As a proud user of the Toshiba Satellite Z830, it’s intriguing to see what improvements Toshiba brought to what is already a superb workhorse with the introduction of the Satellite Z930-13N UltraBook, available for £800 at Currys.

The thickness and weight of the laptop at 16mm and 1.1Kg respectively are similar to the Z830 series. The Ivy-Bridge-based Intel i5-3317U (clocked at 1.7GHz, with a 2.6GHz Turbo Boost and 3MB cache) replaces the Sandy-Bridge part on the Z830. There’s still 6GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, plus a 13.3in 1,366 x 768 pixel non-reflective HD High Brightness, LED-backlit display powered by an Intel HD4000 graphics subsystem.

Other features include Bluetooth 4.0, a webcam, SRS HD premium Sound, an 8-cell battery capable of powering the UltraBook for eight hours, HDMI and VGA, three USB ports, a card reader, and Windows 8. It therefore seems that other than a change of CPU and the arrival of Windows 8, the new Z930 - using the same magnesium alloy chassis as the Z830 - offers only minor changes from its predecessor.

Note that Toshiba also packed in a number of applications like a SSD/HDD alert, an Eco Utility and PC Health monitor app and a limited version of Office 2010.