The earliest models in the series, introduced in the early 1990s, were one of the first to directly compete against IBM's ThinkPad line.

In 2016, the Satellite line came to an end when Toshiba exited the consumer personal computer market;[1] in 2020, after Sharp Corporation purchased the computer division as Dynabook, the Satellite Pro was relaunched.The early models did not come with an internal CD-ROM drive, but these soon appeared as mobile technology progressed.

Some Satellites also lacked an internal floppy disk drive, but a port on the side allowed the use of a proprietary external module for such.

The email was sent using the personal computer of White House Medical Unit Emergency Physician Dr. Robert G. Darling, and was sent to astronaut John Glenn as he was aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.

The Satellite line was introduced in 1992 with the T1800 and T1850 models, the T1850C variant of which was one of the first notebooks with passive-matrix color LCDs.

Toshiba began using letter prefixes to differentiate its concurrent series of Satellite laptops.

[12] Screen sizes on the C series ranged between 14 and 17 in diagonally; the laptops were offered with Intel or AMD processors.

[17][18] The M and U series Satellites were marketed as multimedia-oriented machines, powerful enough for casual gaming and video playback while still being lightweight enough to be easily mobile.

It comprised the R10, R15, R20, and R25; all featured a swivel-hinge display that the user could rotate 180 degrees to cover the keyboard and use the laptops with a stylus.

[9] Features included Nvidia GeForce graphics processing units, Harman Kardon speakers, optional touchscreen displays and optional backlit keyboards; it was the lowest price entry of the Satellite family to offer discrete graphics.