Lauren Goode

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Toshiba Adds to Windows 8 Smorgasbord With Slide-Out, Convertible Laptop

Adding to the mountain of new products shown off at the IFA Berlin consumer electronics show this week is Toshiba, with its Windows 8-friendly laptops and tablets.

Toshiba Satellite U925t

The most notable is probably the one that’s already out of the bag, as it was unveiled yesterday: The Toshiba Satellite U925t Ultrabook convertible, with its slide-out display that lies flat against the keyboard to transform into a tablet. (The display is then exposed on top of the laptop, which makes me think it could get scratched easily, but Toshiba says it’s made with Corning Gorilla Glass to protect the display.)

The Satellite U925t weighs 3.2 pounds, is .78 inches thin and has a 12.5-inch diagonal HD touchscreen display. Running on a third-generation Intel Core i5 processor, it’s got front- and rear-facing cameras, two USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI port, and comes with a 128 gigabyte solid state drive. And, of course, it is running Windows 8.

Toshiba is also launching a Windows 8 version of its extra-widescreen laptop, the U845W, which has a 14.4-inch screen with a 21 x 9 aspect ratio for widescreen media viewing and multitasking, the idea being that two browser windows or applications can be viewed side by side. That one weighs 3.5 pounds and also runs on a third-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor. The version running Windows 7 is already available on the market for $999.

The Satellite U945 brings an Ultrabook to the mix, while the Satellite P845t has a traditional clamshell form factor with a Windows 8-friendly touchscreen display. The LX835 is Toshiba’s new, 23-inch all-in-one, with a full HD, 1080p-resolution touchscreen and optional built-in TV tuner.

The product announcements come just a couple weeks after Toshiba said it was scrapping its plans for a Windows RT tablet and notebook, due to delays in the supply chain.

All of these products come to market Oct. 26, when Windows 8 launches, and while Toshiba hasn’t given exact price points yet, they’ll be pretty much in line with some earlier models, Toshiba says. The U925t will probably cost slightly more than the $1,000 price point of the U845; the LX835 all-in-one is also expected to cost north of $1,000.

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Another gadget you don’t really need. Will not work once you get it home. New model out in 4 weeks. Battery life is too short to be of any use.

— From the fact sheet for a fake product entitled Useless Plasticbox 1.2 (an actual empty plastic box) placed in L.A.-area Best Buy stores by an artist called Plastic Jesus