With last year's Ivy Bridge chips, though, the 52Wh battery is expected to last a little over six hours on a charge.

ENGADGET: Toshiba KIRAbook hands-on (video) Hands-on

In brief, it's a 13-inch slate with a 1, 366 x 768 display and your choice of Core i3 or i5 processor (these are Intel's Y-series Ivy Bridge chips we're talking about).

ENGADGET

On the other hand, most reviewers found that non-gaming CPU performance fell far short of Ivy Bridge and even Sandy Bridge mobile chips.

ENGADGET: AMD Trinity laptop review roundup: beats Ivy Bridge on gaming, but CPU lets the herd down

Silicon Valley venture capitalists are the latest to succumb to this draw, anteing up not with chips but with so-called bridge loans.

FORBES: A Bridge Too Far