Computex 2012: Toshiba busts out U840W, first Ultrabook with 21:9 aspect ratio

Ultrabooks are soon starting to look like clones of one another. The trouble is that since they all have to adhere to Intel’s strict rules of what constitutes an Ultrabook, there’s little room to experiment. Toshiba, on the other hand have just announced a one of a kind Ultrabook, called the U840W, which sports an odd 14.4-inch screen lending it a 21:9 aspect ratio. The last time we saw this resolution was on Philips 21:9 LCD TV and we know how well that did. Due to this elongated shape, the resolution is also different, which is 1792 x 768. Toshiba is targeting people who would want more screen real estate. The U840W will go on sale in Q3 of 2012 starting at a price of $1,383 (Rs. 76,000).

Stretching it a bit

The Ultrabook is quite slim, measuring just 20.8mm in depth and weighing in at 1.57kg. It is powered by Intel’s latest 3rd Generation Ivy Bridge CPU and can support up to 10GB of RAM and will feature a combination of a standard 500GB hard drive and a 32GB SSD. The notebook boasts of a metal chassis, will have USB 3.0 ports and also Intel’s WiDi technology on board. This is premium Ultrabook that’s catered to grab one's attention.

The U840W also packs in Harman Kardon speakers to deliver superior audio quality. Unfortunately, the display panel is just a TN and not an IPS variety, as we would have liked. As good as this notebook looks, we really doubt it will fly off the shelves. For one, it’s going to be expensive and secondly, we don’t really get the point of having this aspect ratio. Most of the content we consume these days is mostly in the 16:9 aspect ratio, so this added width is really not needed. We just feel this is Toshiba’s way of showing what they can do and them trying to stand out from the crowd. I’m sure there will be a group of people who’ll go for this, but for me, personally, I’ll take a Windows 8 tablet/notebook hybrid any day over this.