Can Toshiba's First Ultrabook Portégé Z830 Stun MacBook Air?

Toshiba has unveiled its first Ultrabook - Portégé Z830 Series - running on 2nd generation Intel chips.

The Ultrabook weighs less than 2.5 pounds and sports a 0.63-inch (15.9 mm) profile. The Ultrabook has a 13.3″ LED-backlit display offering a resolution of 1366×768 pixels.

Toshiba has sacrificed its storage capacity to make it thinner and opted for 128GB solid state drive, apart from featuring a 6GB RAM.

The Portégé Z830 Series sets a new standard for thin and light systems, not just in portability, but also in affordability for such cutting-edge designs, said Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division.

The Portégé Z830 Series is built with a host of convenience-driven features such as a full-size LED Backlit and spill-resistant keyboard that makes typing easy in low light conditions and helps guard against accidents.

In addition, the Ultrabook includes Toshiba's USB Sleep & Charge technology to give users the freedom to power up their smartphones even while the system is powered down. Stereo speakers with enhanced audio technology from Waves Audio make the Portégé Z830 ideal for listening to music, watching movies and video chatting.

The Ultrabook device features a light, yet durable magnesium alloy casing that is reinforced with an enhanced Honeycomb Rib design and new internal structures that provide shock absorption and increased rigidity.

Portégé Z830 Series Ultrabook systems will be available in November 2011 for less than $1000 at select retail stores as well as through select Toshiba Preferred Partner Program resellers and directly at toshibadirect.com.

Ultrabook is a term coined by Intel to describe an emerging group of exceptionally thin and lightweight ultraportable laptops that have excellent battery life, mainstream performance and tablet-like features such as instant-on functionality. Intel expects 40 percent of the consumer laptop market segment will be Ultrabooks by the end of 2012.

These Ultrabooks rival MacBook Air, which are Apple's ultraportable Macintosh notebook computers. The MacBook Air comes in 11 and a 13.3 screens and is powered by Intel's i5 and i7 processors.

Following are the technical specifications of Toshiba Portege Z830 and MacBook Air:

Toshiba Portege Z830

* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional

* Choice of 2nd gen Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processors

* Weighs less than 2.5 pounds

* 0.63-inch profile

* Up to 6GB of memory

* 13.3 widescreen HD LED backlit Display (1366×768 Resolution)

* 128 GB Solid State Drive (SSD)

* 1.3-megapixel webcam

* Backlit and Spill Resistant Keyboard

* Onboard Intel HD 3000 graphics