A stiff, narrow touch button. Too much gloss. The keys are slippery. We didn't have many bad things to say about Toshiba's Satellite T115 or T135, but almost all of our complaints dealt with ergonomics. Well, it looks like the company was listening, because the new T200 series answers the call for comfort.
Both the 11.6-inch T215 and 13-inch T235 feature raised tile keyboards and wide touchpads inspired by the award-winning NB series netbook series. They're just fuller sized. Toshiba has also cut down on fingerprint smudges by debuting a new dual-tone Fusion Chrome design. The outside has a patterned lid with three color options (red, white, and black) and the inside has a matte silver textured with chrome trim.
Check out the specs, pricing, gallery, and hands-on video below.
Available starting June 20, both lightweight notebooks will feature HDMI ports, integrated webcams, and hard drive impact sensors and USB Sleep-and-Charge ports. The T215 weighs in at 3.3 pounds (not much heavier than a netbook) and starts at $469 for the single-core AMD Neo II model and $499 for the dual-core version. Expect around 5 hours of battery life.
The 13-inch T235 tips the scales at 3.9 pounds and starts at $549 for the AMD model and $629 for the Intel version with a U5400 processor. The Intel-powered T235 should last nearly 9 hours on a charge, while the AMD system gets a little over 6 hours. However, that notebook sports more powerful ATI Mobility Radeon 4225 graphics.
Stay tuned for full reviews of both systems to see if Toshiba can shake up the ultraportable market like it did with netbooks.
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