CES 2010 latest news

The ZV650 series from Toshiba utilizes a 240Hz refresh rate.

(Credit: Toshiba)

Now that LCD TVs with 120Hz refresh rates are becoming commonplace, manufacturers including Toshiba are implementing 240Hz to bolster claims of smoother images with improved blur reduction.

Toshiba's ZV650 series includes three screen sizes, the 42-inch 42ZV650, the 46-inch 46ZV650, and the 55-inch 55ZV650, and will be available in April (prices were not announced).

In describing its 240Hz models, the company called it a "240Hz effect" to be extra-careful. Compared to 120Hz models, the company claims that 240Hz delivers smoother images with less blurring--although if our review of the Sony KDL-52XBR7 is any indication, the difference will be difficult to discern.

Like LG and Vizio, Toshiba uses the scanning backlight version of 240Hz, which turns the backlight on and off very rapidly. Sony and Samsung use a different version, which interpolates three extra frames for every true frame. We doubt many viewers will be able to tell the difference, but we'll wait till we can compare the two 240Hz methods.

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The Toshiba SV670 series is the company's first to incorporate LED backlighting.

(Credit: Toshiba)

Samsung, Sony, LG, and Vizio offer or will offer HDTVs with LED backlights, the most effective picture quality improvement available for LCD TVs, and now Toshiba will too.

The SV670 series includes two screen sizes, the 46-inch 46SV670U and the 55-inch 55SV670U, and will be available in June (prices were not announced).

The company was quick to stipulate that the sets' LEDs employ "local dimming" technology, which can dim and turn off sections of the backlight while leaving others bright as needed. Other LED models with local dimming we've reviewed in the past, from Samsung and Sony, delivered deeper black levels and better overall picture quality than standard LCD TVs.

As with many other higher-end models announced at CES this year, the SV670 series also boasts 240Hz refresh rates--although we appreciated that the company called it a "240Hz effect" to be extra careful. Compared with 120Hz models, the company claims that 240Hz delivers smoother images with less blurring--although if our review of the Sony KDL-52XBR7 is any indication, the difference will be difficult to discern.

Like LG and Vizio, Toshiba's 240Hz sets use the scanning backlight version of 240Hz, which turns the backlight on and off very rapidly. Sony and Samsung use a different version of 240Hz, which interpolates three extra frames for every true frame. We doubt many viewers will be able to tell the difference, but we'll wait till we can compare the two 240Hz methods.

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The XV645 series is the entry-level to Toshiba's Regza series, and features Resolution+ technology.

Toshiba has announced the XV645 series, which is the entry-level to the company's Regza line of LCDs. One of the major step-ups of this series over Toshiba's other LCDs is that it offers the Resolution+ technology. Resolution+ is the next generation of Toshiba's SRT technology, which was featured in the company's LCDs last year. These are the details Toshiba released:

Key features of the Toshiba Regza XV645 Series:

• Resolution+ super resolution technology
• 120Hz refresh rate with dejudder
• Autoview (automatically adjusts settings based on incoming signals)
• Three HDMI inputs
• PC input

• 40-, 46- and 52-inch screen sizes

Toshiba's marketing pitch for Resolution+ is that the technology "[makes] everything feel like HD," but we were pretty disappointed by SRT on the 46XV545U, as we found it basically added edge enhancement to standard definition images. We haven't seen the latest Resolution+ technology yet, but if it's similar to last year's SRT, we'll pass. Autoview was also available on Toshiba LCDs last year, but like most picture modes that change settings dynamically, we found it best to leave the mode off.

The 40XV645U, 46XV645U, and 52XV645U will all be released in May, with pricing to be determined.

(Credit: Toshiba)

Toshiba just announced two new portable DVD players hitting this March. While we weren't thrilled with the SD-P71S, it seems the high-end SD-P93S has gotten quite a makeover.

The P93S will feature a 9-inch 180-degree swivel screen along with a pearl-white finish. In addition to MP3, JPEG, and DivX playback, the unit boasts a five hour battery life. We're also glad to see that Toshiba has added an SD card slot for even more playback options.

The P93S will retail for $180, while the smaller, step-down, seven-inch-screen model will go for $130. Both portables will be available in March.

(Credit: Toshiba)

Toshiba Storage Device Division (SDD) announced its latest device in portable storage, a 500GB external hard drive, the Toshiba HDDR500E03X.

Color- and design-wise, it resembles its predecessor with a glossy black finish and frost white contemporary graphics, weighing 6 ounces and measuring 0.65 inch by 3.19 inches by 5 inches. This bus-powered USB 2.0 drive should be great for media storage and/or system backups. Bundled with the drive is the NTI Shadow backup software (preloaded), USB 2.0 cable, and quick install guide.

According to Toshiba, this will appeal to consumers looking for the latest must-haves in personal electronics for their home office or study, or to throw in their backpacks and travel cases, thanks to easy portability. An added bonus for home use is the new 500GB model's ultraquiet operation, with improved acoustics in the hard drive.

Compatibility and system requirements:

• Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Vista
• Macintosh OS X 10.3.9 or later
• Available USB 2.0 Port

Toshiba continues its lineup with a couple of new notebooks from its Satellite series.

(Credit: Toshiba)

First up is the 15-inch Toshiba Satellite L305-S5921, an average, entry-level notebook that will suffice for the student on a budget. Don't expect to find a FireWire port, Bluetooth, or a Webcam on this unit, but do expect to see the usual row of media-control keys for pause, stop, rewind, and fast forward and two programmable keys defaulted to mute and open Windows Media Player. Also on this notebook are three USB ports, a 4-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter, and an Express Card slot. It comes packed with 2GB of DDR2 SDRAM--upgradeable to 4GB--a 160GB HDD, and 128MB of Intel integrated graphics. Running on the T3400 Pentium processor, this system is available now for $549.

(Credit: Toshiba)

Second on the list is a Best Buy Blue Label exclusive retailing for $1,199. The 14-inch Toshiba Satellite E105-S1402 is a thin and light laptop and weighs less than five pounds. It features a built-in Webcam with face recognition, Bluetooth, 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter, two USB ports, including one e-SATA/USB combo port with sleep and charge capability. It also comes installed with 64-bit Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 and comes packed with a hefty 320GB HDD, 4GB DDR2 SDRAM, and 128MB dedicated Intel integrated graphics, all on a powerful Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor.

Also, for those wanting to personalize their laptop experiences, Toshiba Direct is offering customized color lids for its Toshiba Portege A600-ST2230, A600-ST2231, and A600-ST2232 in Liquid White, Satin Pink and Liquid Black, as well as for the Toshiba Satellite M300-ST3402 and M300-ST3403 in Ruby Red and Frost White. These models are available now on Toshiba's Web site and start at $879.

(Credit: Toshiba)

One of the many laptops being announced at CES this week is the Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q725. It will offer the same bells and whistles of recent X305s, except that its primary drive will consist of a 64GB solid state drive, while the secondary drive will be the standard spindle-based 320GB SATA hard disk drive. This hybrid solution will not only boost performance on an already beast of a machine but will also help with its typically lackluster battery life--as with most gaming laptops--not by much, but it's something.

Here's a quick look at the specifications:

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 2GHz
• 4GB DDR3 SDRAM
• Primary drive: 64GB Serial ATA SSD
• Secondary drive: 320GB (7200 RPM) SATA HDD
• Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit)
• NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX, 1GB GDDR3 discrete graphics
• Data: USB v2.0--four ports with USB Sleep and Charge (1 x eSATA/USB combo port)

The Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q725 will be available at launch on January 6 and will retail for $2,699 at Toshiba's Web site.

Updated at 11:05 p.m. PST with additional information throughout.

Another Netbook? No, not exactly. Hewlett-Packard's new Pavilion dv2 is an ultraportable, thank you. And the new Athlon Neo silicon inside from Advanced Micro Devices will try to prove that point.

AMD is introducing new chips at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that target the no-man's land between Netbooks and notebooks. Typically, these designs are referred to as ultraportables--the most salient examples being Apple's MacBook Air, the Toshiba Portege, and the Sony Vaio TT series.

So what makes AMD's platform different? In one word, price. Ultraportables fall into the boutique category of laptops: very stylish, very slim, very light--and very expensive. Usually ranging between $1,500 and $3,000. HP's notebook with Athlon Neo silicon cuts the price in half. The Pavilion dv2 will start at $699 and top out at $899 for standard configurations.

HP 12-inch Pavilion dv2 ultraportable starts at $699, at least half the price of traditional ultraportable notebooks like the MacBook Air, Toshiba Portege, and Sony Vaio TT series.

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

The dv2, at 3.8 pounds, is slightly heavier than ultraportables that typically weigh between 2.5 and 3 pounds. It is 0.9-inches thick, slightly thicker than more expensive ultraportables like the MacBook Air.

But the Pavilion dv2 will pack features such as an AMD-ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 separate (discrete) graphics chip, a relatively large hard disk drive (HP lists drives up to 500GB), and a 12.1-inch LED screen. Features that differentiate it from Netbooks and put it squarely into ultraportable territory.

AMD Athlon Neo silicon details

(Credit: AMD)

The dv2 will also come with WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network) options as well as standard Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Bahr Mahony, AMD's manager of mobile products, said in an interview that one of the few ultraportables available today with discrete graphics is the MacBook Air, but this starts at a whopping $1,800. (The Air uses Nvidia's GeForce 9400M graphics and Intel's Core 2 Duo low-voltage processors.)

The Athlon Neo platform can handle 1080p HD playback and a "casual" gaming experience with realistic 3D graphics, using the optional ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 graphics chip.

AMD's Athlon Neo processor--formerly code-named "Huron" under the platform codename "Yukon"--runs at 1.6GHz and has a power envelope of 15 watts, comparable to Intel ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) Core 2 Duo processors that power ultraportables today.

AMD's Neo does fall short in one respect, however. Currently it is only single-core, whereas Intel ULV processors are dual-core at a comparable power envelope, and, moreover, typically integrate 6MB level-2 cache memory to boost performance. AMD's Neo has only 512K of cache memory.

A dual-core chip, code-named "Conesus," will come in the second half of this year, according to AMD's Mahoney.

The first HP Pavilion dv2 ultrathin notebook is expected to be available from HP in the second quarter.

Updated on December 18 at 3:25 p.m. with pricing information.

Toshiba said Wednesday that it will showcase a 512GB solid-state drive at the Consumer Electronics Show next month and begin shipments in the second quarter of 2009.

Toshiba 512GB solid-state drive rivals hard disks in capacity

(Credit: Toshiba)

To date, this would be one of the largest-capacity solid-state drives for use in laptops and come close to matching the size of mobile hard-disk drives.

Samsung has begun mass production of a 256GB SSD and Micron Technology is readying a 256GB drive that will ship in March.

Toshiba said it is releasing a broad family of "fast read/write SSDs" based on 43-nanometer Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash technology that will be showcased at CES. MLC technology allows solid-state drive makers to deliver higher capacity drives at lower prices.

In addition to the 2.5-inch 512GB drive, the new series of Toshiba drives also includes capacities of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, offered in 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch drive enclosures or as SSD Flash Modules, the company said in a statement.

Samples of the new drives will be available in the first quarter of 2009, with mass production slated for the second quarter, in the April to June time frame, according to the company.

Pricing in sample quantities ranges from $220 for the 64GB drive to $1,652 for the 512GB drive, Toshiba said.

The drives achieve a maximum sequential read speed of 240MB per second (MBps) and maximum sequential write speed of 200MBps. This is roughly the same read-write speeds offered by Samsung on its 256GB SSD.

Toshiba said it sees SSDs growing to approximately 25 percent of the notebook market by 2012.