Legit Reviews

IRVINE, Calif. -- Jun. 5, 2007 Toshiba's Digital Products Division, a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the Portege(R) R500 Series ultraportable notebook computer incorporating several world's first technologies further advancing Toshiba as a world leader in mobile innovation. Toshiba's Portege R500 Series is the world's thinnest notebook series with an integrated optical disk drive; the world's first notebook to include a 7mm optical drive; the world's first widescreen 12.1-inch indoor/outdoor transreflective backlit LED screen; and the world's longest battery life(1) in a widescreen 12.1-inch notebook.

"The Portege R500 Series is continued proof of Toshiba's dedication to providing its mobile users with an uncompromising synthesis of portability, productivity and style," said Jeff Barney, vice president of marketing, Digital Products Division, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. "The Portege R500 Series has been subjected to meticulous evaluation to create a unique balance of extreme mobility and full-featured productivity. We are confident that the Portege R500 Series will redefine the ultraportable category and exceed customer expectations."

The Portege R500 Series is the world's thinnest widescreen 12.1-inch notebook with an integrated optical disk drive. It is also the world's first notebook with an integrated seven millimeter optical disk drive, a feature that helps the system maintain its ultraportable form factor while increasing the system's overall productivity level. The inclusion of an integrated 7mm DVD-SuperMulti drive into a system measuring as thin as 0.77-inches(2) and weighing 2.4-pounds(3) eliminates the bulk and inconvenience of carrying external drives and cables, making it Toshiba's ultimate ultraportable mobile computing solution.

Designed to embrace the diverse usage options that mobility promotes, the Portege R500 Series is the world's first notebook computer to incorporate a widescreen 12.1-inch indoor/outdoor transreflective LED backlit display. This unique innovation is ideal for usage in virtually any type of lighting condition, including direct sunlight. Indoors, the LED backlit display produces an image, rich in color saturation and superb quality. Outdoors, the transreflective screen uses natural sunlight to bring the display's colors and images to life. Integrating a transreflective screen enables users to expand their mobile computing boundaries beyond the traditional four walls of their office, home or local coffee shop to include locations with direct sunlight.

Toshiba's Portege R500 Series features the world's longest battery life on a widescreen 12.1-inch notebook(1). To achieve this extended computing life, Toshiba subjected all system components to meticulous evaluation to ensure users can experience up to a full work day of normal computing on a single charge.

To achieve this ultracompact foot print, Toshiba utilized its proprietary High Density Mounting Technology process to create a miniature motherboard with dual-sided component mounting. This innovative process allowed Toshiba to drastically reduce the size of the motherboard and enhance its overall functionality by providing enough system real estate for the inclusion of an integrated 7mm optical disk drive.

The Portege R500 Series incorporates Toshiba's third generation EasyGuard(TM) Technology(4) for executive durability to provide a more reliable and secure mobile computing experience. EasyGuard Technology features found on the Portege R500 Series include:

-- HDD Protection--Recognizing that the hard disk drive (HDD) is one of the most critical components and that accidentally dropping a notebook rarely occurs in a linear motion, Toshiba implemented the 3D accelerometer, a mechanism which detects acceleration from all directions. The 3D accelerometer helps guard the HDD against awkward accidental drops, including a spinning, falling notebook, by rapidly removing the HDD head from between the HDD platters, better protecting the notebook in all three rotational dimensions of pitch, roll and yaw.

-- Spill Resistant Keyboard--The spill resistant keyboard(5) helps to protect against accidental spills of liquids, including soda, beer and coffee with cream and sugar, an upgrade from the previous protection against water. This enhanced feature affords users time to save work and shut down the system in the event of an accidental spill--helping to prevent the loss of data.

Additional information about Toshiba's EasyGuard Technology is available at http://www.easyguard.toshiba.com