Portege R700 - the thin and light 13.3"

I received my R700 from NewEgg today. So far I love it. I haven't spent a significant amount of time with the laptop yet, but here are just a few thoughts:

Likes:

The finish. If you're like me and a little OCD, the R700 is a welcome change from many Toshiba laptops that are fingerprint magnets. It has a professional look with a durable build. Absolutely top notch.

Keyboard. The chiclet style is nice and easy to type on thus far.

Performance. Overall, it's a fast little machine that packs a significant punch for its size. Fast load time, easily run multiple programs at once. No issues at all.

Screen. Glossy but I'm getting almost no reflection.

Internal wireless card. Getting by far the best signal I ever have with a laptop. It's 100x better than my old Dell.

Fingerprint reader. It's not a necessity by any means, but it's a cool little feature that I'm enjoying.

Dislikes:

No dedicated volume controls. Hitting the FN key + another one to control the volume isn't the biggest inconvenience, but the lack of volume-specific buttons is a little inexplicable.

Speakers. It's not meant to be a multimedia powerhouse and it clearly isn't. The speakers are mediocre at best for mp3s, a little better for Youtube videos. However, they did sound pretty good with my iPod headphones.

Setup and bloatware. The laptop took probably close to an hour before I ran through all the initial setup, and like most manufacturers, Toshiba's included a lot of bloatware. Temporary problem though.

I know the hot topic on this thread right now is the battery. I haven't used it unplugged yet, but I'll report back on its performance soon.

Overall, very pleased thus far.

Any questions, or want any pictures, just ask.

 

has anyone gotten the port replicator yet? does the 90w adapter charge the battery faster?

 

not a big deal... I've probably gone through a dozen laptops in the past 2 years, so I'm sure I'll get over it real soon. In fact, I think I've settled on waiting for the Acer 3820TG to arrive in the US. I've been playing with my Acer 5820T for a couple days and so far I'm very impressed. Overall, a solid laptop, cost less than $600 shipped (after BCB), actually capable of hitting 8 hours of battery life even with the bigger screen, and feels quicker than the Toshiba R705 (probably because of the Hitachi 7200rpm HDD and clean Win7 install). I will say, I was really excited about Toshiba and would be at the top of my list for recommendations, if the battery recharge rate isn't an issue.

Really? I thought the R700 was the business line, therefore, came with the matte screen?

If that is the case, I'd consider picking up the R700... Hmm...

 

The reviews I've read say it's glossy, and I did I notice a reflection when starting up the comp, but none whatsoever when using Windows. So, technically it's glossy, but it definitely resembles a matte screen.

 

strange... I thought I remembered reading in this thread that the R700 series had a matte screen and the R705 (Best Buy version) had a glossy screen. I guess that's one less reason why I wanted the R700 over the R705.



FYI, just noticed Newegg has the R700 on sale for $950.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114953

 

as i understand,

90w= faster charge rate. but worse for the battery in the long term.

im sure you dont have to buy a new laptop, buy the port replicator and then use the 90W AC adaptor with it just to get a faster charge time. call toshiba, they may sell them on their own...

 

That's the one I bought. It is the best deal I've seen yet. No taxes (depending on where you live) and I got it in two days.

 

Not sure... but if you buy the R700-S1330 w/SSD you will not be able to replace or upgrade the drive. It is not the same connector as those found on a standard 2.5" SATA drive.

 

Same issue, seems if you bought the 1330 model you are stuck with that drive for life. Hope if never fails!

 

GUYS!!! FN+3/4 is volume DOWN and UP!!

 

Dedicated means you only have to press one button. Having to hold function down in order to change the volume, means that their are no dedicated volume controls...

 

I bought the same computer from Buy.com's eBay store and after BCB and eBay bucks it came to something around $885 with free shipping and no tax...

 

Even better! I've never used BCB or eBay bucks so I didn't go down the route, but good for you to get a fantastic deal on it.

 

Indeed. It's not that big of a deal (I recognize I didn't buy this machine for its sound), but I don't see why they couldn't include it. Granted, I don't know much about laptop construction and how that might've complicated things.

 

girls...


on an unrelated note. i have been able to get 5.5 hrs on my 1320 by lowering the screen brightness by 1 notch on toshiba's eco mode. i dont like bright screens anyways, so its actually quite convenient for me. but i can understand why it might not be the best solution for everyone.

 

Can anyone other than terrible_lie comment on the charge time. Is it impacting you use of the laptop is a major way? This is about the only hangup I have with buying this lappy as I will have 8hrs of class or so 3 times a week and would like to stay unplugged for the majority of the time.

Thanks!

 

current laptop battery life:

85% remaining-- 5 hours 25 minutes.

on eco mode. second lowest brightness setting.

 

oh really?!? lol

 

I have no idea how you got that number? My battery went from 13%-100% in about 4 hours with the laptop on the entire time...I don't understand how it took yours over 7 hours?

Last night I went from full battery to about 10% left in a little over 4 hours, status said 45 minutes remaining. Also, I switched it to the ECO mode setting after almost an hour of use on the Balanced mode...I am happy with getting 5 hours form the battery, I won't really need more than that. Full battery on ECO mode should get you over 5 hours...I was browsing the internet, downloading torrents and installing programs

 

have you guys tried using the dvd drive?

i tried playing a dvd and it's so loud!

there's this constant loud whizzing sound.
it's very distracting while watching a movie.

is this normal?

 

I have a whizzing sound when I've put in a few cds to install drivers, but nothing any different than most laptops. And this one certainly isn't built for playing movies.

 

You can use DVD Shrink or similar application to burn the DVD to you HDD and then run it off of that. Much quieter although not sure which would consume more power.


I've never had a laptop drive that was "quiet". Even my external Samsung drive is loud.

 

Thanks for the info vitomins. I'm not calling shenanigans on terrible_lie but 4 hrs seems like a more reasonable charge time.

Do you have the R700 or R705?

Can't decide between the 705 (cheaper, glossy screen) or 700 (bluetooth, docking which i prob won't use haha and 3yr warranty) here

 

nosoupforu28, i think my recharging time is about 3-4 hrs as well

 

Thanks for the picture. It would be greatly appreciated if you or someone else that got the SSD would try to identify the 128Gb SSD that is actually installed. Here is a link to the Toshiba SSD product-guide page: Solid State Drives: MLC SSD > Product Guide | Toshiba
Note that there are pictures at the bottom of the page and my guess is that the SSD that is installed in the R700 is either a half-slim or an mSATA.
Thanks,

 

I'm curious about all the hoopla surrounding the notion that there is 8.5% battery wear, out of the box.

just thinking about what the concept of battery wear even means, the only possible, logical definition involves defining it as how much capacity the battery has lost relative to some reference point, e.g., when it was new.

What I am hearing everyone say, in effect is: "The battery when new had lost 8.5% of its capacity relative to when it was new."

So what does it even mean to be saying that?

Another question that should arise regards the accuracy of any given measurement. Any time one measures anything one has to deal with numerous uncertainties and ALL measurements have some inherent inaccuracy. When quantifying something as nebulous as "battery wear" I would have to assume that whatever quantity is actually being measured has only a passing correlation to the actual wear the battery is experiencing.

If anyone knows the actual technique being used to characterize the battery wear, please pipe in. It would be useful to know this for the purpose of determining just how relevant (or real) an indication of 8.5% actually is.

 

The SSD connector in the 1330 model does not look like the half-slim or mSATA drive connector from the link you provided. Both the mSATA and half slim drives have seperate data and power interfaces. The SSD in the 1330 is a single connector, for both data and power, looks like a LIF type connector as well. I pulled the tray out to verify and there is only a single ribbon, the one shown in the picture. It might be a SATA interface but it is a non-standard SATA connector.

Model Number from Device Manager: TOSHIBA THNSNC128GMLJ

Can anyone provide pictures of the interface for the HDD models?

 

That model number really led to some good information. Here is a link to a page that describes this 32 nm NAND High Performance SSD (HG3).

Two Families of 32nm SSDs From Toshiba Deliver Solid Performance for Mini-Mobile PCs, High-End Notebooks, Gaming and Home Entertainment

It appears it is definitely a LIF connector and the SSD has good specs.

 

Circuity City now got R700 for sale at $999 but no photo yet.

I want to use bing and you can get 10% to 15% back if you do it thru the SHOP link. But the question is what % am I getting?

Does anyone knows?

 

does it work for any notebook you buy? I mean, if I buy a Vaio Z from newegg will I get 10-15% back using bing?

 

NO. It doesnt work this way.

Log into bing and click on stores on the left. There you see different merchants with their %.

I dont mind getting the R700 with 15%. Thats better than ebay 8% on buy website.

 

good points - but here is what I know - both BaterryBar and HWMonitor show the max capacity and the current capacity and they show 8-8.5% ware for the R705 battery. All my other notebooks, in both programs show 0-1% ware. Now - it is possible that both of these programs are reading something wrong with the Toshiba battery versus the other manufacturers. Might have to check on other Toshiba models. It just seems odd - that is all.

 

y not 5.5, 9.7, 6.2 but everyone gets 8.5 is just weird i think

 

This guy is 100% right about the battery longevity with slower charging. Also, 65W charger = lighter = easier to carry around. Also, if they gave you the larger, heavier, faster charging 'charger', people would be all over the place ranting about how they sell you a ultralight laptop with a monster charger making the light laptop pointless.

If you want faster charging, shell out for a diff charger and suck it up.

 

go to bing and search keywords like LCD
tigerdirect should show up under sponsored sites at 15.2%. log in and click the link. search toshiba r700 and it should show you the exact amount you'll get back from bing cashback.

 

Cashback on the R700 i3 at $999 at TigeDirect is $152!! 15.2%

 

cnet is reporting about 4hrs of battery life as well.
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/toshiba-portege-r705-p25/4505-3121_7-34121943.html

conclusion: toshiba=liars or like to extremely exaggerate

 

I think it would be helpful to quote what CNET had to say about battery life.

"The Portege R705 ran for 3 hours and 56 minutes on our video playback battery drain test, using the included six-cell battery. That's fine for a 13-inch or larger laptop, but about 2.5 hours less than the standard MacBook. We've heard some complaints from readers that the R705 doesn't live up to its advertised "up to 8 hours" of battery life--and under normal operating conditions, it certainly only gets half that. But Toshiba is not alone in this; almost all PC makers exaggerate battery life by testing under unrealistic conditions. Also keep in mind that our battery drain test is especially tough, so you can expect longer life from casual Web surfing and office use."

I am fine with 4.5 hours of battery life. It is twice as much as my previous laptop which has 1/2 the power. If you need longer battery life, consider upgrading to the 9 cell. It would be great if someone who has purchased the 9 cell for the R700 series would let us know their run times.

 

C'mon man, we all know that ALL laptop manufacturers do the utmost to maximize the amount of battery life they can advertise. It's a marketing tool, like saying something that is $999 costs under $1000.

That test measures the battery for continuous video playback. Anyone who expects R700/705 to get 8.66 hrs of continous video playback out of the box with a 6-cell battery is being foolish. The CNET test is merely a benchmark to compare laptop battery life not a comparison between what the manufacturer claims and what the max battery life actually is.

I think almost 4hrs of straight video playback from a laptop with a 6-cell battery and a full strength processor is pretty reasonable, even impressive. My netbook gets ~5hrs of playback on a 6 cell. People with the Sony Y in the same class with a ULV processor are getting ~5.5hrs regular use which is on par with many R700/705 owners.

If you bought a car that advertised 30mpg and only got 25 because you drove around with the pedal to the metal that would be expected. If people want battery life closer to what Toshiba claims they should go easy on the gas and set the cruise to 65.

 

I have the R700. In my opinion, the computer is a steal for under $900. I only got 8% BCB on eBay, but if you can get 15.2% at TigerDirect, what are you waiting for??! R700 has the longer warranty, bluetooth, fingerprint scanner (makes it so quick and easy to login), docking capability (will be a very nice feature when the Hi-Speed dock comes down in price as well as the HD's with USB 3.0), and it has the express card slot if you want to add a DIY desktop graphics card...

Go for it man, it is a great machine. Battery will last around 5 hours on ECO Mode and it does NOT take over 7 hours to recharge the battery...

 

I've read a couple of reviews that complained of long boot times on the R700 series. Maybe I am more patient than the next guy but I am not experiencing long waits on the R705. I timed it this morning and I was able to open a web page using Google Chrome in 49.59 seconds. Granted, I did change some of the stock startup programs from the original Best Buy setup but I think under a minute is fast - Especially when I compare it to my previous computers.

The CEO of our company heard I got the new Toshiba. He had read Mossberg's review in the Wall Street Journal and asked if I could show it to him. The first thing he commented on was how fast it booted up compared to his Thinkpad.

 

I have log into bing and do a search. I see the sponsor site, but it doesnt have that "$" sign. I search for LCD and that didnt show up. What do you use? I prefer to use Circuit City(same company) as it doesnt charge tax.
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I see the 15.3% on Firefox, but I cant see it in IE8. Now this is weird.
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I see it. Its $999.99-153=$846.99 Its the same as you would buy at BB with tax. Plus you get fingerprint scanner, BT and 3 yr.

 

I haven't timed it, but the boot is not slow at all. It is quite fast. Of course, removing some of the bloatware from the start-up helps too.

 

Just pulled the trigger on the R700 $855.76 delivered with BCB! It will be here 7/28 can't wait!

How 'bout you chong?

 

I did the same thing this morning. Charles Jefferies had made some great suggestions about business class notebooks via PM; what a helpful guy! Big rep points for him. I almost got one of those, but I talked with a lawyer who got an r700 for business travel and he felt that it's built with close to the same competence as a business class notebook (and companies don't usually offer 3 year warranties as part of the purchase price unless they're confident in the hardware).

The $855 price (after BCB) was so good that I can buy the additional 3-year accident protection warranty from Toshiba for less than the original price of the R700.

I'm going to use the r700 with an external monitor and bluetooth keyboard/mouse at home. Excited to try it out.

 

Could you tell me how you get the R700 for $855.76? Did you get it from tigerdirect.com? I went to tigerdirect.com and did not see BCB discount.

 

I think that it's described a page or two back in this thread. Log onto bing shopping. Ask to see all cash-back merchants. Click on the T page and scroll down to Tiger Direct. Click on them and you'll be taken to the store. When you purchase the r700 (during the same session) you should get credit for 15% from Bing.

It's a little unnerving, b/c you don't get any notification from Bing for a while, but I'm assuming that it'll go through.

I sure hope that I didn't do anything wrong, though, b/c I never saw that $855 price either. I just assumed that it was working b/c I entered Tiger Direct directly from Bing and was logged into Bing.

 

Thanks for the information. So you paid the full price at checkout and get a notification from Bing later for the cashback? This is my first time using BCB so I am not sure what I am doing. Could you confirm that you actually got 15% cashback from Bing since tigerdirect.com says 10.4% to 15% discount.

 

You should wait to hear from one of the other guys who says that he was able to see the after-discount price. But no, you don't pay only $855. You pay the regular price and then once Bing gets the necessary documentation they pay you.

But again, let's make sure that I didn't do something wrong before you follow my lead.

 

Did you check your Bing account to confirm the 15% cashback since tigerdirect.com indicates 10.4% to 15% cashback? I hope you get the confirmation from Bing soon after your purchase.