Toshiba Tecra R800 Series: Business Laptops

Toshiba America Information Systems has officially announced three new business laptops: the Tecra R830 (13.3″, $1049+), R840 (14″, $899+) and R850 (15.6″, $1049+). All three new laptops have been inspired by the Toshiba Portégé R700 13.3″, 3lbs consumer laptop. That’s a very good choice because that R700 design is much nicer, better and lighter than the Tecra M11-era design.

What’s new? For starters, Toshiba has upgraded the main processor (CPU) to Intel’s Sandy Bridge architecture. This means better overall performance, power consumption and most importantly, DirectX 10 integrated graphics. Integrated graphic is the only option for the Toshiba R830, but the R840 and R850 laptops can feature a more powerful AMD Radeon graphics processor (GPU). The laptop also features USB 3.0, Display port and are even Intel Wireless Display capable, says Toshiba.

To make the new designs more rigid and lighter at the same time, Toshiba has used a variant of magnesium in conjunction with a honeycomb structure that greatly reduces the laptop “flex”, especially when held with one hand (we tried). Structural rigidity is one of the main challenges when creating thinner and lighter laptops, but Toshiba’s way is probably more cost-effective than using aluminum or carbon-fiber all over the place. The Tecra R800 Series also has the EasyGuard spill protection that should protect it from dangers lurking in the office.

Official photos

Hands-on photos