Toshiba Packs the Value Into Its New Satellite Laptops

Big hard drives, generous amounts of RAM and touchscreens typically carry a premium price tag in laptops, but Toshiba is altering that picture with its new Satellite laptops.

The Satellite E55D packs a lot of tech into a fairly cheap package. For $579, you can buy a 15.6-inch laptop with a 750GB hard disk, 8GB of RAM and fifth-generation Wi-Fi (802.11ac). If you're willing to pay $699, you can get a model equipped for touch as well as a hard-disk expansion to 1TB.

The tradeoff: the E55 carries a quad-core AMD A6 ("Kabini") processor rather than an Intel Core chip. Screen resolution is also fairly average at 1,366 x 768. But the machine benefits from Toshiba's overall laptop design sensibilities, boasting an aluminum lid and palmrest, an LED backlit keyboard and DTS-enhanced audio. Read more...