New Owner of Satellite Z830 10T UltraBook Seeking General Advice Etc....

Hey guys,

I recently picked up the above UltraBook for a song as an ex display item - absolute mint condition boxed etc. Whilst I am very familiar with my main notebook - Alienware M18x R1 - I am not so familiar with this Z830......or any other Ultrabook for that matter!

I've done a tiny bit of research on the web about the machine. If there are any owners out there that have any info on things, I'd be greatly appreciative of it being shared. The first thing I looked at was upgrading the internals, after finding a teardown guide on YouTube, I could see that there is one ram slot currently occupied by a 2gb module. It has a 128gb mSata and the cpu is a I3 2677m.

I have a few questions for those in the know. They are:

1. What's the maximum supported memory size/speed on these - Couldnt seem to find a definitive answer
2. Is the cpu upgradeable? - have read that it's soldered to the mobo.
3. Clean install guide for these? - no OEM disc so how does one perform a totally clean Win 7 install without a Retail Win 7 disc?
4. System bios - I read that 1.60 cured some kind of cpu fan issues but I've just checked the support page and it seems there is a new version recently released 25th April 2013 - 1.80: Laptop Support - Download the latest updates for your laptop/tablet - Toshiba - anyone tried it? - no real info about fixes/enhancements.
5. Upgrade mSata? - any limitations?

Any information appreciated. I'd really like to clean install to get rid of all the Toshiba bloatware that I've read it ships with pre-loaded. I read somewhere that on a factory install, there is only something like 60gb free space, so I could do with maximizing the available space until I get some upgrades going on.....

I haven't even turned it on yet - is there a procedure to create recovery media (USB preferable, as I don't have an external ODD right now) and if so, how?

Thanks in advance!

 

bump!

10 char

 

I bought the Z930 in Canada from what I was told the CPU is soldered onto the mainboard so you can't upgrade it, max memory is 6gb, I ordered mine with 256gb ssd as I was told it's pretty difficult to get the think apart to change the hdd so I went with 256 gb which will be plenty of space.

You can make recovery disk for the notebook if you have an external dvd drive or use a USB stick to make a backup copy just go into windows and choose the Toshiba recovery options then you can create the system recovery media mine says it needs a 16gb usb stick.

This notebook is really quiet the fan rarely comes on and when it does it's pretty quiet.

 

Thanks, jabbok - yeah, I'm liking it so far. I'm on Bios 1.60 from the factory install and have read about Z830 fan noise issues, on the whole it's pretty much silent running on balanced with no tweaks. I have seen bios 1.80 on Toshiba's website but wonder what it fixes/enhances.

I'm gonna make the recovery USB (12gb) soon - haven't done much with her so far apart from browsing. I have grabbed a Win7 HP.iso and created a USB for a clean install - far too much bloatware for my liking. I'm curious as to what I need/don't need, driver wise, from the downloads section. I guess I'll just wing it.....unless someone has more info on clean installing to these little beauties.

As for upgrading, yeah - cpu is a no-no. Memory, sure....SSD too....is the Sata port on these capable of Sata III? - I've read that it is. The Toshiba 128gb is so-so, of course I am looking it coming from Raid0 x2 256gb PM830's so it's no surprise I am a bit slower than that. I'd love to drop a larger Sata III mSata SSD into it at some point, but right now, I'll make do. Tearing down is straight-forward - 13 screws or so, one torx in the middle under a rubber foot. That's about it to access all that can be upgraded/changed.

For the time being, I'm more than happy with the Z830 :thumbsup:

 

The SSD is a m-S-ata drive that's another reason I went with the 256 as they are still quite expensive.

The drivers are all available on the website so just have them downloaded then do the clean install you shouldn't have any issues.

I haven't played around with it too much but really like the backlit keyboard and how quiet and light the thing is, I am debating about putting windows 7 on it instead of windows 8.

 

What bios are you running on your machine? - I cannot for the life of me find ANY info on what the latest update "fixes". I'm currently on 1.60 but 1.80 is coming up as an update released last month. Given the fan noise issue that was fixed with 1.60, I'm semi-reluctant to flash the newer one incase it can't be rolled back and the fan noise returns.

Anyone else with a Z830/930 have any idea or feedback if you guys have updated?

 

Here's what the US Toshiba support page lists as the changes for the z830/z835 series BIOS:

Portege Z835-P330 Support | Toshiba

1.8 seems minor, but 1.7 may have some improvements worth noting. Also, with the EC/KBC warning with the 1.6 BIOS, updating to the 1.8/1.7 BIOS may also prevent downgrading in the future; once you go 1.8 you cannot go back.

Good luck and keep us posted with any updates.

 

Thanks Alex, I didn't think of looking on the US website - facepalm!

Thanks for the info. +rep.