Toshiba launches world’s lightest laptop at 2,995 dollars

Toshiba Corporation announced the launch of the lightest laptop in the world. Portege R500-S5007V, an ultraportable laptop, has a 128GB solid state drive (SSD), the electronics giant said.

Photo: Toshiba launches world’s lightest laptop at 2,995 dollars

The new laptop measures 0.77 inches (about 1.96 cm) at its thinnest point and weighs at just 2.4 pounds (1.08 kg). For comparison, Apple’s MacBook Air weighs 1.36 kilos (3 pounds), whereas Thinkpad X300 by Lenovo weighs about 1.33 kilos (2.93 pounds).

Portege R500-S5007V comes with a 7mm DVD SuperMulti Drive and the new SSD. As a result, the lightest laptop in the world consumes less power because there are no moving parts in it. Official spokespeople for Toshiba said that the laptop can run for eight hours without recharge.

The laptop also features a 1.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip and a transreflective backlit LED screen.

The price for the new device is quite high – $2,995.

Laptops began from a desire to have a full-featured computer that could be easily used anywhere. Their predecessor was called the luggable. These all-in-one systems could be easily transported, but were heavy and usually were not battery powered. The CRT was one of the major reasons luggables were so large and heavy, but the use of a full-size desktop motherboard with room for ISA expansion cards was another size factor.

It was the transition to LCD and plasma displays that permitted the luggable to shrink in size and become the first real laptop, though at first still without internal batteries. Battery technology improvements and the introduction of smaller devices such as the 3.5-inch floppy disk permitted a gradually more compact and sophisticated complete portable system.