Low-cost laptop options expand

New notebooks from Toshiba and Dell offer plenty of bang per buck

Firms now have more low-cost laptop options with the introduction of new models from Toshiba and Dell.

Toshiba will today release a desktop replacement laptop and both firms are offering new models based on Intel's Centrino wireless technology for under £1,000.

Toshiba's Satellite Pro A40 is designed as a general desktop replacement, the firm said. The laptop uses Intel Mobile Pentium 4 or Mobile Celeron chips and is priced from £680 + VAT for a 2.6GHz model with 256MB memory.

The firm will today also introduce the Portégé A100, a thin-and-light model based on Intel's Centrino mobile technology and priced from £949 + VAT. The Portégé A100 has a 1.4GHz Pentium M processor and 256MB memory, plus Intel wireless LAN. This design was originally intended for the education market, according to Toshiba's product manager for portables, Kenneth Chan.

Toshiba announced it has agreed with Microsoft to bundle the OneNote Office 2003 application with all new laptops and Tablet PCs. The tool is a notepad application that supports typed and hand-written input as well as voice recordings.

Dell's low-cost laptop features the recently announced Celeron M chip, a value version of the Pentium M that underpins Intel's Centrino mobile technology.

The Latitude D505 is available now and is priced from £699 + VAT for a 1.2GHz model with 128MB memory.

Alternatively, buyers could choose a version with a Pentium M processor and a 14in or 15in screen. There are also options for Intel wireless LAN or Dell TrueMobile adapters providing either 802.11b/g or 802.11a/b/g connectivity.

Separately, Intel last week said it was delaying the launch of new mobile chips, codenamed Dothan, until the second quarter.