A lot for storage but little in the way of a warranty

Subject: General Tech | August 9, 2012 - 01:12 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: hdd, toshiba, western digital, 3tb, Warranty, sad

As has been mentioned previously on PC Perspective the current trend of HDD manufacturers reducing the length of warranty is not being well received, though with only three manufacturers left consumers have little choice in the matter.  At least with Western Digital, you are more likely to get a 3 to 5 year warranty than you are a single year.  That negative feedback obviously hasn't fazed Toshiba, who are using the WD plants they purchased earlier this year to manufacture 1.5, 2 and 3TB HDDs, 3.5" in size and available in both 7200 and 5400RPM models and offering 1 year of warranty.  In short, a factory which was previously capable of providing a 5 year warranty on spinning disks for your long term storage now offers a shorter warranty than the SSD manufacturers who are poised to replace them.  The Inquirer offers more on this depressing topic here.

"Toshiba, the distant third vendor in the storage industry, was given the chance to buy part of Western Digital's hard drive business when it wanted to appease regulatory bodies to approve its purchase of Hitachi. With some of Western Digital's plants, Toshiba is now set to launch a range of 3.5in hard drives topping out at 3TB."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Kaspersky spots Zeus for BlackBerry @ The Register
• Kaspersky Lab warns of noxious ‘Gauss’ financial trojan @ The Inquirer
• Intel to try out wireless charging technology in ultrabooks and smartphones in 2H13 @ DigiTimes
• NASA's $2.5bn Curiosity rover: An Apple PowerBook on wheels @ The Register
• Buffalo Air Station AC1300 N900 802.11ac Wireless Router Review @ Legit Reviews
• How to Make Your Own Cat5e Network Cable @ Techgage
• NO!SE: The Game of Silence – win awesome prizes! @ Kitguru
• Win a Patriot Viper 3 Memory Kit @ Hi Tech Legion

Seems that CPU-less video streaming is not NP-Hard

Subject: General Tech | April 11, 2012 - 02:33 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: toshiba, NPEngine, video streaming

The NPEngine from Toshiba has a big future for content providers who would be interested in streaming thousands of concurrent videos and save on space and power requirements.  The quote from the article at The Register claims a 70% reduction in size and a 77% reduction in power consumption for a provider who could provide 100,000 separate streams.  That savings demonstrates the benefit of purpose built hardware, what it lacks in versatility it more than makes up for in savings.  The server version is due out this year, with the possibility of a single chip version for laptops and SFF machines which will take the CPU completely out of the picture when playing HD video.

"Toshiba's NPEngine hardware directly streams video from SSDs to IP networks without using host server CPU cycles or memory.

Tosh claims the dedicated hardware delivers up to 64,000 x 40Gbit/sec video streams – way more than the 20,000 or so an average 2U server is said to be able to stream. The Toshiba hardware, a server card, can replace at least two video-streaming servers and enable its host server to do other work."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Mosh: Modernizing SSH With IP Roaming, Instant Local Echo @ Slashdot
• Gadget Show 2012 Roundup @ XSReviews
• OnLive goes legit with licensing downshift for virtual Windows @ The Register
• Gadget Show Live 2012 Coverage @ Kitguru
• Final Day to enter ASUS Masters of Overclocking Event with HardwareHeaven (UK) Win an Ivy-Bridge System at i45

When is an Ultrabook not an Ultrabook?

Subject: Mobile | January 19, 2012 - 06:17 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ultrabook, Samsung, toshiba, LG, z830, Z835, Z330, Series 9

An Ultrabook must meet certain criteria to honestly be an Ultrabook.  It cannot be thicker than 0.8" at any point, it must weigh under 3.1 lbs, it should have a battery life above 5 hours, boot to desktop in around 10 seconds or less and most importantly it should cost no more than $1000.  These specs seem to have been relaxed by Intel, for instance the Samsung Series 9 is available in two sizes, one which will cost you $1400 and one that will cost $1500.  While it is certainly sleek and the 128GB SSD should keep the boot times quick, the price is well over what the spec calls for.  Contrast that with the Toshiba Z830 and Z835 which will cost you $700 and therefore does met the specifications originally laid down by Intel.  The SSD Reviews top 3 Ultrabooks also include the LG Z330 which does not sport a price tag though the Kilimanjaro based 256GB OCZ SSD inside of the ultrabook does suggest they will not be under $1000.  Still, they are pretty to look at.

"There seems to be no doubt in anyone’s mind that 2012 is going to be the year of the ultrabook and CES 2012 Las Vegas was front and center with just about every ultrabook available, or soon to be, this past week.

Today’s report will examine three forerunners that appear to be in a position, above all others at this point anyway, to grab top marks in 2012. Those who know me may also feel this to be an unfair comparison as I have had the Toshiba Z830 as my tool of choice for a few months now."

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• Acer Aspire S3 Review @ TechReviewSource
• Lenovo IdeaPad U400 Review @ TechReviewSource
• MSI GT780DXR 17.3? Laptop @ Kitguru
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus & Ice Cream Sandwich Review @ AnandTech
• How To Protect Your Apple iPhone’s Home Button @ TechARP
• SoundGraph iMON SmartBay Review @ Madshrimps

CES Storage Roundup Part 1 - Toshiba, Kingston

Subject: Storage, Shows and Expos | January 11, 2012 - 09:26 PM | Allyn Malventano
Tagged: toshiba, ssd, memory, kingston, flash, CES

While roaming Vegas, we came across lots of storage goodies. Here are a few:

Toshiba

Toshiba was showing a 19nm flash memory wafer and all of their products containing them.

They seem to be taking their SATA SSD lines less seriously, as there were none on display. While there were no SSD's to speak of, there were USB devices:

There was also plenty of SDHC, including their own SD WiFi card - used to upload photos as they are taken.

They were also showing an SDXC card. While the shown card was a functioning 64GB unit, the SDXC format is capable of taking to cards up to 1TB in capacity.

Kingston

We saw some cool stuff over at the Kingston booth:

If you look inside that case, you'll see they are now making an mSATA SSD:

They also showed their ever expanding line of USB 2.0 and 3.0 devices:

...and this really tiny model, which packs 8GB of storage into something barely big enough to unplug without the use of needle nose pliers:

Stay Tuned!

...more storage stuff is coming soon!

PC Perspective's CES 2012 coverage is sponsored by MSI Computer.

Follow all of our coverage of the show at http://pcper.com/ces!

Toshiba unveils plans for world’s thinnest 10-inch tablet at CES

Subject: Mobile | January 9, 2012 - 09:28 AM | Steve Grever
Tagged: toshiba, tablet, CES, Android

Last year, Toshiba unveiled their first offering into the mobile tablet frenzy with the 10.1-inch Thrive, which was moderately successful by many people's standards because of its unique form factor that included an HDMI port, USB port, and full SD slot. New information has been trickling in about their latest Excite X10 tablet, which is being touted by Toshiba as the "world's thinnest 10.1 tablet".

Courtesy of Toshiba

The Excite X10 is being released at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and the specs are somewhat unusual with the inclusion of a Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 1.2GHz dual-core processor versus other multi-core offerings from NVIDIA or Qualcomm. The Excite X10 is just 0.3 inches (7.7mm) thin and weighs a little more than a pound (1.18 lbs) and includes micro-USB and HDMI ports, a micro-SD slot, and wifi and bluetooth connectivity. They also added a 1280x800 resolution display that showcases a scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass display with an anti-smudge coating. There are also 2MB front and 5MB back cameras (with flash) for photos and 1080p video recording and conferencing.

The Excite X10 tablet will be available in the first quarter of this year for $529.99 for the 16GB model and $599.99 for the 32GB model.

PC Perspective's CES 2012 coverage is sponsored by MSI Computer.

Follow all of our coverage of the show at http://pcper.com/ces!

Could Toshiba really be offering good 3D without glasses on their new Qosmio

Subject: Mobile | November 24, 2011 - 03:53 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: toshiba, qosmio F755-3D290, 3d

Even if the glasses-free 3D on the Toshiba Qosmio F755-3D290 doesn't work very well the specs certainly make the laptop interesting.  For instance the 15.6" LED display is 1080p native or 720p if you enable the 3D mode.   Inside the Core i7-2630QM paired with a GT 540M give this laptop some serious processing power, though the model that AnandTech reviewed would set you back $1700 to purchase.  Strangely Toshiba opted not to include Optimus in this laptop which really shows when you look at the battery life, or lack thereof.  That begins the long list of issues that the reviewer at AnandTech had with this machine; catch the full list here.

"Way back in the dark ages of CES 2011, we were able to lay hands on and play with some interesting new technology from Toshiba. They had a prototype notebook on hand that was capable of glasses-free 3D similar to the Nintendo 3DS, but with a bigger screen and the ability to track head movement and adjust viewing angles accordingly. Yet the release of this 3D notebook has been an unusually quiet one. Is the 15-inch Qosmio F755 a sound design, or is there a reason why it's been unceremoniously dropped into the marketplace?"

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• Building the perfect ultrabook – and where PC makers are wrong @ Techspot
• Samsung Series 9 (NP900X3A-B01UB) Review @ TechReviewSource
• Sony VAIO F Series (Late 2011) Review @ TechReviewSource
• Apple 15-inch MacBook Pro @ AnandTech
• Mobile GPU Comparison Guide @ TechARP
• Amazon's Silk Browser Acceleration Tested: Less Bandwidth Consumed, But Slower Performance @ AnandTech
• Otterbox iPad 2 Reflex Series Case Review @ Madshrimps
• Don't call it a tablet: the Kindle Fire reviewed @ Ars Technica
• Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet Review @ TechReviewSource
• Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet @ Techspot
• Amazon Kindle Fire @ Techspot
• Lean, mean consuming machine: the Nook Tablet reviewed @ Ars Technica

Toshiba Unveils Portege Z830 Ultrabook Series

Subject: Mobile | September 2, 2011 - 01:08 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: z830, ultrabook, toshiba, sandy bridge, portege, Intel

There has been quite the buzz over ultrabooks for the past few weeks, and it seems as though Toshiba is ready to grab their slice of the news pie (actually, can we have cake?) with the announcement of their Portege Z830 series of, you guessed it, ultrabooks.

Powered by Intel Sandy Bridge processors, the ultra (slim) book is housed in a magnesium alloy chassis measuring 15.9mm (0.63 inches) thick. Slated to be 20% lighter and 40% thinner than their previous ultraportable Portege R830 series, the company has reinforced the chassis with a honeycomb ribbing (I’m sure Josh is making a joke out of that right now) and some new internal shock dampening structures.  The company stated that the Z830 would weigh less than 2.5 lbs, though the number may vary depending on the specific configuration.  Because the notebook is so thin, they needed to go metal for the chassis to prevent serious warping and bending of the computer (and is coincidentally one of the items that caused manufacturers to complain about the sub-$1,000 requirement). Other chassis features include a full size LED backlit and spill resistant keyboard.

Other hardware details about the computer are scarce in that Toshiba has not released much. The ultrabook will contain a 128 GB solid state drive and DDR3 memory. From photos of the ultrabook, the computer supports (likely Gigabit) Ethernet, USB, and HDMI ports. Stereo speakers by Waves Audio, Toshiba’s High Speed Start and USB Sleep and Charge technologies are also featured.

The Protege Z830 ultrabook series will be available in November 2011, and will carry a MSRP of less than $1,000 USD. Stay tuned to PC Perspective for more ultrabook coverage.

Just how awesome is the new Toshiba Qosmio?

Subject: Mobile | August 11, 2011 - 01:07 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: toshiba, Qosmio, desktop replacement

The new Qosmio model is a serious laptop and a contender for anyone looking for a desktop replacement.  With a Core-i7-2635QM, 8GB of DDR3, a 1.5GB GTX 560M and two HDD, a 750GB 7,200 RPM for your OS and programs and a secondary 500GB 5,400 RPM for long term storage.  It also has a 1080p 17.3" 3D-ready LCD so you can watch your 3D Blu-ray copy of Avatar on the go.  You'll probably want to watch it while plugged into a wall wart, Tech Review Source found the battery pegged out at around the 2 hour mark.

“The Toshiba Qosmio X775-3DV78 is a 17-inch laptop that has a 1080p full HD 3D display, a second-generation Intel quad-core CPU and 8GB of RAM. Along with USB 3.0, dual-hard drives and a Blu-ray player, users will find this laptop's performance to be very appealing.”

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• Acer Aspire TimelineX AS5830TG-6402 Review @ TechReviewSource
• HP Envy 14 (Summer 2011) Review @ TechReviewSource
• MSi GT680 Review @ HardwareLOOK
• Mobile GPU Comparison Guide Rev. 11.6 @ TechARP
• Airport Extreme (5th Gen) and Time Capsule (4th Gen) Review - Faster WiFi @ AnandTech
• Case Mate TUT Case for iPhone 4 Review @ Tech-Reviews
• ASUS Transformer Tablet Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Anker 1900 mAh Li-ion Battery for HTC Sensation @ reviewstash
• HTC Flyer Tablet Review @ t-break
• Bringing my dead iPhone 2G back to life @ t-break
• Samsung TouchWiz UX Review: Honeycomb Gets Skinned @ AnandTech