Slideshow

Toshiba releases new NB200 netbook, fastest Qosmio X300 notebook

15 Photos Elias Plastiras (PC World)

World’s sexiest netbook versus world’s fastest notebook

  • Textured lid: The lid is a darker tone than the rest of the notebook and it has a textured glossy finish. The process to get the lid looking the way it does is called injection mould rolling, or IMR. You can see the silver-coloured 6-cell battery protruding from the rear of the unit.
  • Stand-out features: It may not have the fastest, most impressive configuration we’ve seen in a netbook, but the NB200 has a few features that make it stand out. Because it has a conventional spinning hard drive, it employs 3G drive guard technology, which can detect movement and park the heads in case you get a little too rough with it. It comes with face recognition technology that allows you to log on by posing instead of typing a password. The netbook has sleep-and-charge USB 2.0 ports, which allow you to charge your USB devices even when the NB200 is switched off (including the iPhone), and it has synchronisation software that allows you to sync your PC or main notebook with the NB200.

    As you can see it also has a full-sized keyboard with isolated keys, a very roomy touchpad and separated left- and right-click buttons. The keyboard takes a little while to get used to, but the touchpad is smooth and responsive.
  • Toshiba Qosmio X300/01N: If you don’t like the overbearing style and blistering red colour of the 17in Qosmio X300/01N, then it’s probably not for you. If you don’t have a spare $6000, then it’s definitely not for you! The Qosmio has evolved from the [[xref: http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/notebooks/toshiba/qosmio_g40_pqg40a-00y014/221111|home theatre desktop replacement]] it once was (fully decked out with HD-DVD) to become a full-on tour de force for gamers who want the most powerful notebook they can get their hands on. It’s primed for use at LAN parties and gaming tournaments. It weighs well over 4kg (not including its massive power brick), so it’s not a machine for the road. Check out our review of the [[xref:http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/notebooks/toshiba/qosmio_x300/263622| previous X300 notebook]].
  • Optical drive: Toshiba offers an optional USB 2.0-based external DVD burner to match your NB200.

  • Toshiba today launched what we think is the sexiest 10.1in netbook on the market: the copper-coloured Toshiba NB200. This little netbook is aimed at the premium end of the market, where style and form are just as important as portability and functionality. Toshiba has also refreshed its Qosmio X300 desktop replacement notebook, with the company claiming it is now the world’s fastest laptop. We thought it would be fitting to explore both of these products side-by-side. In one corner, the Toshiba NB200 represents all that is slick, mobile and efficient; in the other corner, the Toshiba Qosmio X300 represents all that is garish, massive and powerful.

  • There are five speakers in the Qosmio X300/01N, with two speakers located on the palm rest. In this photo you can see the flame detail that forms the speaker grill. The left speaker often gets obstructed when you type, which results in slightly muffled sound, but you’ll want to plug in a set of speakers to get full, rich sound out of it anyway.

  • The black, white and blue NB200 netbooks will hit the market before the copper-coloured model. The black models (pictured above) are the NB200 (PLL25A-00C002) and NB200 (PLL25A-00D002), which both have 3-cell batteries and are identical in every way except hard drive capacity — they have a 120GB and a 160GB hard drive, and cost $749 and $899, respectively. The white model is the NB200 (PLL20A-00P001) and the blue model is the NB200 (PLL20A-00Q001). The white and blue models are identical to the black models except they have 6-cell batteries, Bluetooth and 160GB hard drives.

  • Specifications: While the copper-coloured NB200 is sexy, it’s still a netbook so you won’t be able to use it for any taxing tasks. In fact, its configuration is underwhelming when you consider it doesn’t even have Gigabit Ethernet or 802.11n networking. You get a standard Intel Atom N280 CPU with a clock speed of 1.6GHz, 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM, a 160GB hard drive (no solid-state storage), Mobile Intel GMA950 graphics, and Windows XP. Its 10.1in screen has a native resolution of 1024x600, and it’s lit by a fluorescent tube instead of an LED backlight. You also get Bluetooth and a webcam.

  • While it’s especially designed for gamers and overclockers (yes, you can overclock this thing), the Toshiba Qosmio X300/01N is also suitable for game developers, and pretty much anyone who needs plenty of processing power that they can take with them between home and work. However, it lacks a few features that would make it even better for content producers: a Blu-ray combo drive instead of a plain old DVD burner, a 7200rpm secondary drive, a Full HD screen, and a backlit keyboard. It’s a big beast — you can see that it’s as wide as two 10.1in netbooks, and about two netbooks thick. It’s also expensive — to the tune of approximately eight NB200 netbooks!

  • Copperhead: The Toshiba NB200 is the sexiest netbook we have seen to date. It has a beautiful copper-coloured, reflective spine with the power button located in the centre. It uses a chiclet keyboard, similar to the ones seen on the [[xref: http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/notebooks/sony/vaio_vgn-z17gn_b/295822|Sony VAIO VGN-Z17GN/B]] and the [[xref: http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/notebooks/asus/eee_pc_1004dn/300081|ASUS Eee PC 1004DN]]. There is no release date yet for the copper version of the NB200, and no price either.

  • The right side has a Kensington lock port, power port and two more USB 2.0 ports. You can also see that the status lights have been placed on the front of the Toshiba NB200, rather than on the attractive spine (save for the power button and light).

  • Cooling: With a quad-core CPU and SLI graphics, the Qosmio X300/01N needs some serious venting, and this is provided on the rear of the unit. Notice also the FireWire and HDMI ports either side of the vent. If you look closely at the vent, you can also see the fins of the large heat sink.
  • Quad-core Extreme: Inside the 4.3cm thick base of the Qosmio X300/01N is an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300 quad-core processor that runs at 2.53GHz. You also get 4GB of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM, and most importantly for gaming, dual NVIDIA GeForce 9088M GTS graphics cards set up in SLI mode. Each card has its own 512MB memory buffer. The storage configuration is interesting: you get 628GB of total storage, comprising a 128GB solid-state drive and a 500GB, 4200rpm hard drive. The solid-state drive is the system drive, which means Windows Vista and all your programs will load quickly. We wish the secondary storage drive was a 7200rpm model, however.

    The 17in screen does not have a Full HD (1080p) resolution, maxing out at 1680x1050. This isn’t much of an issue, though, as the Qosmio X300/01N doesn’t have a high-definition disc player installed. Toshiba will never put a Blu-ray drive in its notebooks and says that it’s waiting for the next evolution in high-definition storage instead.
  • Connectivity and expansion: The Qosmio X300/01N has four USB 2.0 ports (with Sleep-and-Charge technology), one eSATA port, FireWire, a webcam, a fingerprint reader, digital audio output, FM tuner, a memory card reader, an ExpressCard slot, and a PCI Express x1 slot. You also get Bluetooth, 802.11n wireless networking and Gigabit Ethernet.
  • Ports:The left side of the Toshiba NB200 has D-Sub, microphone, headphone, Ethernet and USB ports, while the front has an SD memory card slot. The screen is glossy, so you’ll have to adjust the angle when using it in a bright room or outdoors.
Show Comments
Security Watch
Back to top

Don’t have an account? Sign up here

Don't have an account? Sign up now

Forgot password?