Toshiba Tecra A6 and Tecra A7 Laptops Now Available

[Andrew Baxter]

The Toshiba Tecra A6 and Toshiba Tecra A7 are now available at ToshibaDirect.com.  The A6 and A7 are value business style notebooks that use the Intel Core Solo processor.

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The Tecra A6 and Tecra A7 offer the new Intel Graphics Media Accelerator and also the new Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG internal wi-fi card so they are Centrino machines.  The A6 is 5.5 pounds in weight and has a 14.1" screen while the A7 is a 15.4" laptop and weighs about a pound more.

Basically the A6 and A7 can be considered Small Business value notebooks.  They are a stepdown from the flagship Tecra M5, but of course cost less.  These are not consumer focused notebooks and it's not likely you'll find them in retail stores, but rather will be found online retailers or via ToshibaDirect.com

Docking is offered on both of these laptops via the Advance Port Replicator III+.  The Tecra A6 is available for US $1,149, while the Tecra A7 can be yours for US $1,199.

Tecra A7 Basic Specs

• Intel Core Solo Processor T1300 (1.66GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 667MHz FSB)
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional
• No Microsoft Office Suite Software
• 512MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz SDRAM (512MBx1)
• 15.4" Diagonal Widescreen XGA TruBrite display (1280x800)
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 8MB-128MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory
• 80GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial-ATA)
• CD-RW/DVD-ROM Multifunction drive
• Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)

Tecra A6 Basic Specs

• Intel Core Solo Processor T1300 (1.66GHz, 2MB L2, 667MHz FSB)
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional
• No Microsoft Office Suite Software
• 512MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz SDRAM (512MBx1)
• 14.1" Diagonal Widescreen XGA TruBrite display (1280x768)
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 8MB-128MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory
• 60GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial-ATA)
• CD-RW/DVD-ROM Multifunction drive
• Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)

[jetstar]

I just love Toshiba screens. Simply Awesome screens!

[Goren]

i dunno about you but their 2006 line up looks alot worse (appearance wise) than their 2005. infact last year's models weren't half bad looking.

[Andrew Baxter]

"Unexciting" comes to mind with design. Too bad. I saw some upcoming Dell biz notebooks and think people will be impressed by the new look -- moreso than the Tecra.

[xAMDvsIntelx]

The thing that really bothers me is that other versions of the Tecra in Europe and Australia already have ATI X1600 GPUs and Core Duos standard. But then again, the US is usually behind in the technology curve when compared with other countries. You'd think Toshiba would spice up the design a little bit more though

EDIT: I was just watching a preview movie of the A7 on Toshiba's US Site. Toshiba claims the new A7 can run 4GBs of DDR2 RAM, the first I've seen in any notebook.

[skywalker]

It looks like a bit bulky, and I think Satellite M series have better looking/design.

[Charles P. Jefferies]

You can get 4GB of RAM in the Clevo D900T, but besides that, I haven't heard of any other notebooks capable of using that much RAM.

Of course, Windows can only "see" 2.8GB, no matter how much you have.

I liked last year's Terca notebooks much better. The black look was very nice, looked decently built. Now these are looking like the Satellite line, not a good move.

[chooch]

Must say I am a bit confused? Why are the offering so different from Australia and the US?

[tom_handheld]

I don't like their new design either. I think Toshiba could have done a lot better on the design considering they only build laptops not desktops, unlike other brand names.

[chooch]

The Australian model even looks different:

http://203.56.127.51/topic/pdf/DOWNL...e_31.01.06.pdf