14 DAY TRIAL // Toshiba's Satellite brand is going strong even now, and is bound to keep on living as new products start to wear its label. The latest two products to enter this series are called Satellite E45t and Satellite E55t/E55Dt.
Ultrathin laptops continue to be the driving force of the laptop industry, even though they've only had this role for a year or so.
Then again, when you can cram more than the necessary share of features into a package thinner than a tablet, there really isn't room for surprise anymore.
That's why Toshiba's 14-inch Satellite E45t and 15.6-inch Satellite E55t/E55Dt ultrabooks won't make people bat an eyelash.
Sure, Toshiba lauds them in its press release, but even the touch panels don't really make them stand out. Soon enough, they will be standard after all.
In fact, the only unusual perk that the new notebooks possess is the voice control technology. An assistant is initialized by saying "Hello Dragon."
That's right, there's a voice assistant called Dragon Assistant. It can search the web, find content on the laptop HDD/SSD, make Skype calls, update Facebook and Twitter, check and reply to e-mails, etc.
"Thin is in," said Carl Pinto, vice president of marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., digital products division.
"Our expanding line of ultrathins is designed to be more accessible to consumer looking for a thinner, more stylish PC that delivers the same class of performance and features as a traditional laptop - at a price point that is competitive with a traditional laptop."
The backlit keyboard is a nice touch as well. Normally, only gaming laptops have it, because it adds unnecessary costs.
Anyway, the 14-inch Satellite E45t will begin shipping on August 4, 2013, while the 15.6-inch Satellite E Series will only debut in September, possibly at IFA 2013. Sadly, the prices aren't known.