Toshiba Tecra 730CDT

A month after APC looked at the first Pentium 150MHz notebook on the Australian market — the Gateway 2000 Solo — market leader Toshiba has announced its high-end equivalent, the Tecra 730CDT. Although the notebook was unavailable in volume at the time of going to press, APCreceived die first and only prototype of the unit for a glimpse of what is to come. (Benchmark tests will be run on the final release of the system at a later date.)
The Tecra 730CDT is an upgrade of the Tecra 720CDT model APCreviewed in July. The two main improvements are the new Pentium 150MHz processor and a removable 2G hard disk drive. Like the 720CDT, the new model features 16M of EDO RAM (expandable to an outstanding 144M) and a 256K secondary cache. The 12.1in active matrix TE1′ display supporting 1,024 by 768 resolution at 64,000 colours and six-speed CD-ROM drive at the front of the machine remain unchanged.
One of die best features of Toshiba notebooks is their modularity and expansion capabilities. The Tecra’s internal components are removable and can lie moved around for optimisation. For example, a
floppy disk drive can sit in the CD-ROM drive slot, or the two can be connected simultaneously via an external floppy disk drive cable. A port replication option is also available.
There are two Type II (or one Type III) PC Card slots, and a host of ports including infra-red, serial, parallel and mouse-keyboard. A printer and monitor can also be attached. A 28.8Kbps voice/fax modem and built-in duplex speakerphone, answering machine and facsimile transform the Tecra into a mobile office.
After two hours’ continuous use, the Tecra 730CDT, which uses a fan as its cooling mechanism, did not heat up — an encouraging sign. In July, APC reviewed an IBM ThinkPad 760ED with a Pentium 133MHz processor which became impossible to handle with bare hands after as little as an hour’s operation.
On the road, the Tecra 730CDT is powered by a lithium ion battery, which have previously produced consistently good results for Toshiba notebooks. A three-year international parts and labour warranty wraps up the handsome offering,
The 730CDT builds on previous models.
although, like its predecessor, the $12,200 price tag will ensure the Toshiba Tecra 730CDT remains only in the league of government and corporate budgets.