quality and the Satellite S laptops sport a lightweight aluminium construction that is both portable and robust. The touchpad is a sleek button-less affair that supports multi-gesture control, while the keyboard features LED-backlit keys.

The Satellite S laptops will be available on 29 July at US$719.99 for the 15.6-inch model and US$874.99 for the 17.3-inch model. But although Windows 10 ships on the same day, the laptops will still ship with Windows 8.1, but will be eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 10.

Satellite Radius

There's also news of a new 2-in-1 hybrid called the Satellite Radius, which is unsurprising given how popular such hybrid devices are today. There aren't many specifics, but the 14-inch Satellite Radius 14 will purportedly feature an AMD Carrizo processor. Then there is the usual slate of features found on many 2-in-1 hybrids on the market today, like a 360° hinge that allows the device to be used in a variety of modes.

In addition, Toshiba is releasing a larger 15.6-inch version called the Satellite Radius 15. This will come in two variants, one with a regular 1080p display and an ultra HD edition with a 4K display. The larger devices will not support AMD Carrizo, but will instead feature fifth-generation Intel Core processors. 

The Satellite Radius 14 and Radius 15 are already available for purchase at US$584.99 and US$842.99 respectively. There was no word on the pricing and availability details for the 4K version of the Radius 15.

Lastly, note that all of these notebooks are currently marketed for the US market and they are quite unlikely to be available for retail in Singapore as they've long pulled out of the local retail notebook market. They might however still be offered to businesses as a B2B deal, but these details not yet firm. Perhaps another avenue for consumers to purchase these notebooks could be via Amazon or even local online retailers like Lazada.

Source: Toshiba (1), (2), (3) via Tom’s Hardware