Toshiba has just unveiled a new set of ultra-portable laptops that they claim are the lightest and thinnest in the world. And at a scarily-light 1.73 pounds on the R500-S5003, I think they might just be right. Slimming things down by ditching standard HDDs for flash-based Solid State Drives, these laptops are on the cutting edge of portable computing.

Of course, you'll need to make some sacrifices to get your laptop down to a fighting weight of 1.72 pounds. For one, you'll have to say goodbye to any disc drive at all, as the lightest model doesn't have one. You can hop up to the R500-S5004, which includes a DVD-SuperMulti drive, but then you'll add some weight and some dollars. My choice would definitely be the lighter, cheaper R500-S5003, which runs with no moving parts whatsoever. You'll pay dearly for these svelte machines, with the S5003 costing $2,700 and the S5004 $3,000, but they're a great look at the future of laptops. — Adam Frucci

Via Toshiba