With PC laptop shipments projected to decline by 7.3% this year, Windows 8 machines desperately need a shot multiple shots of adrenaline. The Toshiba KIRAbook may be just that.
The KIRAbook is Toshiba’s first entrant in their newly fashioned “KIRA” line of luxury ultrabooks. At first glance, you can see that the KIRAbook is meticulously designed, and it radiates a Cupertino-esque level of fit and finish. We haven’t seen this kind of quality from Toshiba for a very long time (if ever).
That doesn’t mean the KIRAbook offers anything new in terms of design. There are still shades of the Macbook Air to be found here and there, as is the case with all top of the line Windows ultrabooks.
The KIRAbook has a smaller profile than the Macbook Air, but somehow manages to include a retina-quality 2560×1440 WQHD touchscreen display. Although I didn’t get an opportunity to compare it side by side with the retina Macbook Pro, or for that matter the Chromebook Pixel, but it’ll definitely be one of the best laptop displays out in the market once it’s released.
The display is most certainly the KIRAbook’s marquee feature and Toshiba’s primary justification for its slightly onerous pricing, which I’ll get to in just a moment.
Inside the KIRAbook, you’ll find an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. The KIRAbook is also bundled with full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, as well as a complimentary two year service and support package that Toshiba claims to be on par with Applecare.
At least on a spec level, the KIRAbook lives up to its “luxury” label. But that also means it’s saddled with a luxuriously high price.
The non-touch KIRAbook with Core i5 starts at $ 1,599. It gets a little crazy from there. The touchscreen KIRAbook with Core i5 goes for $ 1,789, while the top of the line touchscreen KIRAbook, with Core i7 and Windows Pro, goes for a whopping $ 1,999. That kind of pricing blows its PC and Apple counterparts out of the water.
For comparison’s sake, the 13-inch Retina Macbook Pro starts at $ 1,499, albeit with a smaller 128GB SSD. The Lenovo Thinkpad x1 Carbon starts at $ 1,187, while the touchscreen equipped model starts at $ 1,319. The Asus Zenbook Prime, with a touchscreen and a nearly retina quality display, is currently retailing for $ 1,253 on Amazon.
Toshiba representatives told me that they don’t expect the Kirabook to become the bestselling laptop PC on the market. They understand it’s a bit of a niche product. If anything, the Kirabook is a statement that Toshiba is capable of producing top of the line hardware in a very appealing package.
No word on whether the KIRAbook is worth its price tag, but we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop with a full review soon. It’ll be available in stores May 5th.
This week on Tech Talk, Andy Baryer brought along a first of its kind ultrabook with a 14.4 inch 21:9 aspect ratio ultra-widescreen display. It’s called the Toshiba Satellite U840W Laptop. Watch Hollywood movies like they were intended with the 21:9 aspect ratio; or do more with the added screen size. We also have the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. It’s a smartphone, it’s a tablet…no, it’s a phablet! Check it out.
Related Posts:Question by Peter O’neal: LG OLED TV vs Toshiba 4K TV? What are the differences between the OLED TV and Toshiba’s 4K TV. They seem to be around the same price.
Best answer:
Answer by VtotheGizzoOLED TVs are much more thinner (LG=4mm) (Samsung around 8-9mm). The Toshiba’s is a glasses-free TV (if you’re referring to the 55×3 model) I believe while the OLED TV from LG uses passive glasses. Overall the Toshbia doesn’t even come close IMO. I also would say its not fair to compare an OLED TV to an LED TV.
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Toshiba had its new lineup of Regza HDTVs on hand at CEATEC today, showing sets from both the J7 Series and Z7 series. All TVs across both lineups include Toshiba’s time-shift machine feature, which is essentially a DVR that records up to 40 hours of content and recommends programs based on your viewing history. The J7 Series offers 32-, 40, 50- and 65-inch options, all of which boast 1080p resolutions save for the 32-incher. Pricing starts at ¥75,000 (about $ 961) and tops off at ¥370,000 for the largest model. The slightly higher-end Z Series includes 42-, 47- and 55-inch models, with pricing ranging from ¥180,000 to ¥370,000.
We spent a few minutes staring into the high-def abyss at the company’s rather dim booth, and all of the displays looked quite stunning. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to test out the time-shift feature, so we’ll have to take the company on its word there. The premium Z7 models include a thinner bezel and an overall sleeker look, while the J7 featured a more rounded design, with a beefier border around the panel. All of the TVs are expected to debut in time for the holiday season. For now, you can get a sneak peek from our hands-on video below.
Gallery: Toshiba REGZA Z7 and J7 eyes-on
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Toshiba Regza J7 and Z7 TVs pack built-in DVR with recommendation feature, we go eyes-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 23:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Media provider 7digital has mostly been making news on the Windows front recently, making its music offerings available for Windows Phone earlier this year and serving up 20 million tracks through its preview version for Windows 8. Now the digital media company is branching out to Toshiba televisions as well, inking a deal to be the European music partner for the Toshiba Places platform. The agreement, which represents 7digital’s first foray into the connected TV market, will allow consumers with a Toshiba Places account to browse through the content provider’s music catalogue, create playlists and stream music directly through the television. The company says the feature should be compatible with televisions equipped with Toshiba Places since May 2011. Five countries — the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain — are slated to get first crack when the service goes live in Europe in September. For more details about the service, feel free to peruse the company PR after the break.
Continue reading 7digital named European music partner for Toshiba connected TVs
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
7digital named European music partner for Toshiba connected TVs originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Sep 2012 03:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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LG Electronics has found itself at the center of quite a few patent lawsuits in recent years (both as a plaintiff and defendant), and it’s now kicked yet another one off. As Bloomberg reports, LG has today filed suit against Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology, alleging that the Toshiba / Samsung joint venture violated a number of patents related to DVD+RW and DVD-RAM technology. In the complaint, LG further alleges that TSST is knowingly infringing on the patents as they were previously licensed to Toshiba itself (and TSST as an affiliate company) as part of a deal that expired in 2010. LG is asking for a jury trial to sort things out, and demanding that TSSC pay “no less than a reasonable royalty” along with some unspecified damages. You can find the complaint in full at the link below.
Filed under: Storage
Toshiba / Samsung joint venture hit with lawsuit by LG over DVD+RW/RAM patents originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Bloomberg, LG v. TSST complaint (PDF) | Email this | Comments
Laptops in 2012 may be thinner and lighter than ever, but the form factor’s otherwise been largely untouched. You get a keyboard, a trackpad, a 16:9 widescreen display, and some ports. One of Toshiba’s latest Satellite ultrabooks looks like that: the U845 is thin, light, and overwhelmingly laptop-y. But the other new Satellite is a bit different: the U845W’s 14.4-inch display is “ultra-widescreen,” with a 21:9 aspect ratio that is far wider and shorter than most displays its size. The U845W is focused on multimedia, designed for watching movies as much as for getting work done. Inside, the two devices are still largely the same, featuring the thin, fast, SSD-powered ultrabook specs we’ve come to expect.
Is the $ 749 U845 a better…
Well, this lede pretty much wrote itself. A 13-inch tablet, seriously? Toshiba is pushing the form factor limits with the Excite 13, and while its dimensions make it stand out in a sea of 7- and 10-inch devices, that isn’t necessarily what tablet buyers are looking for.
More Info- Toshiba announces Excite 10, 7.7 and 13 tablets, Thrive slates on their way out
- Toshiba Excite 7.7 review
- Toshiba Excite 10 review
There’s no shortage of skepticism about such a large slate — “slab” seems appropriate here — so the Toshiba Excite 13 needs to provide an exceptional experience, with a brilliant display and smooth graphics, to make 2.2 pounds seem more palatable. On paper, its specs are promising: there’s a quad-core Tegra 3 CPU under the hood, a 1600 x 900 display at 138 ppi and a clean build of Android 4.0. The company already has the Excite 7.7 and Excite 10 in its arsenal, and their good performance and bright displays make for compelling tablets. But how does a 13-inch tablet that starts at $ 650 round out that trio? Read on for our full impressions.
Gallery: Toshiba Excite 13 review photos
Continue reading Toshiba Excite 13 review: a big-screened tablet with a price to match
Toshiba Excite 13 review: a big-screened tablet with a price to match originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Well, this lede pretty much wrote itself. A 13-inch tablet, seriously? Toshiba is pushing the form factor limits with the Excite 13, and while its dimensions make it stand out in a sea of 7- and 10-inch devices, that isn’t necessarily what tablet buyers are looking for.
More Info- Toshiba announces Excite 10, 7.7 and 13 tablets, Thrive slates on their way out
- Toshiba Excite 7.7 review
- Toshiba Excite 10 review
There’s no shortage of skepticism about such a large slate — “slab” seems appropriate here — so the Toshiba Excite 13 needs to provide an exceptional experience, with a brilliant display and smooth graphics, to make 2.2 pounds seem more palatable. On paper, its specs are promising: there’s a quad-core Tegra 3 CPU under the hood, a 1600 x 900 display at 138 ppi and a clean build of Android 4.0. The company already has the Excite 7.7 and Excite 10 in its arsenal, and their good performance and bright displays make for compelling tablets. But how does a 13-inch tablet that starts at $ 650 round out that trio? Read on for our full impressions.
Gallery: Toshiba Excite 13 review photos
Continue reading Toshiba Excite 13 review: a big-screened tablet with a price to match
Toshiba Excite 13 review: a big-screened tablet with a price to match originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
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