Portege R700 - the thin and light 13.3"

if that's true, that is very good to hear. every single unit having 8.5% wear just seemed too fishy.
any links to a source?

 

I had like 20 papers up that I was going through trying to confirm this so I am actually SOL on that front. I don't think it would be that hard to confirm yourself through some good ol' google searching though. Maybe something along the lines of "increasing lithium ion battery lifetime" ?? I'm too busy right now but hopefully someone else on here can to the leg work. All I can say for the time being is that this is what is going on.

On a side note, it's pretty clear that they were attacking battery life from another front as well...the 65W charger instead of 90W. While it may have simply been out of convenience to have a smaller one delivered to customers this is another way to ensure longer life. Toshiba knows batteries, see SCiB battery.

UPDATE..Okay okay I google searched for you guys:

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-12.htm

They allude to what I was saying a few times there, general premise.

 

Thanks. Repped.

 

Thanks for that good work, shaba. Rep from me as well.

 

Just bought an r700 from Provantage myself, because I really didn't want the crappy keyboard in the Tecra r700 ^_^

Shipping it to Freeport Forwarding in NY, and I'll be driving down to pick it up in a few days.

Warning: Provantage won't sell Canadians the r700 even if you use a US shipping address. You need a US billing address too. Luckily, you can add a US billing address to a Canadian credit card, and my friend just happened to have a USD master card. He changed the billing address (not the statement address) to Freeport's, problem solved.

 

Great find, thank you!

 

Hi dear owners, how many seconds does it take to resume from Standby?

 

Went to BB the other day and talk to a Geek Squad guy about the lack of bluetooth in the r705. He said Toshiba had removed the connection from the motherboard that would allow for dropping in internal BT. Can anyone confirm this?

Also, has anyone intalled the intel display driver on an r700 and tested it to see if it works? If this works I dont see why anyone would get the r705 over the current deal with CircutCity for the r700-s1310 (15% BCB bring total to $850)

 

I can't confirm it, but when I was looking at the R705, one of the best salesmen said they weren't buying a lot of machines with internal bluetooth now. No clue why.

 

You must have some hardcore Geek Squad guys at your BB. At mine, it took three (count 'em, THREE) of them just to figure out how to remove the HD panel on the bottom.

But it's not the end of the world if you need to add a BT. I've seen tiny BT dongles that just barely stick out of the USB port, hardly noticeable at all.

 

No prob guys!...and thanks for the reps, I was thinking about making a separate thread to get the word out but I think everyone reads this one already so no need to do that.

P.S. I think everyone already knows this but if you want to even further extend your battery life, remove it from the laptop if you're going to be using A/C power for a long stretch of time. I can't say for sure whether or not the R700 will run without the battery plugged in. Some laptops, like most cell phones, use the battery as a voltage regular so if it's not plugged it, you're SOL. That in and of itself reduces battery life slightly but it also allows the battery to be close to a heat source for a long time, which will definitely not help battery life. Okay, I'm done preaching. Back to work. My m1330 runs without a hitch if the battery isn't plugged in, but my old sony wouldn't stand for it.

 

Has anyone taken their R700/705 on an airplane yet? Does it fit okay on the tray table, enough to type comfortably and see the screen?

 

I have - didn't seem to have too much of an issue with it. It fits fine, but, just like any notebook, it the person in front of you pushes their chair back too far - it can get uncomfortable. I tend to sit in the exit row, so don't run into this issue too much...

 

Do you have a link to that one or else some instructions on how to go to it?

I keep going on bing.com and searching for it. I see a lot of folks selling it on there but I don't see circuit city and I don't see it for $850

So I';m obviously not doing something right.

 

Anyone have a preference for what would be best to clean the cover and keyboard?

 

I've found that eyeglass cleaner and a microfiber cloth work well on all types of laptop surfaces.

I usually wipe it down every night after I shut it down and my laptops usually look pretty smudge free all the time.

I can speak specifically to the R700/705 though, mine doesn't arrive until 7/28

 

What do you guys think of the screen? I compared it to the Adamo XPS and the Adamo looks a LOT better. If I calibrate the R700 with ColorEyes Pro, I can get 200cd/m2 luminance and a black level of 1.3 cd/m2. 200cd/m2 isn't very bright, and the resulting contrast ratio is 154:1. That's terrible!!!

 

I went through the whole Bing thing a few days ago, and a few pages back. It wound up working out for me-- I did get the r700-s1310 for $850, although it won't arrive 'til tomorrow-- so I'll lay out what I did.

Log onto bing. Look at the participating (cash-back vendors). Go to the C section and look for Circuit City or to the T section and look for Tiger Direct (they seem to be the same company now). I used Tiger Direct.

Click through to that merchant, and bing will redirect you there and will tell you that you'll get 10-15% cash back on your purchases.

On the merchant's website, search for r700. Click on that computer and add it to your cart.

Here's where it gets kind of scary. Some posters reported being able to see a bing cashback total ($150) subtracted from the Circuit City/ Tiger Direct price ($999) right there on the merchant's web page. I could not see it. I only saw the $999 price. I took it on faith that I would get the cash back and I paid for the computer.

I have to admit that I freaked out after placing the order b/c I read a few reports on the web about people being unsure whether they would really get their cash back. I actually canceled the order with Tiger Direct. (They were very nice and prompt about it.) About an hour later I got an email from Bing saying that my $150 cashback had been approved! D'oh! Obviously I knew that that cashback would be canceled once my canceled order registered with Bing, but I also knew that the system worked. So I went back through the Bing process, clicked through to Tiger Direct, placed the order again and paid for it.

An hour or two later I got another Bing notification for another $150. (Eventually the first $150 dropped out.)

I can't claim the $150 cash back for another 56 days or so, so I really am paying $999 right now ($1007 with shipping), but assuming Microsoft doesn't go out of business or otherwise screw its customer base, inside of 2 months I should get the cashback as one would do with a rebate.

It was pretty nerve-wracking waiting for the cashback email to appear, since I couldn't see the Bing cashback icons, but it all worked out in the end. Hope this helps.

 

Cool, thanks! Anyone else take theirs on a plane?

 

Thanks for that (you get rep for that one)
I must have searched every way possible for it, from within Bing. But going to the store via Bing and THEN locating it, that is the way to go.

I tried it on both Firefox as well as Internet Explorer, neither showed the $150 that you mention some saw.

I did notice when I signed up for Bing that if I bought through PayPal that it would get credited quickly (like days) instead of the 2 month wait.

So I'm trying it that way. You're right that it is indeed a very strange feeling to go through of all that without any indication that a $150 credit is involved in the transaction (but, for that reason, I double checked their return policy, just in case).

 

That type of a contrast ratio is super terrible. Anything less than 250cd/m2 is terrible, too. Ideally it should be at least 300cd/m2. 1.3 cd/m2 black level is bad, too.

Anyone else unhappy with display brightness/contrast?

 

I was on the Toshibadirect website, comparing the i3 and the i5 preconfigured versions:

R700-S1311 ($999) vs R700-S1321 ($1299)

Both are identical in every respect except these 5:

1) i3-350 vs i5-520

2) 500GB-5400RPM vs 320GB-7200RPM

3) The displays are described differently:
"HD TruBrite LED Backlit display" vs "HD TFT LED Backlit display"

4) Ethernet: 82577LC vs. 82577LM

5) Software: Both list the Infineon Tpm package but only the S1311 shows that it has TPM v1.2

-Now #1 is the obvious difference between them.
-Regarding #2, the 500GB-5400 drive actually costs $25 more than 350GB-7200 (when you do the configuration thing).
-But does anyone know whether #3 means anything or is that just two different wordings for the exact same thing?
-Regarding #4, I would assume that its 6 of one and 1/2 dozen of the other (unless somebody knows differently)
-And finally #5, I assume they just forgot to list it on the S1321, otherwise it would make no sense.

So, assuming that 3,4, and 5 mean nothing then the true cost difference between them is $325. That seems like a lot for that processor.

But, if indeed it is $325 (and going with that for a moment), then that implies that a 4GB, 500GB etc. i3-350 like the Circuit City R700-S1310 for $999 should actually sell on Toshiba direct (if they had a configurable i3) for $929. But like I say, there is something funny about the pricing between the i3 and the i5.

About the display though, do they actually have the same display or are there two different ones?

 

trubrite is stated on s1311 and r705; 1320, 1321, 1331 all listed as having "HD TFT LED Backlit display"



r700-1330 vs r705 (both are us spec)

from taiwan mobile01.com

 

So the one on the right is TruBrite? I guess that means TruBrite == Glossy.
The i3 models are glossy whereas the i5/i7 models are more matte like.

 

guess so, according to toshiba.com

i think trubrite of toshiba is same as xbrite of sony or brightview of hp, just the glossy coating right?

but 1310 or 1311 really have glossy screen?

 

REALLY sorry if this has been covered, but are the processors soldered on the MB here? I saw some photos earlier and it looked like it was but I couldn't tell for sure.

Thanks

 

I got my 1330 a couple of weeks ago and so far it is a great little machine. One issue that I am noticing is the excessive battery drain while in standby. It seems to lose a good 30% over a 7-8 hr period. I checked that sleep and charge usb port was disabled in the bios. Any other ideas of what it can be? Thanks.

 

I just bought the R700 s1330 and intend to replace the ssd with a 2.5" seagate momentus xt drive which has the same dimensions as other 2.5" laptop drives.

Has anyone else replaced the stock drive on their r700 and if so can you offer any helpful advice?

Also does anyone know what type of bios the laptop uses?

Thanks in advance.

 

So I have a quick question about the R700. Does the 9-cell battery stick out of the back of the laptop compared to the 6-cell battery? I have not been able to find a SINGLE picture of the R700 with the 9-cell battery. Thanks!

 

I think that it must protrude somewhere, because while the 9 cell is listed with the same height and width as the 6 cell battery, its depth is listed as .4 inches greater. It's also .5 pounds heaver.

I don't know if it sticks out the back or if it protrudes downward, as it does in my HP dv1000. I rather like that feature, b/c it tilts the laptop from the back and thus allows air to circulate underneath.

 

So you don't think that the 9-cell would make this laptop significantly less portable? Let me explain to you my use case real quick...

I have a nice HDMI widescreen monitor that I will use on my desk at home. Otherwise, I will be taking the laptop out with me to grad school class, the city, library, or whatever. I decided to go with a 13.3" laptop instead of a 14" laptop because I assumed that it would have better battery life and be significantly more portable. I want a core i5 because of its virtualization and encryption instructions (will a core i5 hurt my battery life significantly compared to a core i3?) Thanks a lot for all of your help!

 

I currently have a Acer 4820T and I'm really torn between this and the S1320. Can anyone make any recommendations between these two? I like the portability/build quality of the Toshiba but I really like the battery life of the acer (it came with a 9 cell).

I'd be buying a hard drive and and extended warranty for the Acer (neither for the Toshiba) so the prices come a little closer together.

Any help? Thanks.

 

While I don't have direct experience, I really doubt it will hamper portability at all. The 9-cell on my acer protrudes downwards and I barely notice it at all.

Looking at the images on Toshiba though it looks like it may protrude a little in both directions, though I could be wrong.

 

I'm no expert in this stuff at all. But I can tell you that if the r700 weighs 3.2 pounds with the 6-cell battery, as is listed, and 3.7 pounds with the 9-cell battery, as per the specs on that battery, then the 9-cell r700 should still be extremely portable. 3.7 pounds is lighter than most of the 13.3 inch, full-powered notebooks that I've seen, and it's certainly lighter than most of the 14 inch models.

 

It can't be done on the S1330. The built-in SSD has a special LIF connector, there's no way to connect to a notebook SATA HDD (see discussion and photos earlier in this thread). If you need extra storage, you're stuck with using an external eSATA or USB3.0 drive. Otherwise, overall system performance is significantly higher with an SSD vs. an SSD/HDD hybrid anyway.

 

I narrowed my final two choices to the R700 and Acer 4820T as well. I went with the R700 because I wanted maximum portability (the R700 is soooo light), Win XP Pro, and I have a good history with Toshiba's build quality.

It ultimately boils down to how much you value battery life and how much extra the Acer gives you. For reference, I get about 4 1/2 hours on my 6-cell R700 when doing general Web browsing. I decided that if I ever need more battery life I can just buy another battery. Plus, NewEgg's deal on the R700 was just too sweet for me to pass up.

 

What was NewEgg's deal?

 

only sticks out downward:

 

I would like to get in on the Bing cashback deal, but I have not been able to find any core i5 variants of the laptop on the sites that you can get cashback with. None of the models have the 9-cell, either. Is there a way to get at least some discount on a model that you configure yourself? Is there a better site to buy from that has more configurations?

 

Also, your image is not showing up. Thanks for the info, though!

 

Newegg seems to have the best deal I can find. Comes out to 1175 with 2% cashback + $12.65 shipping.

There's also one on ebay that would come out to about $1100, but I'm a bit wary of the seller and of Toshiba honoring their warranty.

 

http://imgur.com/w6gNK.jpg

 

Any thoughts on the 5400RPM vs the 7200RPM? What do you think the battery life differences will be?

 

Thanks... The image works on my phone but not on ty IE at work. Did you buy your laptop right from toshibadirect with the 9-cell or did you get it otherwise?

 

Laptop from newegg... battery from toshibadirect...

 

Anybody using this laptop with Linux and have anything notable (problems, successes, compatibility, drivers, etc.) to report? I'm a Linux user and was wondering how much worse I should expect battery performance to be for this particular laptop.

 

I bought the R705 from Best Buy last week and (of course) I now see the Bing Cashback offer for the i3 R700 which is clearly a better buy (same price for a matte-like screen and bluetooth at the very least) Of course Best Buy charges a 15% restocking fee which nulls the BCB.

Does anyone know if there is a way around the restocking fee? If not I'll stop being greedy and stick with my R700 (which I have no problems with so far btw

 

Has anyone had their r700 hooked up to one or two external monitors at 1080P or higher and played full screen HD flash videos? Please let me know!

Thanks

 

I hooked it up to a 1080p TV to watch a couple Youtube HD videos. Quality was great.

 

Obviously we are all wondering how long we can expect if we purchase the 9 cell. Please let us know when you get a chance.

Honestly, I am pretty happy with the 6 cell but it would be nice to get close to that elusive 8 hour workday if we had to.