New Portege Z830

I'm thinking I'll ask someone please to measure the keyboard of the z830. None of the reviews have compared the measurements yet. See
Keycap Size, Spacing and Alignment

 

The keycaps are smaller vertically... I believe it's almost the same keyboard as the R830.

 

OK... sigh. I keep re-thinking myself on this whole keyboard issue. I guess for now, I'll leave my order active. I'm just nervous that I'll get the unit (it ships Nov. 29th) then regret the keyboard. :-(

 

From all reports it doesn't seem to be that bad, nothing like the Asus. I'm sure you'll quite like it.

 

Hope you're right. And I hope we end up in 6 months with a clear path to upgrade the SSD to a larger, faster drive. It's not often, though, that I'm already hoping for an upgrade path to a unit that hasn't even arrived at my doorstep yet.

 

@z830guy, I think you need to go to Best Buy and try out the keyboard for yourself. A short trip to your local store may save you the effort of setting it all up, and then having to ship it back, as well as save Toshiba from getting an instantly- non sellable computer.

If you go to the bestbuy website, you can see which stores have the laptop in stock.

 

I have found that current reviews of a product, or past experience with a previous version of the same unit, are not a very good indication of the quality of a just released product (This is true of anything.....laptops, vehicles, etc.). I too was very excited about the x220 (I was looking at the laptop, not the tablet) because it was just what I was looking for. However, I always wait until a couple of months of comments show up on various forums before I make a purchase. It became very clear immediately that the X220 had way too many problems, and although some things have been fixed, there are still various problems with this unit.

 

@ Guillermédico and pjc123,

Don't want to hijack this thread to talk about ThinkPad X220 but I did a lot of research and decided that that's the best option, currently available, for a small notebook. If it has issues, it'll go back...

 

Fair enough. Quite honestly, I am getting the impression that everyone is making poorly engineered, untested, "get it out to the field as quick as possible" junk. Okay, back to the Z830 discussion, which is another laptop that I am debating whether to throw off my list of viable candidates. I already nixed the ASUS UX31 due to its problems.

I just hope your intense research took you to the official Lenovo X220 forum:

X Series ThinkPad Laptops - Lenovo Community

 

No doubt in my mind - I'd take the Z835 over the ASUS any day. The ASUS' keyboard is a deal-breaker.

 

Anyone need more convincing to get this laptop? Here's a pretty rosy review
Toshiba Portégé Z835 Review - ComputerShopper.com

 

If I get into grad school this year, I'll probably pickup a z830 to supplement my Qosmio.

Looking pretty decent, and decently priced at $799.

 

Still need to see it for myself.

And of course... read reviews from posters here. The UX31 had all sorts of problems so let's see how the z83x does.

I see BB has it available for Ship To Store... only one store in my area has them in-stock... maybe I'll take a drive down to check it out.

 

Whoa -- my z830 just shipped. Tracking forecasts a Wednesday delivery. Gulp. Hope I like it.

 

Notebook Review forum has been a great resource for me over the years and so here's my first post, having just picked up a Z835 from Best Buy for my wife. My own laptop is an R835-P50x and I had the R705 previously.

I ordered & it for pick up at the store and recommend this as when I went to the store, they'd sold out between the time I ordered and got to the store a few hours later.

I'm an average user using for both business and surfing and pretty much connected to my laptop on/off 10 hours a day.

I've been a big fan of the R series, for awesome battery life, features and light weight so reading all the reviews and criticism of the slow SSD was a real downer for me, I was assuming this ultrabook was going to be pretty average.

Initial set up was super fast & so far, compared to the R835 HD, this SSD is lightening fast.

The key board will be very familiar to R series owners - it looks to be the same keyboard - same size keys and overall dimensions. As others reported, there is a a noticeable difference in the key depression, I'd say about 20% less travel, but it's not bad and I'm finding myself adjusting very easily.

The keys feel a little more grippy - that's probably more due to the keys being new (ie not greasy finger covered!). There is really no keyboard flex at all, it feels way more solid than the R.

The screen appears comparable to the R series - perfectly fine for typical users. The bezel is matte finish, matching the keyboard and the screen has the same bad reflection in bright rooms / outside that the R series has. It's very flexible but seems strong enough.

The palm rest area is fabulous, the design is completely flat so provides a larger "usable" area than the R - this is great and it feels very comfortable to use.

One question I've not seen addressed yet is available space after programs.

Out the box, the 128GB SSD showed 105GB free. When I deleted the Norton & Best Buy programs and added back Avira anti-virus, there's 84GB free space.

This is the deal breaker for me buying the machine for my own use. I hope Toshiba come out with a 256GB SSD or 500GB SSD option soon.

The fan seems to be on all the time, but it is less noisy than my R (which is quiet) and so I do not see this as an annoyance. The laptop remains cool the time.

Battery life is less than the R835 - about 5 hours, I'd really love more as the 8 hours from the R genuinely means not worrying about charger cables.

The charging brick is smaller than the R -3.5x1.75x1" with the same long length cable .

So far, I'm thrilled with this machine. If you like the look of the R series, you'll feel the Z is just gorgeous and the lighter weight makes this an absolute winner in my book, just waiting for the larger SSD.

 

@western- thanks for the review. Glad to hear that the computer itself is decent enough for normal usage. All of those speed tests and screen comparisons can be downers, but it sounds like for 'typical' use, the laptop does a fine job. I hopefully should be taking a look and possibly picking one up on Sunday. I'll probably still install my own 4GB of ram and wireless bluetooth module, but from what you're saying, maybe I can get buy at the moment without adding a faster SSD.

Something doesn't quite add up on your SSD space... how is it that uninstalling Norton+BB programs, then installing avira costs you 20GB?

 

Guessing the SDD space discrepancy could be from Windows updates?

 

>>Something doesn't quite add up on your SSD space... how is it that uninstalling Norton+BB programs, then installing avira costs you 20GB<<

Sorry, my bad. The available out of the box was 105GB & used space is 21GB, leaving 84gb so the 20gb includes all the other programs/ c drive contents - my point was a 128gb SSD translates to a useable 84gb for an average user not deleting a bunch of programs etc.

 

Actually... I think 128GB is a lot for average computing.

My old Dell only has a 40GB HD and it's still usable.

My MBA has 128GB, 64GB for Win7, 64GB for OSX and I've been okay... although I must admit I haven't installed very much on them other than Libre Office and alternate web browsers.

But I guess I'm not a gamer... but these aren't really gaming books anyways.

 

Just registered for Best Buy Reward Zone, and got a $10 holiday gift certificate . Plus the computer itself will be worth about $15 in extra reward zone certificates.

 

And here's the review of the day:
Toshiba Portege Z835 review -- Engadget

 

1 thing I'm worried about...5hrs battery life? I thought this would get way more than just 5 hrs

 

These things REALLY depend on what you use it for. More intensive tasks like watching a movie or using the screen with the brightness all the way up is going to drain it quicker. Engadget's standard test is wifi on, 65% brightness, and a movie looping over and over. That drained the battery in 5 hours and 50 minutes. That's better than any other ultrabook on the market. I'd imagine if you were just doing light office work/web browsing at 65% brightness, that number would shoot up much higher.

 

I imagine my z830 will be even less battery life (i7)... but maybe I can throttle it down when I'm doing something like working on a transatlantic flight. Honestly... the i7 should be even faster than the i3 version from Best Buy, so I'm encouraged again and am looking forward to Wednesday. Thanks to everybody here for letting me process through my 'quest' online with you.

 

Toshiba Direct | Laptops, Notebooks, Accessories, Electronics & Projectors

Received an email earlier, Monday Nov 21 only, Toshiba Direct is offering $100 off all Portege models plus 2 free accessories

 

Still on track for a Wednesday delivery. Curious: Has anyone else received a z830 with a i7 yet?

 

So -- in case we like these z83x computers and we want to hang on to them (let's hope), do we just carry them around with no leather case? ... no spandex? ...because either a) the leather would add weight and inches, or ... unzipping the case would make it too big of a hassle to open it up easily? Or will the metal shell get so scratched and dented that it'll look unsightly? What do you think?

 

I'm assuming that it will be able to fit in a MBP 13 case, provided that it isn't one of those form/exact fitting case.

 

Great idea. I fear that some of these kinds of cases won't fit exactly though:
MacBook Air shells and sleeves Review | Macworld

 

13" MBA "Sleeves" will probably fit fine- it will just conform to the shape of the z835. But if you're looking for something more like a "shell" that fits exactly to the laptop, or something leather that wraps around the laptop (like an ipad case?), then you probably won't have much luck at this point, considering the laptop just came out.

 

Nice review:
http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/notebooks/toshiba/satellite_z830_pt22la-001001_ultrabook/407996
OK on sleeves. Thanks!

 

Does anyone have a picture of the mSata drive? Is it replaceable with another, such as the Intel 310?

 

Any owners of the Z830 run into any major problems (heating, trackpad, noise) yet?

Let us know what you think of it.

 

Will do. I'll admit -- I'm like a kid at Christmas, looking forward to it.

 

Portege Z830/835 Product Support Page is now up on Toshiba's Support website.

Has drivers, specifications of product, Resource Guide, and User Guide.

Model Content Page


If you do not have the exact model linked above, just hit the "product Support" button on the top-left of screen in the above link and fill in the drop downs to find your specific model [Only difference will be the specification sheet].

Good luck

 

I feel like a nerd; I don't even have the laptop and already looking for the drivers so I can do a clean install. Heck, I'm not even sure if this laptop is still in my "potential" buyer list.

@Z830guy, I meant to say soft sleeves.



Y U NO HAVE FINGERPRINT READER?!?! But seriously, where is the model with the fingerprint reader?

 

Well, folks, I visited a Best Buy today to try out the Z835. And I must say, I am very disappointed.

No, I was not disappointed because of the laptop- the Z835 is awesome. The machine itself looks nice. I was worried because the pictures on best buy.com (and the title) made it look more silver than the official images, but its actually a nice dark metal that really says modern businessperson, rather than 80's business like some reviewers suggest. The brushed metal is also really nice and professional. The laptop, as we all know, is impressively thin and light. But I also felt like it was sturdy- like i could hold it by the corner with one hand and not have it bend or anything. The screen I thought was fine.. plenty bright, horizontal viewing angles were decent, vertical viewing angles weren't great, but I found them to be better than the UX31 I had previously. But overall, the screen would not be something that would constantly bug me.. I'd probably forget about it the instant I started using the comp for work. I looked like an idiot putting my ear up to the fan, but I really couldn't hear anything (in the large, mostly quiet best buy). The keyboard I tried typing on for a bit, and it had a bit of the opposite problem as the UX31. Whereas with the asus, you would think you type something, but it wouldn't register, with the toshiba, i kept thinking I missed keys (due to the short travel) when in fact, i did not miss the key. That's something that would be much easier for me to adjust to, so I decided I would be happy with the keyboard. I tried the backlighting.. didn't even realize it was on in the bright store, but when I cupped my eyes around the keys, I could see a faint glow. Seems like it will be maybe a bit brighter than something that glows in the dark. Probably a good level. I liked the separate touchpad keys. Yes they get fingerprinted, but they were easy to get unfingerprinted. The touchpad simply worked. 'Nuff said. The performance was very snappy. Didn't get to delve into it a lot on my own, but it played the Windows Media Center 1080p clip fine, it played Hulu content fine. Definitely usable for day-to-day tasks. In case anyone's interested, the wifi adapter is a Intel Wifi 1000 bgn, for a PCIe slow. I plan on replacing it with a 6230 is possible.

So overall, I think this is definitely a keeper. The big things for me were the keyboard, which was fine for me, and the screen, which also wasn't terrible. And it just looks really nice. I would highly recommend this over the UX31.

So why am I disappointed? Because they wouldn't take my 10% off coupon... so I have to wait until Black Friday to buy the laptop, when another 10% off opportunity comes along. I was really hoping to type this info on the new laptop, but I guess I'll have to wait another week. Oh well!

 

Very nice review, makryger. I've been playing with my Toshiba Portégé Z835 from Best Buy since Friday, installing all of the software I use, along with doing some data projects I have been postponing, and I couldn't have said it better myself. I chuckled at the thought of you trying to listen to the noise of the fan in the middle of Best Buy. LOL. Indeed, I find the fan to be very quiet compared to my previous laptop.

The only thing I miss that is present in some of the more expensive Z830 models is Bluetooth. But I have a Bluetooth 3.0 USB key on order for $20 or so, a lot less than the more expensive models would have cost. Now I'm envious that you got a 10% coupon but I must say that the $799.99 is a pretty good deal, especially considering that I paid $2,500 for the Sony SZ160P back in the day and even $2,000+ for the Lenovo X220T with all the bells and whistles, which I ended up returning to Lenovo.

Admittedly, my Sony SZ160P is 6 years old but its screen was state of the art in 2006. However, the screen of the Z835 looks soooo much better when I compare the two laptops side by side. Sony also has a reputation for decent keyboards, although not as good as the Lenovo X220T I owned briefly before it started to develop all kinds of other issues. Unfortunately, the keyboard on my Sony SZ160P was becoming less and less responsive, forcing me to press down abnormally hard on certain keys. By way of comparison, typing on the Toshiba Z835 is a joy. I am pleasantly surprised at that because of some of the reviews all of us have read.

My only gripe with the Z835 and a word of caution to those who purchase it are the stickers on the left palm rest. Most of them were very easy to remove but the one in the left upper corner, I believe it was the Intel Core i3 sticker, had a lot of sticky residue that I tried to remove with my fingernails and then with a gentle nudge with a blade. I think I've succeeded in scratching the nice surface. For future reference, does anyone know of a solvent that will safely and effectively remove the sticker sticky goo?

 

insane screen flexibility
Toshiba Z830 Ultrabook and its bendy screen - YouTube

 

The reviewer of the article company posted this response from Toshiba in their review:

Toshiba's surprise: the amazingly slight Satellite Z830 Ultrabook

That's in line with what I was thinking. I too saw the wobbly screen a few weeks back, but now we know why. Still seems pretty sturdy.


The review also had another line I thought was very funny:

 

Hilarious the way I kept waiting for the shoe to drop. "What's he angry about then?" Thanks for the review.

 

At least your local BB has both the ASUS and Tosh in-store... for some reason the West Coast is a bit lagging even though they show both in today's Sunday paper ad.

 

Could anyone be kind enough to post the FCC ID for the Z830?
I'm studying its wireless performance and I'll compare it with other ultrabooks...

I hope you guys could help.

 

By the way, I think there does exist a difference between BestBuy version (Z835 - P330) and ToshibaDirect version Z835 ST8303. As I have found out, on ST8303 there is a bluetooth, whereas on a BB version there is no Bluetooth found (very bad for me). Somebody found out some other differences?

 

@sergey:

BT is the main difference... also a fingerprint reader I believe.

EDIT: Between the Z835, the only difference is the fingerprint reader.

 

Today only on Toshiba Direct - ST8305 with free neoprene laptop case & wireless mouse $829 and free shipping. No bluetooth.

 

But how that f***** come? They clearly state on their site, that there is a BT there. Plus a called them today, and a guy from from assisstance said that the most part of ST8303 are with BT (even though I don't understand how that can be...).

Are you sure there is no BT?

 

Does it seem odd to anybody else that in "Features" they list that product as "Durable form-fitting neoprene case fits up to 12.1-inch screens," then in Specifications, they explain, "Screen Size Compatibility : 13.3 inch and under."



Either way, I can't figure out why I'd hold a new ultrabook captive in something that zips. I need a case that opens *with* the top, not entraps it.

 

If smbd buy exactly this model (ST8305) please inform us whether is has BT. Thanks!

 

Why aren't these available from more online stores?

Still haven't seen any at Amazon or their affiliated retailers.