Toshiba Announces Windows 7 Laptops with Touchscreen Capability

As we get closer to the launch of Windows 7 next week, you can expect to see a lot of new product announcements from computer manufacturers. Most are pretty generic, but the Toshiba announcement caught our eye today for one particular reason: the touchscreen laptops.

One of the benefits of Windows 7 is that it can support multitouch touchscreen navigation. It’s good to see that Toshiba is taking advantage of that feature because not enough manufacturers do. Toshiba has supplemented the Windows 7 touchscreen interface with some additional software to increase functionality. Bulletin Board is a sort of app that allows you to organize tasks and activities, and ReelTime makes it possible to search a visual history of documents and media you’ve viewed. Both operate in a touch navigated environment and make it easier to get around.

The touch capable laptops focus on having faster boot times and quicker Sleep/Resume times. Toshiba has set them up to have minimal programs running in the background to make that possible, which will also result in longer battery life. Here are the spec lists for both of the touchscreen laptops:

Toshiba Satellite M505 Touch (M505-S4990-T) laptop

• 14.0-inch diagonal widescreen HD TruBrite LED Backlit TFT LCD Touch-screen display
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor T6600 (2.2GHz)
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
• 4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, upgradable to 8GB
• 500GB HDD
• Slot-loading DVD SuperMulti drive with Labelflash supporting 11 formats
• Webcam and microphone
• Fusion Finish in Sonic Black
• 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN[x] and 10/100 Ethernet
• 5-in-1 Memory Card Reader
• HDMI-CEC
• S/P DIF output port
• 6-cell Lithium Ion battery
• 1 eSATA/USB combo port with USB Sleep-and-Charge[xi] and 2 USB 2.0 ports
• Toshiba PC Health Monitor
• Toshiba eco utility
• One-year international limited warranty and award-winning Toshiba service and support

Toshiba Satellite U505 Touch (U505-S2980-T) laptop

• 13.3-inch diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT LCD Touch-screen display
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor T6600 (2.2GHz)
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
• 4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, upgradable to 8GB
• 500GB HDD3
• Slot-loading DVD SuperMulti drive with Labelflash supporting 11 formats
• Webcam and microphone
• Textured Finish in Luxe Brown
• 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN4 and 10/100 Ethernet
• 5-in-1 Memory Card Reader
• HDMI-CEC
• S/P DIF output port
• 6-cell Lithium Ion battery
• 1 eSATA/USB combo port with USB Sleep-and-Charge5 and 2 USB 2.0 ports
• Toshiba PC Health Monitor
• Toshiba eco utility
• One-year international limited warranty and award-winning Toshiba service and support

Those are fairly respectable specs, but be warned: Touchscreen laptops don’t come as cheap as regular laptops with comparable specs. The Satellite M505 Touch laptop will cost $950 and the Satellite U505 Touch laptop will run a full $1,050, and that’s before upgrades on both of them.

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