New Portege Z830

That worked! Thanks! Where have you been? I've been through quite a few laptops since we last talked.

 

Yes...we all go back to the Dell XPS days now dont we? I actually just bought one for nostalgia that is like brand new.

 

Sound scary, any skin for Z830 or DIY cutting ?

 

I kept the plastic on it... It adheres well and seems to be fairly thick.

My battery stops charging at 80%, anyone else like that?

 

I went to Best Buy today and they had the Asus UX31 and Toshiba Z835 side by side on display. Since there has been a lot of talk about issues with the keyboards on these units, I opened up notepad on each machine and typed a few sentences on both laptops, and I must say the UX31 was very difficult to type on, especially with the large wobbly keys. However, on the Z835 I found the typing to be very easy.

I had previously decided against the UX31 before even trying it, but I am sorry to say that I also have to nix the Z835 as well, but only because of one thing, the shaky screen. The screen is so thin and flexible, that you barely touch the laptop and it starts shaking. That is a big time deal breaker for me as it would drive we nuts looking at a constantly shaking screen while typing. I am acutally interested in the i7 Z830, but I assume it is built on the same frame as the Z835.

Although I was determined to get a light laptop in the next month or so, it is not looking good. Even with all the problems with the Lenovo X220, maybe it is the lesser of all evils. On the bright side, there is going to be some 50+ ultrabooks being introduced early next year if I can hold off.

 

Good idea but for how long ?
Just send request to skinit.com, hopefully they listen

 

@PJC123
I agree about the screen flex and wobble. But once you start typing on it for long periods of time on a stable surface, the screen does not wobble at all. But yes, it does get annoying if you simply touch the screen, once you let go, it wobbles.

@Purba
I've had the laptop for about 5 days now, and it's still stuck on there I want to remove it in fear of having a discolored imprint when I take it out, but for the mean time, it looks... unique since it's seated perfectly aligned.

FOUND IT!! Check out these really good DIY mods. IMO, this beats my plastic method.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...lds/450867-custom-home-made-leather-skin.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...s/288437-faux-leather-contact-paper-skin.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...om-builds/294961-faux-leather-laptop-mod.html

 

Not fully charging the battery can help extend battery lifespan, which is pretty important considering the Z830 battery isn't going to be easy to replace.

I personally have no issues with my X220. Every laptop has a chance that you will have problems, but problems sound much more widespread since they really are since not that many people will post about how everything went right as much as they would to complain about something not going right.

Though. Ivy Bridge is coming out soon along with ultrabooks that will use it so they will probably have better performance+battery than the current Sandy Bridge ultrabooks and its not like design is going to get any worse. And if you don't like any of those ultrabooks as well, the X220 is also getting an Ivy Bridge refresh. If you don't really want it now/find an awesome deal, I would wait.

 

I downloaded Sisoft Sandra 2012 to verify that the ssd I purchased was indeed sata 3 6gb/s I also looked at the specifications,Sisoft mainboard tab, for the toshiba mainboard and Maximum sata mode is listed at 3gb/s,you've got some explainin to do my man

 

oh, if you were trying to make a recovery cd, yeah you had to leave it plugged in and restart. Same issue happened to me, though usb 3.0 worked fine.

umm..when you charge a laptop even if it says 100% its not fully charged and same for 0% its not fully discharged. That protection is built into the battery.

---

Also, is it just me or is the wifi performance pretty darn low, even my series 9 had better wifi performance (and thats saying a lot) :/

nvm..didnt notice the power setting..

 

I am as dumbfounded as you are but the tests are the tests and I would bet my Anvil that shows SATA 3 is the exact twin of yours in system identication.

 

@pinoyboy:

Charges 100% for me... but mine isn't wiped (nor have I removed any bloatware).

 

Regarding the 80% vs. 100% battery issue, supposedly if you limit your charging the battery to 80% of capacity you will extend the life of the battery. This option is usually offered via a manufacturer software utility rather than through windows itself or a BIOS setting. My Vaio Z has this option.

On the Z830/835 it is part of Toshiba's Eco utility, and can be enabled or disabled through that.

 

THANK YOU! I almost returned my laptop because of this. I guess I accidentally changed some things when I was going through Toshiba's included softwares.

 

@Uniten
Yeah, I also think this one is abit slow. Faster than the laptop I returned with the Realtek 8188CE, but it seems slower than my DM4-1060us. Also, it's not able to see the networks that the DM4-1060us can. The z835 shows only 3 routers I can connect to, but the DM4-1060us shows 18 connections. Yeah I know, range has nothing to do with speed, but just wanted to point it out.

 

Two questions:

1) are you set to eco setting?

2) when I went to look if there is a new driver there were 2 choices, Atheros and Intel, which one do you have?

 

High performance with everything favoring peformance. Plugged in when I'm at home.

I have the intel wifi link 1000 bgn.

 

PinoyBoy, do yourself a favor and buy an Intel Centrino 6230 or 6300 for $25. I'm finding the range much better, plus you get added features, like bluetooth with the 6230, or 450 Mbps (with compatible router) on the 6300.

Just make sure you get it off a trusted site. I use MacMall.

 

Is it posible to know if Toshiba Z830 will be compatible with Windows 8?

Here says: http://www.notebookreview.com/defau...shiba+Z830+Ultrabook+Hands+On+Preview+IDF2011 "The software, in this instance, was Windows 7, but Windows 8 was seen on the Z830 on stage. "

Another question, anyone else have tried Debian on it? EDIT: answering to my self: http://www.linlap.com/wiki/toshiba+portege+z830-10f (however, speaks about linux in general, not debian). The only thing seems not work is Bluetooth. Anyone has tried with debian?

 

If I were to make an educated guess, I would say yes. Windows 7 and 8 are basically the same architecture. Also, I rarely hear of an instance in which a previous windows machine was not capable of a reinstallation with a new version of Windows. Sure, if you try to find drivers for a computer that is years and years old, then you may run into problems, but for a laptop that just came out a month ago, I don't expect any issues.

That being said... the Windows 8 beta is out there, so people can try it out if they want.

 

umm...isn't that what he has? my laptop came with an Intel Cetrino 6230...which one did your laptop come with?

it definitely will be win8 compatible. The developer preview is out and here is the min requirements:

1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 GB RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
Taking advantage of touch input requires a screen that supports multi-touch


As for your linux question, ill put it this way. In your link the tested linux is Linux Mint 12 which is based on Ubuntu, and Ubuntu is based on Debian. SO it should work, but you may have to manually install drivers

 

I'm trying very hard to like this laptop that I just got a few days ago but it's been quite a love-hate relationship ever since I got to play around with it.

Here are my pros and cons:

+ Wafer thing
+ Lightweight - It is lighter than anything I've ever laid hands on
+ Unlimited variety of ports - Only port missing is a dvi
+ It's speedy - even with the slow benchmarked SSD (boot-up time is amazing)
+ Battery life is good - I'm averaging 4-5 hours normal use (Wifi on, 50% brightness, websurfing and watching videos)
+ Matte screen - Love it!
+ Backlit keyboard is nice to have
+ Air cooling - This laptop runs cool no matter what I do to it.

- The fan - It's always on but it's a constant idle noise like a fridge.
- Lid design - I don't think it's the hinge at fault here, it's more due to with the frame (material) of the lid that keeps wobbling
- Stiff trackpad buttons

So why am I not happy with it? After spending time with the Lenovo X220, there are some things I miss from it like lid rigidity, keyboard feedback and the overall build quality. Not to say the Z830 falls short in build quality but it's just different in terms of what the design teams were aiming for. The x220 weighs like a brick compared to the z830 but it is also built like a brick. The z830 requires more care and I am not that type of user, unfortunately so without much further ado, if anyone is looking for a Portege z830 with core i5, PM me

I wonder if I am ever going to find the right laptop for me...

 

@ckthepilot:

I think all ultrabooks are going to have subpar keyboards and not have super durable builds. Although, the MBAs seem pretty tough with their unibody design (as does the Asus UX series).

What you probably want is something that's probably a bit thicker to allow more travel on the keys and a sturdier frame. Maybe take a look at the HP Folio... but I think anything with "ultra" in the name might not be your type of notebook.

 

I think the reason why its so wavey has nothing to do with the hinge or design, its actually because the laptop is so light while the keys have too much resistance. This ends up shaking the entire laptop, not just the hinge. It just the hinge, it only apears like the hinge si shaking but in reality its the entire laptop.

To me its also a love-hate relation...but its a bit different..its more of like I like the laptop but "something" isn't right...despite the flaws of the series 9 I still liked that laptop a lot, after seeing the nice screen on the series 9 the toshiba screen just isn't the same :/...and its just not the same...ultimately though I will probably end up staying with the toshiba..despite the feeling this laptop is for work, and onsite warranty is too important to me. I'll just have to hope I will be able to adjust to it, it may be a matter of getting used to it.


Edit: you know what, I think I am starting to understand why from design point they make the front so thin and back less thin, this is the thing that prevents the shaking. Our laptops the wight is distributed evenly so any off balance causes it to shake, on a design that is less even puts more weight on the back, this causes the laptop to be more stable. and that fan on the back sticking out isn't helping either....

 

450mbps The only bottle neck would probably be my internet provider, even when plugged in, I don't get anything near that.

@Uniten
I have the watered down best buy version, the z835 with the 1000bgn

 

ck, if u'll post it to the uk................ ;-)

 

oh I see, yeah wehn I upped my power options the wifi is a lot better now. Also as for the 450mbps, youwill never actually reach those speeds, those are "theoretical", the actual numbers is more like 60-80mbps download assuming your in the same room as the router.

 

GUESS WHAT! Apparently Best Buy will be selling the Z835 for $699 starting tomorrow... for those who have bought it already, i think the price match policy lasts until January, and for those who haven't, if the 899 to 799 price wasn't enough to consider it a bargain, then this 799 to 699 price is a steal!

Toshiba ultra book Best Buy $699 Starting Sunday!

 

Yeah... that's a really good price... at $799 I thought it was okay... but $100 less probably makes it a keeper.

 

I recently purchased a Toshiba Portege Z830 from Futureshop. It shipped with an Intel I7 2640M processor rather than the 2677M processor that was advertised. The 2640M is newer and faster but draws 35W of power compared to the 17W for the 2677M. I am worried that this higher power draw may overheat the computer as well as cause the battery to drain much faster than rated. Also, the A/C adapter/charger shipped is rated at 45W which I am worried may also overheat with the higher processor power draw. I have sent several inquiries to Toshiba technical site but received no response. Does anyone on this forum have any knowledge of the 2640M processor in the Z830 ultrabook and whether any of my concerns are warranted?

Cowtown Cowboy,
Calgary, AB

 

Are you sure that z830? Not r830 ?

 

i am interesting in your reply too !

you speak about a r830 don't you ?
i just tried to custom a z830 with this cpu and it is not possible !

 

How about Thinkpad X1 ? Extra durability with Gorilla Glass

 

I wouldn't call the X1 an ultrabook. It uses a Standard Voltage CPU.

 

Got my price match! They say they are going to credit my account with $100 plus tax. Which means the original price I paid still qualifies for that Chase Bank 10% cashback deal, in addition to the two free $10 gift cards I had, plus best buy reward zone points (unfortunately, minus 10 dollars because i no longer past the 750 point mark...)... final price: $622. Ok, well add in a new wifi card and ram, and its $662.

What does all this mean to me? It means I'll probably be buying an SATA III drive (haven't decided 256 vs 128 GB) once the price comes down a bit.

 

Hi all,

I tested a demonstration model for the first time today and I have to say that I am quite disappointed. I own a 9 Series from Samsung and planned to move to the Toshiba, but now I changed my mind after testing it.

Here is a quick summary of my experience, especially compared to the S9 :

+very thin and light, even compared to the S9. There was an Asus next to the unit I tested which felt very heavy compared to the Toshiba

+all the ports available, much better than the S9.

+dedicated home/end/pg up/pg down buttons

-the trackpad is the key item which makes me dislike the z830. The multipoint is almost non existent (I enabled the 2 fingers scrolling in Synaptics options and this was barely unusable: if my finger were to close to each other it would not recognise that as a scroll). I also don't like the 2 buttons which looked very cheap. It's a different world when coming from the S9 which has a great large multipoint trackpad (which needs some tweaking in the options too).

-the keyboard is also a weak point, keys are smaller than normal and the key travel is very short. The space bar won't always 'type' if you press it close to the edge. Typing this reply on my S9 gives me an incomparable experience.

-the screen is not as bright as the S9 but this is something I could have lived with.

-the software which displays keyboard shortcut actions is poor, you won't even see the volume level when changing it with the FN key for example.

I was not able to judge the fan noise due to the high background noise in the shop.

To conclude, I was really enthusiast about this laptop and planned to sell my S9 to get one, but after testing it I changed my mind.

I hope that this may help other S9 owners to decide whether or not the Z830 is good for them.

Cheers

 

i'm also an owner of S9 planning to move to z830.
i'm very happy with S9 keyboard, but in z830 is very very different?

I reallly hate how fingerprints get into S9 lid

 

Yes the keyboard is very different, I suggest you to try it on a demonstration model before buying the z830.
I also forget to say that the space bar is very uncomfortable on the toshiba : if you press it too close to the edge, it won't work.

 

I would disagree with you regarding the keyboard and trackpad. While I can't comment on the Series 9, this is probably the best trackpad I've tried in ultrabooks, and the keyboard, while it is different, has an easy learning curve. I type on it normally now after a couple weeks. I will agree the mouse buttons are a bit tacky and fingerprint magnets, but it doesn't bother me.

The screen is more than bright enough for me. unless I'm in a really bright area with reflections, i keep it on low most of the time.

The volume thing is a minor inconvenience, but not a dealbreaker for me.

I guess in the end its a choice you have to make by weighing the pros and cons- yes, the Series 9 has an i5, brighter screen, 3 yr warranty, beautiful design, and (subjectively) better trackpad and keyboard... but are all those things worth paying an additional $950? In my opinion, absolutely not. In fact, for $950 less, you are getting things that Series 9 does not have... like full size hdmi and vga ports, usb 3.0, 15% lighter, dedicated home/end buttons. If you really can't type on the keyboard, then that is a dealbreaker (thats what made me return the ux31), but otherwise, you simply can not beat the price for what you get.

 

I totally agree with you, there is no "best ultrabook", each model has its pros and cons and you have to see where are your priorities.

Note: I forget to write about the home/end keys which are an other "pro" for the z830 that I really liked.

 

Yes. It's a Z830. Seems odd. Hopefully Toshiba Tech will respond and I can advise the forum.

 

I don't know what you mean by uncomfortable but many spacebars on notebooks have dead spots... you'll see it on many threads here... I just read such a comment on the Samsung Series 7 thread.

I just tested my Z835 and it seems to be only on the upper right and lower right corners of the spacebar... the right edge however will register.

On my MBA... all 4 corners of the space bar are "dead".

Compare that to the Asus UX series were almost every corner on *every* key id dead.

Since the spacebar is so huge... I can forgive dead spots in corners... but not on every key like on other notebooks.

 

Here's the laptop at FutureShops site: Toshiba 13.3" Intel Core i7-2677M Ultrabook (Z830-OOL) : Ultrabooks - Future Shop
Yes, it is advertised with a i7-2677M.
How do you know it has the i7-2640m? If using a third party program, maybe try a different program; as the 2677m is still pretty new and may not be recognized correctly.


As for contacting Toshiba, you cannot contact them through their forums nor email; you must CALL them. Phone support is their ONLY official way of contact; their forums or mainly a place where owners can talk about their products.


As for the i7-2640, I too would be concerned, especially since you'll be getting much worse battery life than other z830s.


Good luck and keep us posted with any progress.

 

In fact I noticed this problem on the right part of the space bar as well. I don't say that it is a major issue, but I really feel like the keyboard of the S9 is much better (not a single dead spot on the space bar or any other key, deeper key travel, full size square keys).

Many people will probably adapt and type flawlessly on the toshiba, in my mini review I just wanted to highlight the pros and cons compared to the S9 because I think that many users of the S9 are looking at the Z830 as well

 

Still don't know If buy or not this laptop here: Toshiba Portegé Z830-10F 13,3" FNAC (989,90 €,i5-2467M , 4GB RAM). Anyone could try Matlab and says to me if it runs fluently? I need a laptop for doing university tasks (programming with matlab, visual studio, linux...), showing series and movility.

 

For the i7 with the 2640M, I would usggest you check their eco utility, it tells you power output. While the CPU may take up more power, that may be the case when pushing the cpu to the limit and when doing light work energy may be the same.

My i5 runs at around 5-12watts for average use.


As for comparison to the Series 9, I will say this...while I liked the series 9 a lot and it took me faster time to adjust to the series 9. And I so miss the series 9 screen. I don't miss the series 9 trackpad, with all the double clicks and mixed up right and left clicks. I turned off all the multitouch stuff usually though cause I can do it faster.

 

5-12 watts for average use? I'm assuming this is what the eco utility is saying right?

My i3 model runs at 11-12w when idle. About 12-14w when surfing the web. And 13-16w when I watch youtube vids. I'm on high performance with everything favoring performance/video, but even if I'm on balanced it's the same thing.

Concerning the spacebar, I have no problem with it. I always use my left thumb to press the spacebar; I usually land around the magnifying glass symbol on the spacebar.

The left shift bar is what I'm having issues with. I'd estimate about 20% no feedback when pressed.

 

I am using the eco setting + adjustments. (specifically setting wifi to medium and increase screen brightness)

 

It took over a half hour on the phone while the Best Buy customer support representative got approval from her supervisor but I too obtained my price match refund approval. Thank you so much, Makryger, for alerting this forum to Best Buy's amazing $699.99 deal on the Toshiba Z835 and for letting us know about BB's "price match" policy, something that I had no idea existed before your post.

 

Glad I could help out... I'm surprised it took you so long to get it! This policy is listed very prominently on their website, as if they're bragging about it. The one roadblock I came across is that I had bought my z835 on Black Friday, not because it was on sale at Best Buy, but because Chase Bank had their bonus cashback promotion. But there is a note in the price match policy that you it doesn't apply to items purchased as black friday deals. I told the rep that the laptop was not on sale during black friday, and after she put me on hold for a couple minutes, she approved the refund. I do think, since it is such a large difference in price, they have to get approval from supervisors, but you'd assume it would be easier than that considering this is all happening within the confines of the best buy system.