Toshiba Satellite L-series laptops nuke 3D video from orbit

Laptops ain't what they used to be, no siree. These days mid-range laptops pack a surprising amount of hardware into their slender, scintillating chassis. Toshiba's chucking a few new multimedia models into the mix with the Satellite L735, L755/L755D and the L775.

Sized at 13.3 inches, 15.6 inches and 17.3 inches respectively, these laptops offer some cool features, such as the ability to convert rubbish old 2D footage into 3D, presumably using complicated algorithms or simple witchcraft.

Now unfortunately, you won't be able to watch content in 3D on these Satellites (if that's your bag, check out the new 3D P-series machines) -- they have boring old 2D displays. Instead you'll have to export your footage to a proper 3D telly using an HDMI cable, and watch it there. Boo.

We've never seen 2D to 3D conversion that looks halfway decent anyway, so to be honest, it might be worth setting this feature aside, and focusing on the L series' more fundamental specifications.

The higher-end L-series laptops have Blu-ray players, but naturally these options will cost you extra. The Satellite L755 and L755D models have USB 3.0 ports, for speedy data transfer. We haven't seen the whole lineup, but disappointingly it doesn't look as though the smaller models will have this USB 3.0 port, which doesn't feel much like progress.

Toshiba's sleep-charging is on board, so you can keep your phone or camera charging via your laptop's USB port even when it's in sleep mode.

Every model comes packing Intel's Core i series of processors -- the L735 has a core i3 CPU, while the L755, L755D and L775 models have Core i3 or i5 options. Sadly it doesn't look like the powerful Core i7 chip is represented anywhere in the range.

The 15.6 and 17.3-inch models have up to 8GB of RAM (but more memory will cost you), while the 13.3-incher has 4GB of DDR3 RAM.

Strip away the fancy 3D features and these look like rather bog-standard laptops, to be honest. That doesn't mean they won't be highly usable, sturdy machines, but unless those features really impress, there might not be much here to make the L series stand out, in a landscape increasingly filled with affordable computers. We'll know for sure when we get them in for a full review, so stay tuned.

The Toshiba Satellite L series will be available from May.