Monthly Main Meeting Highlights
August 2010
Tonight we had a real innovator in PC technology with us. Most companies have some claim to that but only Toshiba, with 25 years experience can claim to be the first company to market the laptop computer.
Anthony Geronimo,Production Manager Toshiba Consumer Division gave the group an insight into Toshibas influence on the Laptop computing world.
1985 saw them introduce the first laptop, the T1100 and in 1986 the first laptop with a hard drive.
Toshiba remained ahead of the game for some years with the following releases.
The introduction of the NIMH battery in 1990, the first pen based laptop in 1993, the first CD drive in 1995 and in 2004 the first AV notebook. In 2009 Toshiba won the Greenpeace award for the world’s greenest computer.
There is more interesting information at
http://www.mytoshiba.com.au/25th-anniversary
Now after 25 years in the business, Toshiba is releasing a range of portable
computers to cover evey need or demand of the consumer.
The three most notable, Anthony had to show us were;
The Libretto W100
This computer is a wonderful compromise between the netbook and a book
reader. It has two screens and no keyboard. A simple press of a button turns
one screen into a virtual keyboard for your computing needs or the second
page of the book you need to study.
http://laptops.toshiba.com/laptops/libretto/W100
Next was the Portage R700 range of light weight notebooks.
This range has a 13.3 inch screen, a DVD drive and comes in a range of
CPUs from the i3 to the i7 with standard hard drives from 320 to 500 GB.
The Portege range also includes a 128 GB SSD.
All this is delivered at a mere 1.1 KG
http://www.mytoshiba.com.au/search/?q=r700
Computing from the clouds.
Cloud computing is where you keep your software in the clouds.
The idea is to take advantage of the online software and eliminate the need
to install memory hungry programs on the hard disk by using free software
such as
Google Office
or Microsoft Office
Live available through Microsoft Live both of which are made available
free once you register.
Running on the Android operating system the AC 100 has been designed as a bridge between the smartphone and the netbook.
3D Gaming
The most entertaining laptop was the 3D gaming offering.
with its own 3D glasses
Everyone had a go
The Toshiba A 660 laptop comes with a 3D camera which works with the 3D glasses to provide the a real depth to the image. The glasses have a built in battery and work by switching the signal between lenses rather than using a polarising filter.
Here are more details
http://www.mytoshiba.com.au/products/notebooks/satellite/a660/psaw3a-07r00r
and
http://laptops.toshiba.com/laptops/satellite/A660
late breaking news.
Hidden in Anthony's bag was what looked suspiciously like a iPad. It was however a dummy of the new Folio 100 Toshiba's entry into the handheld tablet market running on Android.
It has just been anounced at the Berlin trade fair
The Raffle
Thanks to Toshibas generosity
James Hill took home the Toshiba Satellite T230
Here are the details
http://www.mytoshiba.com.au/products/notebooks/satellite/t230d/pst4la-00l008/specifications#details
Anthony also provided some Toshiba USB sticks for those who paid attention
Here are some of the attentive winners
John Matthews and
Peter Collard
