Portege R700 - the thin and light 13.3"

Please do not act like a know-it-all if you have no clue what you are talking about...

 

Nice score. PCMark Vantage seems to be pretty sensitive to HDD performance. Laptop Magazine got 6657 from the R700-S1320 (Core i5 version) with a 7200rpm HD, so your rig is about 17% faster than the more expensive model. (As long as you ran the 32-bit version. The 64-bit version of the software gave a 5-10% higher score for me).

Does anyone else have any PCMark Vantage scores with premium SSD drives (like the intel)?

 

Didn't know there was a 64bit so I'm assuming it was 32bit? I also left all the settings (resolution etc) on default so I'm not sure if that skewed anything.

 

On the BIOS in the Best Buy model, there wasn't anything referencing the TPM. I'm not sure but my guess would be no. The fact that it has no ExpressCard slot or docking connector means that it probably uses a different system board, which combined with the fact that it's not in the specs means that they could have left it off.

 

Question for R700 S1320.

Could someone who owns an S1320 confirm to me if his DVD drive is double layer? (irrespective of what is mentioned at Toshiba site).

Thank you.

 

$200 per transaction is.... the % of BCB, not the original transaction.

so.. if BCB is 20% and you r buying $2000 laptop.

the maximum would be $200, not $400.

 

I've only two complaints about the R700 left:
1) I didn't see/test it live. ^^
2) It seems (according to reports here) the optical drive isn't connected via PATA/SATA but via USB... so this will make it impossible to add a second internal HDD... c'mon TOSHIBA that doesn't make any sense

 

It's hard to tell, at least for me (a non-expert). A DVD+R DL I have formatted as a data CD reports its size as 7.95 GB when inserted into my R700-1320's optical drive. But the same type of blank disc shows up in the Format dialog as 2.60 GB - a very strange number. A single-layer DVD+R blank is 4.37 GB as expected.

 

Thank you for your reply. I am asking because I am having my S1320 delivered next week and Toshiba told be that there is no need to switch to the S1321 because both optical drives are double layer.

If you insert a double layer DVD, does it recognize its size?

 

it's been a few weeks since the Toshiba Portege R705 came out and a while since people talked about its battery life on this thread. I just got mine yesterday.

I was wondering how many hours of battery life you guys are getting after a couple weeks of use and if you have found any way to improve the battery closer to the manufacturer's claim of 8 hrs.

I tried removing all the unnecessary programs but i still get about 3.5 hrs.
Please let me know if you can get more than 3.5 hrs.
Thanks!

 

Hello! First post. I went to BB today to look at the R705 - pretty nice notebook. Question - I can tell that the dark blue top and palm rest are magnesium alloy, but the bottom seems like it is plastic? Is that true, or is it also alloy?

 

Not for writing or formatting. I did a bit more testing and am sure that my R700-1320 has a single-layer drive. (That first disc I tried wasn't blank - my mistake.)

 

looks like plastic.. hard to tell

i had this laptop for a couple days now.
love it (minus the battery life but that's ok. the thing is so light that i don't mind carrying the power cord)


a note on the battery life: i made a custom setting where I turned off the dvd drive, turned brightness to the 2nd lowest level and pretty much set everything to low. i'm getting about 4:40 maybe 5 hrs.

i think i can live with about 4 and half hrs of battery life

 

Thank you again. I am surprized on the information that Toshiba gave me. Unless, if they changed the drive in the recently produced S1320's before changing the model number to S1321.

 

Getting impatient waiting for a deal on a R700 (Buy.com on ebay doesn't help since I pay CA sales tax), so I'm getting more tempted to open my R705.

Couple of questions about the Best Buy R705 model...

- Has anyone confirmed what wireless network adapter is in here? Is it the same as the R700 with Intel Centrino 6200?

- I read somewhere in a review that the HDD impact sensor is extremely sensitive. I tend to move my laptop around quite a bit while it's still turned on, so this won't work for me. Can anyone confirm the sensitivity of the HDD impact sensor? I noticed the R700 model does not have this feature.

- Has anyone updated their BIOS to the latest version? Has this improved battery life at all?

 

Toshiba Portégé R700 Review - ComputerShopper.com

 

Someone please remove the optical drive to see what connector exactly is used. I've a suspicion/hope that it's really an USB/eSATA combo thing, which would make a SATA-Caddy possible?

 

I have taken the bottom off of my best buy R705. I will try to answer a few questions.

1. The base does appear to be plastic. The palm rest is magnesium alloy and the base is clearly a different material.
2. The dvd drive connector seems like a standard connection but it is wider then the connection on my dell d630 without the caddy. The dvd drive is also routed through the sd card reader through a series or ribbon cables.
3. The network card is Intel 622ANHMW Centrino Advanced-N 6200.
4. I also see the little ZIF connector used on the R700 for the models that include SSD.
5. The Port Replicator connections are there, all you have to do is solder on the connector, not sure how hard that would be.

I have installed a X25-M 80 GB SSD so things are a bit snappier.

I will take pics later before I put everything back together.

 

I would also like to add bluetooth. If someone with the R700 could post the location of the module and part number that would be great.

 

Not being able to find any r700-s1321 anywhere online!! Toshiba store shows "4-5 weeks". The dual-layer DVD feature is such a basic feature - what good an unnecessary DVD-drive for if it doesn't also have dual-layer support.

Pretty frustrating situation since there's really no close alternative to r700.

 

so ive had my r700-s1320 for about a week. and im pretty satisfied. its a very sleek and powerful notebook. and a nice change from my bulky t61. though i know i have to treat this a lot better than my t61, since this is decidedly more fragile (no grabbing my laptop from the corner of the screen etc).

one thing i wanted to ask: when i first got the laptop i started installing basic programs. I installed firefox, but it would not open. It kept on crashing and bringing up the crash report. since then i did a clean install of windows 7 and was able to install firefox and use it in the beginning. However, once i got all the drivers updated it started doing the same thing. has anyone else had the same problem? can you guys use firefox?? id hate to just use chrome and have IE as my backup browser.....

 

Is your optical drive double layer?

 

What about these specs? Toshiba Portege R700 2.4GHz i5-520M 8GB 320GB 3.2lb 13" - eBay (item 350374187524 end time Aug-14-10 12:22:52 PDT)

 

I noted on the review the following:

"...but it has no volume controls at all—not even via a function-key combination. You can press Fn+Esc to mute the sound, but if you simply want to adjust the volume, you need to use the onscreen commands, which is a pain."

On the R705, the volume is adjusted by FN+3 and FN+4 (not F3 or F4). I can't say if that is the case on the R700 models but I bet it is.

That being said, I wish there was a dedicated volume control. It just may not be as bad as the review indicated.

 

Here's how I got Firefox 3.6.6 working: using Mozilla Firefox (Safe Mode), I disabled the extension "Automatic password input in Fx". Apparently this is a longstanding known bug for 64-bit Windows and Toshiba laptops:

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=530518

Those key combinations work the same way on the R700.

 

Looks like the R700 is coming to Canada as a Tecra instead of a Portege. No R705 seen though. Haven't seen any retailers with stock however.

 

Thank you for the info - looking forward to the pics.

 

Do you think its equally as good?

 

they are basically same

but according to the official spec page on toshiba.com and toshiba.ca,

1. the i5 in canadian model is i5-450m while the us version has a 520m

2. only the i7 version has fingerprint reader

3. and all models come with a bilingual keyboard

 

I get 5.5 - 6 hours on eco mode, although I get nearly the same in "balanced" mode also.

However, I installed an aftermarket Intel SSD 80g drive - so that may help the battery issue. Are you getting 3.5 hours in eco mode?

 

I purchased my R705 on July 3rd. I installed the BIOS update on Friday. I don't know if the BIOS is helping (or even impacting) battery life at all but I ran the battery for approximately 5.5 hours on my business trip yesterday. This was spent browsing, watching video, Excel, Word, database activity, and using a VPN connection to access my company's accounting program. Part of the time, I was using my Blackberry Storm as a tethered connection (Bluetooth would have been nice) and the rest was using a WI-FI connection at the airport.

If I can get 5 hours off the stock 6-cell consistently, I will be happy. For those of you demanding more, has anyone tried the Toshiba extended capacity 9-cell battery yet?

 

I would expect the SSD to help battery life a little (maybe 30min max?) Do you have the R705 or the R700? Not sure if that has anything to do with it but it might be helpful.

If people really want to get hardcore they can download Battery Bar and measure discharge rate/power consumption. It's helpful when tweaking/comparing your settings.

I'll add to this discussion once I get my R705, hopefully next weekend!

 

Pulled the trigger and got the R705 today - so far so good. Will check on battery life later today.

 

it doesnt say if the tecra has the WiDi wireless display technology. Any idea?

 

I have the i5-520M model and an Intel 160GB SSD. I did a 32-bit trial using the default options in PCMark Vantage just now and got 7509.

 

Here are few pics I took earlier today.

http://www.upload3r.com/serve/180710/1279494134.jpg
DVD Drive

http://www.upload3r.com/serve/180710/1279494231.jpg
DVD Drive 2

http://www.upload3r.com/serve/180710/1279494309.jpg
Image 1

http://www.upload3r.com/serve/180710/1279494369.jpg
DVD Ribbon 1

http://www.upload3r.com/serve/180710/1279494422.jpg
DVD Ribbon 2

http://www.upload3r.com/serve/180710/1279494478.jpg
WIFI and ZIF

 

Hmmm. Someone here with the i3 BB version + 80GB intel SSD reported 7800. Your score should def be higher with the 160GB intel. Any chance you could have been running on an eco-mode off battery rather than "high performance" power plan and plugged in?

 

Using the optical bay to host a 2.5" HDD

It was mentioned earlier that the optical drive is appearing as a USB device. The above picture looks like it's a 9.5mm pata optical drive. Can you check to see if the connector looks like this?

If it is pata then can still use a 9.5mm sata-to-pata optical bay caddy like shown in this post. Only problem is it's slower than sata, since no AHCI, and it has a 0.8w-1w power consumption overhead to convert from sata to pata.

It would seem odd for Toshiba to do that. There's like 4 SATA controllers on the Intel I/O chipset so very likely there would be additional sata pins on the systemboard. Ideally you'd want a sata interface available to attach to.

Re-wiring the e-sata port

Failing that, could attach the wires needed to run a 2.5" HDD onto the e-sata port like shown here, then run cabling to a 9.5mm sata caddy to host a 2.5" HDD there and a SSD in the primary bay.

 

That's what I forgot, sorry. Under the high performance power plan, the new PcMark Vantage result for my R700-1320 with Intel X-25M SSD is 8655 PCMarks.

 

I'm really no expert, but on first sight it looks like PATA. Someone please try a 9.5mm sata-pata caddy and report how it works...
The power consumption overhead is bad, but at least on linux (probably on windows too) I can disable sata/pata ports when I don't need a device, so I could move files that are needed 100% of the time to the SSD and the rest on the HDD and only occasionally turn the HDD on, when needed, and thus safe power.

About your re-wiring link, this article doesn't seem to have anything to do with e-sata, there's a "normal" sata connector on that aspire board, so how would you do something like that with an e-sata port?

Looking at that DVD drive, where is the top cover of that drive? Is it integrated in the casing of the toshiba or simply left out? If that were true, that would mean, this drive is thinner than 9.5mm and that a 9.5mm caddy (or even 2.5" HDD) wouldn't fit??? Questions...

 

Just pulled the trigger on the R705 from BB. Can't wait to pick it up this Saturday! (Picking up in NH, no tax!).

I would like to do a fresh install of Win 7, can anyone tell me if the utilities that Toshiba provides makes it possible to burn a disk with only the OS on it? I don't think I am alone in wanting a fresh start sans all the bloatware that will certainly be on it out of the box.

If this isn't possible I'm hoping I can contact Toshiba and have them send a copy of the OS disks to me for a nominal fee.

 

Oh nice. So here's what we got so far for 32-bit PCMark Vantage:
6657 = R700-S1320, core i5 + 7200 rpm (laptop mag)
7800 = R705, core i3 + Intel SSD
8655 = R700-S1320, core i5 + Intel 160GB SSD
9635, 9800, 9993 = R700-S1330, core i7 + Toshiba 128GB SSD (2 reports here, computershopper)

These are pretty good numbers. If these numbers are true, you actually get better performance by adding an Intel SSD to the Best Buy 705 version than you'd get with the i5 S1320 with the stock HDD.

 

With web browsing, some excel, word tasks and listening to a few tunes I am getting just a hair under 4 hours on battery R705. This is with the stock BIOS from Best Buy and balanced performance not Eco.

 

yea that's about what i get as well.

i would love it if i could somehow boost it to about 5 hrs or more.

on top of that add a dedicated volume control and it would be the perfect laptop.

i had this in my messenger bag today. feels light as a netbook!
my previous laptop used to give me shoulder pain after a while but this laptop is so light that i barely felt it.

anyways, i hope someone could find a solution for the battery!

 

Very subjective question: is 2GB enough memory for a student (given the i3 config etc.)? Notetaking, word processing, internet, Youtube movies, that's about it. Will it work?

 

I don't see why not, that's pretty much all I do on my laptop and never exceed 2gb.

 

Has anyone found any accessories or bags or sleeves (etc.) that they really liked to go along with the R700?

 

ok... so I gave in and decided to keep the R705.
However, after installing Battery Bar, I think I know why some have had problems with their battery life. My brand spanking new laptop already has 8.5% battery wear My HP TM2 is almost 5 months old and still reports 0% battery wear and takes no where near as long to recharge. Even my HP 6930P with a nearly 2 year old battery only showed 6.8% wear. What is everyone else showing for their battery wear?

Also, Laptopmag wasn't lying about the recharge time! At 75% and the estimated recharge time is over 2 hours. 15 minutes later, it is now at 76% and estimated recharge time is 2:45.

Not sure why Toshiba is shipping laptops with worn batteries and chargers that seem to barely provide enough power to keep the laptop running.


To answer my own question I had earlier, the Toshiba HDD Protection is EXTREMELY sensitive. An annoying pop up will appear every time the laptop moves. Of course you can turn off the notifications, but I decided to disable it and will eventually uninstall it. I figure, the R700 doesn't come with it, so it's likely not needed.

And although it is too early to tell... even with my 8.5% battery wear, on eco settings and screen brightness turned all the way down, wifi on, no music or videos, simply browsing email and this forum... Windows and Battery Bar are estimating over 6 hours of battery life. If my battery had no wear, it could probably go nearly 7 hours. If wifi was turned off and the computer being completely idle, I don't think Toshiba exaggerated their battery life claims any more than the next manufacturer.

 

Thanks for the update! You confirmed my suspicions that people who are getting ~4hrs can get 1-2hrs more if they tweak they're settings.

About the battery wear, that is a bit of a bummer. I'm wondering if Toshiba would cover that under warranty since it is down almost 10% out of the box. I can't believe they packed suck a weak charger in with the R705. Hopefully there will be something available after market. Almost 3hrs for 25% charge is ridiculous!

I disabled the HDD sensor on my toshiba netbook during a train ride where I literally could not even surf the web because of the mild vibrations. It is waaayyy too touchy.

 

I looked at battery bar as well - and also see the 8.5% wear - that is ridiculous! Recharge time is very long to get to 100%. How can a brand new battery have this much wear?