Toshiba Tecra A9 and M9 Intel Santa Rosa Notebooks Announced

Toshiba today is introducing the Tecra A9 and M9 notebooks with Intel Santa Rosa technology. The Tecra A9 15.4" widescreen business notebook that updates the Tecra A8, while the Tecra M9 is a thin-and-light 14.1" screen notebook designed for the business traveller.

Tecra A9

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The Tecra A9 is a new 15.4" screen Intel Santa Rosa based business notebook that comes at a reasonable price, an example configuration that costs $1,159 is the following Tecra A9-ST9001 configuration:

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7100, 1.8GHz, 2MB L2, 800MHz FSB with 64-bit
• OS: Genuine Windows Vista Business (32-bit version)
• Memory: 1 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM memory
• Hard Drive:  80GB (5400RPM) Serial-ATA (SATA) hard disk drive
• Optical Drive: DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) drive supporting 11 formats
• Screen: 15.4-inch diagonal widescreen TFT LCD display (SXGA) 1280x800 native resolution
• Graphis: Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 with 8MB-251MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory
• Wireless: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)., Bluetooth v2.0 plus Enhanced Data Rate (EDR)

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The Tecra A9 will offer draft 802.11n wireless in higher-end configurations. It will also offer Centrino Pro so that network managers can better manage mobile computing assets to deliver proactive security and enhanced maintenance.

Built-in to the A9 is Toshiba’s EasyGuard technology that provides the Tecra A9 with the following enhancements:

• Shock Absorbing Design - Enhanced protection zones along all sides of the notebook to help the Tecra A9 better withstand accidental drops from heights up to one meter. In addition, Toshiba implemented reinforced ribs in the rounded edges of the display lid to better protect critical components by better dissipating energy resulting from accidental bumps or drops.
  
  
• HDD Protection - Recognizing that the hard disk drive (HDD) is one of the most critical components and that accidentally dropping a notebook rarely occurs in a linear motion, Toshiba implemented the 3D accelerometer, a mechanism which detects acceleration from all directions. The 3D accelerometer helps guard the HDD against awkward accidental drops, including a spinning, falling notebook, by rapidly removing the HDD head from between the HDD platters, better protecting the notebook in all three rotational dimensions of pitch, roll and yaw.
  
  
• Spill Resistant Keyboard - Toshiba also improved their spill resistant keyboard to help protect against accidental spills of liquids, including soda, beer and coffee with cream and sugar, an upgrade from the previous protection against water. This enhanced feature affords users time to save work and shut down the system in the event of an accidental spill—helping to prevent the loss of data.

The Tecra A9 will be available with the Intel X3100 graphics card at launch, and will expand to include models featuring NVIDIA Quadro NVS 130M discrete graphics down the road.

Tecra M9

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The Tecra M9 is a new Intel Santa Rosa based 14.1" screen thin and light notebook. The M9 is designed for the road warrior business person. It will incorporate the four core components of the Intel Centrino Pro architecture: Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Intel 965 chipset, Intel 4965 802.11n wireless, and Intel Active Management Technology (AMT 2.5). Following is an example configuration of the Tecra M9-S5514 that will cost $1,799

• OS: Genuine Windows Vista Business (32-bit version)
• Processor: Intel Core Duo Processor T7500 2.2 GHz, 4MB L2, 800MHz FSB with 64-bit
• Memory: 1024MB PC2-5200 DDR2 SDRAM memory
• Hard Drive: 120GB (5400 RPM) Serial-ATA (SATA) hard disk drive
• Optical Drive: DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) drive supporting 11 formats
• Screen: 14.1-inch diagonal widescreen display 1440x900 native resolution (WXGA+)
• Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro NVS 130 with 128MB of dedicated graphics memory and up to 255MB
  of TurboCache Technology
• Wireless: Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965 AGN (802.11a/g/n), Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

The Tecra M9 will offer multiple graphics options, including integrated graphics using the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator x3100, or the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 130M discrete graphics.

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The M9 has the same Toshiba EasyGuard technology enhancements as the A9 listed above. In addition, Toshiba mentions it has integrated a new keyboard optimized for Vista and redesigned the AccuPoint and touchpad layout for increased navigation flexibility.