Larger laptops are typically big, weighty machines, pushing into the territory of mobile workstations. Dynabook, however, is announcing the Tecra X50, a “thin and light” 15.6-inch notebook that delivers big-screen convenience without the weight.
Dyanbook, which carries on the legacy of Toshiba’s PC division, already offers X-series laptops in 12-, 13-, and 14-inch models. But Dynabook’s ToughBody magnesium alloy chassis weighs in at just 3.13 pounds, far less than, say, the 15-inch Microsoft Surface Book 2 (4.2 pounds) or the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 2 (3.75 pounds).
To be fair, both of the latter machines aspire to powerful mobile computing platforms, if not outright workstations. The Dynabook X50’s aspirations are more modest: Rather than lead the way into Intel’s 10th-gen Core generation, the X50 uses an 8th-gen Whiskey Lake chip with vPro, and no discrete GPU.
Dynabook
Dynabook’s Tecra X50 boasts a Harman/Kardon-powered audio system.
On the other hand, the X50 is one of the few to include an Intel Optane SSD, as well as a power-sipping Sharp IGZO LCD display, which helps contribute to a 17-hour rated battery life—significantly more than the more common 8 to 12 hours. There’s a whopping 32GB of memory, too, and a full terabyte of SSD storage. It can even connect to three external 4K displays via the included pair of Thunderbolt ports, though you’ll need a dock and perhaps daisy-chaining them to do it.
Dynabook
A sliding webcam shutter helps preserve privacy.
It’s probably fair to say that while the Dynabook Tecra X50 may not measure up in sheer power, it tries to compete in convenience. The notebook uses a Modern Standby connection to maintain a low-power connection at all times, downloading email and patches in the background. The chassis itself was engineered to MIL-STD-810G drop, temperature, humidity, and dust standards. Dynabook also built in a sliding privacy shutter over its HD webcam, which doubles as a Windows Hello login mechanism. A secondary biometric login device is built into the Synaptics touchpad. A pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports gives you data and display connectivity, as well as charging. It does not come with any USB adapters or a pen, however.
DynabookThe Tecra X50 will be priced at $1,544 and up, Dynabook said.
Dynabook Tecra X50 basic specs:
- Display: 15.6-inch (1920×1080) Sharp IGZO LCD touchscreen
- Processor: Intel Core 1.9GHz i7-8665U (“Whiskey Lake”)
- Graphics: Intel UHD 620
- Memory: 32GB DDR4
- Storage: 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
- Ports: 2 USB-C 3.1 (Thunderbolt 3, DisplayPort, USB charging, DC in); 1 USB 3.0 with charging; 1 HDMI, 1 microSD, 3.5mm jack
- Camera: HD, with privacy slider
- Battery: 48Wh
- Wireless: Intel Wireless-AC 9560 (802.11ac + Bluetooth 5)
- Operating system: Windows 10 Pro
- Dimensions: 714.1 x 9.8 x 0.69 inches (17.6 mm)
- Weight: 3.13 pounds
- Color: Aluminum
- Additional features: Fingerprint reader, smartcard reader
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Price: $1,544
Updated on Sept. 18 with updated pricing.