Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the world's first laptop configured with a eSATA second generation 512 GB Solid State Drive (SSD) with the Portégé R600-ST4203. Toshiba's newest development shows its dedication to pushing innovation as the company has increased SSD capacities on laptops from 32 GB to 512 GB in just two years. At just 2.4 pounds and 0.77 inches thin, the Portégé R600 with SSD provides customers with an enhanced level of protection, portability, reliability and fast data access.

"Toshiba invests more in research and development than any other laptop company. Its heritage of developing first to market advanced technologies that keep mobile professionals ahead of the curve is a unique asset to Toshiba's business," said Carl Pinto, vice president product development, Digital Products Division, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. "We recognize that the market for SSD technology is growing, and to meet that market need, we produced a high performance laptop with the largest solid state storage capacity available today."

Toshiba's own second-generation SSD uses Multi Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash memory technology which increases the density of the SSD thus allowing more storage space. The adoption of this solid state technology in Toshiba's ultraportable laptops enables the user to enjoy faster boot, application loading and up to 3.0 faster access times compared to a 128 GB solid state drive (SSD). Additionally, the lack of moving parts reduces noise and the risk of mechanical failure which makes it a reliable solution. Moreover, the SSD is lightweight, tough and impact resistant, designed to withstand higher impacts than a conventional HDD.

The newest laptop in the Portégé R600 ultraportable series continues the tradition of offering a more durable chassis, a shock absorbing design and an enhanced LED backlit Indoor/Outdoor Transreflective 12.1-inch diagonal widescreen display. It features Genuine Window Vista Business, Intel Ultra Low Voltage Core 2 Duo SU9400 processor, an eSATA/USB Combo Sleep and Charge port, among other preferred features.

As with all of Toshiba's business laptops, the Portégé R600-ST4203 also includes Toshiba's EasyGuard Technology with PC Health Monitor. These enhancements can help protect your laptop from theft, spills and jolts as well as continuously check the performance and functionality of a system's critical hardware components and alert users when the system is in need of a tune-up. The Portégé R600-ST4203 also comes with Toshiba's Standard Three-Year International Limited Warranty.

While providing mobile professionals with industry leading technologies, Toshiba has also focused on green procurement in all aspects of the Portégé series' development. By implementing SSD into the Portégé R600, Toshiba was able to significantly reduce power consumption by up to 50 percent in idle mode. In recognition of this effort, the Portégé R600 was named the greenest notebook in Greenpeace's second annual "Green Electronics: The Search Continues" survey, stating that, "Toshiba is ahead of everyone else when it comes to the elimination of toxic chemicals." The Portégé R600 is ENERGY STAR 4.0 compliant, designed to be RoHS compatible, and has earned one of the highest scores and a rating in the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Gold category.

The Portégé R600-ST4203 will be available in early June exclusively on www.toshibadirect.com at $3,499.99 MSRP.