We’ve already seen a number of good-looking smartphones and tablets making an appearance at the IFA 2011 consumer electronics show in Berlin, and now the notebooks are showing that they are still a force to be reckoned with. The smartest of these seems to be the new Toshiba’s new Ultrabook, the Portégé Z830 Series. This ultra-thin notebook measures a very thin 15.9 mm, and according to Toshiba it’s the world’s lightest 13.3” platform in the world, weighing less than 1.13 kg.  

Having the weight and portable size is one thing, but having the performance to back up a multi-tasking work-style is another (sorry tablets, not yet). The Z830 series is powered by the second generation Core processors from Intel, so there’s no punch lacking from this light-weight.

 

As in most of the new thin-and-light devices, the Z830 series features a solid state drive (a 128 GB SSD in this case, which seems to hit the sweet spot between cost and storage space). Also onboard is DDR3 RAM with quantity differing across the range, but a maximum of 6 GB allowed.  

According to reports there are three USB ports to be found, including one being USB Sleep & Charge enabled, allowing one to charge devices off the port even when the notebook is powered down. Also onboard is an HDMI and VGA ports, while the 13.3” screen is LED Backlit and the keyboard is spill-resistant.

Although it’s set to tackle the MacBook Air on its range of features, it certainly does not look to match it in style. Unlike the Air (or the Samsung Series 9 900X reviewed here), the Toshiba conservatively opts for straight lines and square edges.

Toshiba claims that the the Portégé Z830 Series is about 20% lighter and 40% thinner than its ultraportable Portégé R830 Series. No local release date or pricing have been revealed, but it has been stated that the recommended price in the US will ring the till at a decent $1000 (about R7000), with the range becoming available from November 2011.