Toshiba's new line-up of Satellite laptops are due to go on sale by the end of July, comprising several wide-screen designs, one of which boasts a 17in display, plus an ultraportable model.

The Satellite L500 is a mainstream model priced from £429, which is available with choice of either Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Turion X2 processors and a 15.6in 16:9 format display.

Designed as a desktop replacement, the Satellite L550 has a 17.3in wide-screen display with an LED backlight and up to 4GB Ram with prices starting at £699.

The Satellite A500 is intended as a "premium multimedia" laptop, with a 16in TruBrite display, Harman/Kardon speakers and optional chrome edging. It features Intel Core 2 Duo processors up to the 2.53GHz T8700. Prices for this line start at £599.

All of the three previous models can have an optional GPU for better performance than using the graphics functions built into the chipset.

The ultraportable Satellite U500 has a 13.4in screen and is aimed more at mobile professionals. It features a textured casing and a battery life of 3 to 4 hours, plus optional 3G modem. It also has a back-lit keyboard for typing where ambient light is restricted, and optional chrome edging. The Satellite U500 is priced from £599 to £899.

All of the Satellite models come with Toshiba's Eco utility, which optimises the system's power consumption for longer battery life. It includes a graphical trace display showing exactly how much energy your system is consuming whether in or out of Eco mode.

Also included is a health monitor that warns you if your battery is wearing out and need replacing, as well as showing you details such as the temperature inside the case.

Toshiba also announced new colour schemes for its NB200 netbook. Pictured are the blue and pink models.

16 Jul 2009