Thin and light Windows notebooks are pretty common these days, but not all are created equal. Some manufacturers chase superlatives – thinnest, lightest, fastest – while others try to make their devices stand out with intriguing design features or impressive displays.
Toshiba’s latest Windows 8.1 Ultrabook hopes to attract buyers with a more practical proposition, promising an incredible 22 hours of battery life on a single charge. Engadget Japanese first spotted the Dynabook KIRA V634, which comes pretty close to fulfilling the dream of a laptop that can get you through an entire day without needing to be plugged in.
That kind of battery life does require some compromises though. Its 13-inch display offers an unremarkable resolution of 1366x768px (at a time when 1080p is becoming the norm at that screen size), and doesn’t even offer touch support (although a touch-enabled version is available).
A second model, the V834, is available with a much more impressive 2560x1440px resolution and touch input, but the impact on battery life is pretty severe. The V834 serves up a much lower 14 hours of action before you’ll need to find a wall socket, but that’s still pretty impressive - if it proves to be accurate in real-world usage.
Both versions offer Intel Core i5 CPUs with clock speeds ranging from 1.6GHz to 2.6GHz, along with 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD, Bluetooth 4.0 and HDMI video out, including support for 4K output. You'll also get WiFi of course, with 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac support. The whole package weighs in at just 1.12kg, thanks to a 'honeycomb structure' and magnesium alloy construction.
Engadget reports that the V634 will launch in Japan tomorrow (although Engadget Japanese claims that the release date is Friday), with prices starting from ¥144,000 JPY ($1,440 USD / €1,070 EUR / £895 GBP). The higher-res V834 starts from ¥153,000 JPY ($1,530 USD / €1,130 EUR / £950 GBP). For now, it appears that the two Ultrabooks will be sold only in Japan.
Source: Engadget | image via Engadget Japanese
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