Greg & Intel Investors - Pentium II Notebooks from Toshiba for under $2000
The notebook market is getting price-aggressive and may speed up adoption of Intel's Pentium II line.
Note that a 300 MHz Pentium II notebook is mentioned in the high-end Toshiba lineup - but I don't recall Intel "announcing" a 300 MHz mobile Pentium II.
Paul
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news.com
Toshiba notebook under $2,000
By Stephanie Miles
Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM
August 3, 1998, 11:30 a.m. PT
Toshiba expanded its notebook line to
include a sub-$2,000 Pentium II system and a
leaner version of its Portege ultraportable
notebook.
As expected, the Japanese company
introduced the new low-cost Pentium II Satellite
4000 series as part of a wider-ranging notebook
announcement. The one-time PC market leader
also debuted an ultraslim portable and a new,
highly configurable corporate notebook.
Last quarter, Toshiba lost its No. 1 position in
the notebook arena to Compaq. Its strategy of
introducing a low-cost Pentium II system as
well as the attention-getting Portege may be the
right one-two punch, analysts say.
Toshiba is "back in the race," according to
Gerry Purdy, president
of Mobile Insights.
"The market share
numbers showed them
losing significant
market share over the
last 18 months to
companies like IBM
and Compaq, upstarts
like Fujitsu, and recent
success from Dell," Purdy said. "They
recognized that their products were not in tune
with today's business and consumer mobile
buyer."
The new Satellite 4005CDS features a 233-MHz
Pentium II processor, a dual-scan 12.1-inch
display, a 4.1GB hard drive, a 56-kbps modem,
and an integrated CD-ROM drive. "The new
Satellite 4000 series is an aggressive value line
that will meet the needs of buyers looking for
mobile products under $2,000," Purdy
observed.
The Satellite 4000 series is Toshiba's first
notebook with Intel's top-line chip dip under
$2,000, and the move is expected to drive all of
Toshiba's previous-generation Pentium MMX
notebooks down in price as well. For example,
last week Toshiba announced a sub-$1,400
Satellite notebook, the 2505CDS with a
233-MHz Pentium MMX, a 2GB hard drive, and
a 12.1-inch display for $1,399.
The Tecra 8000, a corporate notebook, features
a 300-MHz Pentium II processor, a 14.1-inch
active-matrix LCD screen, 8.1GB hard drive,
and DVD-ROM drive.
"The Tecra 8000 line attempts to go after the
[IBM] Thinkpad 600 with its more advanced
architecture," Purdy said of the new notebook.
"It's scaleable, but its not as thin and light [as
the ThinkPad 600]."
The new addition to the Portege line, the
7000CT, features a revamped look. The
one-inch, four-pound subnotebook features a
266-MHz Pentium II mobile processor, a
12.1-inch active-matrix display, a 4.3GB hard
drive, 56-kbps modem, and full-size keyboard.
This new design differs significantly with the
long-standing Portege which was a very
compact--somewhat cramped--subnotebook
which had not kept up with the thin-and-wide
designs from leading vendors such as IBM,
Hewlett-Packard, and Sony.
"Toshiba had to do something major," Purdy
said of the new Portege. "The Portege 7000 is
definitely the 'jewel in the crown' of their
offering."
"They are back in the race, but they have not yet
blown away the competition," Purdy concluded.
Related news stories
Toshiba unveils sub-$1,400 portable July 20, 1998
Dell jumps ranks in notebooks June 17, 1998
Toshiba fights Compaq onslaught March 24, 1998
Toshiba fights to stay on top February 20, 1998
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