Panasonic Set To Launch The CF-B10 Laptop

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It’s hard to look away from words like “biggest”, “lightest” or “most”, and that’s why it was downright exciting to hear about Panasonic’s move toward the lightest 15.6 inch laptop yet, the CF-B10.

That’s what Panasonic’s calling it, anyway, and just because it’s light doesn’t mean it won’t be packing the power along with it. According to reports, the CF-B10 is set to include an Intel Core i5 processor as well as four gigs of RAM and a 500 gig hard drive as well as a built-in optical disc drive (almost certainly DVD).

The chassis on the CF-B10 is actually made out of magnesium, which in turn lends some extra shock absorption, allowing the internal parts to be made both lighter and thinner, which is how this one got its classification as the lightest.

Right now, Panasonic’s eying a March release for the CF-B10, and only in Japan, at least for now. I really can’t imagine why they’d want to keep this one out of other markets, who would no doubt love to have an ultra-light laptop to sling in their laptop bags when going to hit the coffeehouses and other free wi-fi sources, so you may want to get a call in to your favorite importer and get your hands on one that way. Considering how much work I do on a laptop, I’m one of those markets that would love something like that.

But all the same, the Japanese will get first crack, and they’ll shell out pretty heavily for it as well, as the CF-B10 is set to retail for a hefty 175,000 yen (or about $2130 US). That’s a pretty hefty price tag for a computer whose only real selling point is its low weight; the rest of the specs are good enough, sure, but you can get those specs for a whole lot less elsewhere (a look at Sunday’s Best Buy flier has a Toshiba with four gig of RAM and a 500 gig hard drive plus Intel Core i5 and 4G WiMax for $699). Still though, lightweight is a good thing; it just remains to be seen if it will be good enough.