Portege R700 - the thin and light 13.3"

Guspaz, this has been asked before but I don't think that anyone has answered it:
Do you remember which bloatware programs you uninstalled? Some of us aren't that savvy and can't tell which programs are expendable. Well, I could tell with *some* of them, but I only uninstalled 5 or 6. Maybe 7. If you or anyone else had a more comprehensive list of bloatware it'd be a big help.

 

A friend told me to look for pc decrapifier and pc decrap for my new laptop (when I finally choose LOL). He said that they get rid of a ton of stuff easily. Never used either so no clue first hand.

 

I'd vote for the Toshiba (not that I am biased at all ) - the r705 is a good value. I am using it now and it is a great notebook. I just got the Toshiba software to show me what drives needed updating and it also updated the BIOS as well - I didn't even have to search - it had it all ready for me. Overall - very happy with the r705, especially at the $799 price point.

 

so is this screen matte or glossy? can we reach a consensus?

and has anybody weighted it on kitchen scale? I'd like to know if it's actually 3.2 lbs or heavier.

thanks

 

Totally in the same boat! I've got the Sony Y, Asus UL30-VT, and R705 constantly shifting amongst my top 3! Right now I'm a sucker for long battery life, so the UL30-VT is slightly ahead on my list, but I would also consider the Sony Y and R705 with extended batteries.

Do any of you have an R705 with the extended battery attached? Does it bulge from the back or from underneath? And does it affect your daily usage? And any picture(s) would be incredibly helpful, thanks so much! =)

 

@Guspaz:
Thanks. That's I think the first report that states that the machine is loud. This is THE dealbreaker for me then. Are you sure you didn't mean high load?

In that case. Does anybody know something that is really close to the r700 but quiet?

I guess the main difference between my 6450b and the r700 is weight, but that's a big one!

 

Guspaz, you didn't mention if you were running your laptop in ECO mode or not. I run my R705 in ECO approximately 99% of the time and I find that it has a direct impact on heat and fan noise. I wear shorts and it can get warm under load but not intolerable. If you haven't already, try switching to ECO and see if this changes anything.

Just so everyone is aware, Toshiba's Airflow technology will cause the fan to run all of the time. There is a fan on the bottom of the laptop that draws in air to cool the components. In my experience with the R705, it sounds like a faint hum most of the time. The benefit is that the keyboard and touchpad stay cool. The downside is that the exhaust point near the ESC key can get warm. I think it is a great system but some may want the fan to shut down completely at times.

 

Guspaz, i made the same choice bought from states to avoid the damned bilingual keyboard and i got the same 1320 too

and the glossy screen u mentioned, check out the pic i post on page 73 ull get the idea becoz r705 does have a glossy screen while r700 doesnt

 

Hey guys. I just purchased the r705. Should I be happy with my purchase?

 

I've had the R700 for over a week now. It is a quiet machine. The noise amps up a little if you're doing something intensive, but it's generally fine.

 

Does anyone have constant cpu/fan noise with their r705 constantly? im not even doing anything intensive and there will be a constant noise (i think its the cpu) in the background as the machine isnt all that quiet.

 

The fan is always on, but it is very faint on my R705, unless the processor is under heavy load. It is not silent, but I would not say it is loud...

 

Try turning on ECO mode and see if that makes a difference.

 

Also note that the R700 comes with Windows Professional which includes the Windows XP module running under Virtual-PC ( http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/).

This means you can run as windows XP from a virtualized environment that is pseudo-integrated into Windows 7 (I say psuedo because it is difficult to be running a virtual machine and be completely integrated).

Anyway just type XP at the start prompt and it will show up as Windows XP mode.

 

Toshiba seems to make it difficult to reach any conclusions.

The key is; if the official detailed specs on the Tosh website say:
"HD TruBrite® LED Backlit display"? Then it's glossy.
"HD TFT LED Backlit display"? Then it's matte.

Currently, the three i3 models are all glossy, and the others seem to be matte. But check the specs for the specific R70X-S12YY model you're thinking of buying to verify.

Credit for all of this to: Oscar2, post # 724, Mwing, post #725.

My guess is that Toshiba is trying not to alienate casual customers who want an R700 and might have a visceral reaction to either glossy or matte.

Notice how no manufacturer ever clearly admits to either matte or glossy these days... it's always some euphemistic branding such as "TrueBright". And Toshiba won't even show the distinction on the main R700 product selection page, where you check off models by features...

 

thanks for the info. if that's the case it means I have to buy the more expensive model, that stinks! To me doesn't make sense to have such difference. I should call them but I doubt the regular customer care guy would know.

also there are some brands like Lenovo that clearly state MATTE.

bump for my question if someone can weigh the r700 on a kitchen scale or precision scale.

 

By the way, I've had the r700-1310 for about a week now and I've come to like it. I'm keeping it. I'm still bugged by the keyboard, but nothing's perfect. I run my machine in ECO most of the time and it's quiet and pretty cool. But then again I'm not gaming or playing many videos.

Also, my battery time has been b/w 4 and 7 hours. If I'm just doing word processing and I turn off internet & bluetooth then it's in the 7 hour range.

 

do you guys believe the asus u35JC would be a better deal than the R700/5?

It comes in at just 0.5 lbs heavier but does have a lower construction quality than the r705 as it is made out of plastic except for the lid, but has discrete graphics, longer battery life, about the same price and 2.4ghz CPU.?

 

I looked at various Asus laptops for a long time, so I've seen your posts on the Asus board. I was sure that I'd be getting either the u35jc or the U33 (bamboo) series laptops until the r705 came along. The delay in the bamboo series' release, and the even longer period of time that it would take to get consumer feedback, decided against that one. But the u35jc still seems like a good computer.

I liked the long battery life and I liked the "free" accidental protection warranty, which seemed to attest to Asus' confidence in their products.

But you can't torture yourself over those things. Both computers surely have their upsides and downsides. The Toshiba is lighter, thinner, cheaper, has an optical drive, and has some other nice features that the Asus doesn't. The Asus has longer battery life, accidental protection, NVIDIA graphics, and probably runs cooler when not gaming. I'm not a gamer, and I figured that I could buy a better warranty for the price differential b/w the Toshiba and the Asus. But I still wonder about the Asus keyboard and the Asus battery. Will that do me any good? No. So I try to stop wondering. You probably should too, unless you can return the r705 without getting charged a restocking fee.

 

Yea, I hate torturing myself over it too. I actaully live in canada and when my parents told me we were going to syracuse for travelling plus shopping, i immidately thought it would be a great chance to visit best buy and have a look at the r705. the weight and built+looks were awesome and made me want to buy it especailly since i wasnt going to be in the U.S anytime soon after that, so it would have to have been the u35jc. But the wait time and the fact that the reviews could have gone bad, would have meant no decision at all by the time school starts. So yea, i dont like torturing myself over these things, but i cant help but wonder since i spent about 2 months researching this stuff, so you would think i would get it right, and getting a product im not 100% happy with after spending so much time researching is for sure a tough break. I can not return the toshiba without restocking fees no, and that would also mean making the trip back to syracuse..

I appreciate your input tho, thank you PhillyBen

 

No worries. Oscar2 has some pretty good advice on the issue of buyer's remorse, too. Look for it in this thread. Us older guys have some decent life-perspective sometimes. ;-)

Seriously, nothing in this price range is going to be perfect. If you're a gamer then you probably want NVIDIA graphics. If you're not, and if when you need long battery life it's primarily to take notes in class (and you can turn the wifi off), you should be fine with the r700/5. As I wrote earlier, in ECO mode and with wifi turned off I can get around 7 hours. Internet uses up more power and anything graphics-intensive takes up still more. But if you simply need to be untethered during the day for note-taking (and you shouldn't be on the internet during those times anyway-- trust me, I've banned laptops in my lectures b/c they're so distracting) then you should be in good shape.

 

I actaully dont care about the battery life too much as I always just take old fashioned pen and paper notes in class(more suitable for engineering classes anyways). my biggest buyers remorse aspect is actaully the fan noise right now. I was pointing graphics card and battery life just so points as to why the u35 is likely a better deal. As in, there is no reason to have to tolerate the fan noise if there isn't anything special added to the r705 that the u35jc. But if it did, i would have something to say: "oh, but with the asus i wouldnt have this ___" But if it wasnt for the fan noise, i dont think i would have minded the missing features. I am actaully a student and the reason a noisy fan is bugging me is im worried that noisy fan will be running in the background as i do school work and i wont be able to concentrate. Yea, its not even that bad, but its present.

 

Mikeysela, you never mentioned if you are using ECO mode or not. The reason I keep asking is that the fan noise on my R705 is more like a whisper when I am doing just about anything other than video. It certainly is not distracting.

 

Agree 100%

 

got a question, I'm thinking about getting one of these:

what is Eco mode? I am pretty worried about the fan noise / computer heat and I want to make sure I'm not going to be handicapped by the mode.

 

Toshiba's ECO utility "slightly lowers performance of some devices to reduce electric power consumption". I use it 99% of the time to assist in longer battery run times and to keep the heat and fan noise down. I don't feel handicapped using ECO at all as the R705 still seems responsive during hard loads on the processor.

 

Does anyone have the faintest idea, if "ECO mode" runs on linux. Since I'll be using linux 100% of the time, it doesn't really assure me that there is a toshiba windows tool for setting something as important as that up. I know that Linux supports most if not all powersaving features, but if it's not able to turn the fan down (and I really mean DOWN) while doing it, I would never be a happy user.

Can someone maybe record the fan sound with something and send us all an mp3 link? Would be helpful to know how exactly the "humming" or "whispering" is like.

 

Yes , I do use eco mode and I dont notice much of a difference. Is there any additional settings i need to adjust maybe that will help?

 

I'm stuck on the same sort of Asus vs. Toshiba decision that's been discussed, and I noticed that Toshiba has changed the model numbers of the R700-S1320 and R700-S1330. They are now R700-S1321 and 31, respectively. I called Toshiba and asked what had changed, and was told nothing, just the numbers. I apologize if I seem paranoid, but is that correct? Did the manufacturer change the numbers on a whim, or is there some subtle difference? Thank you for any light you can shine on this.

 

The models with the 1 at the end have optical drives that can write dual layer discs. The models with the 0 at the end do not. As I understand it, that's the primary difference.

 

Thank you for the speedy reply. Wonder why Toshiba wouldn't tell me that....

 

Do the R705-P25 models include the dual-layer ODDs?

 

I have been looking at replacing my xps m1330 notebook this looks like it may be the one to pick, I was looking at the latitude line but the e6410 is heavier and the e4310 is really expensive, also like the "z" series for Sony but they are expensive.

 

If you made that switch, you would be making the exact change I just made. Went from xps m1330 to the R705

 

Hey Guys. I was wondering if anyone here has had experience with wireless display and the R705. Delay, Quality, all would be nice to hear about. The reason I ask is because I would like to get the net gear box, But Since It is new technology, i am not sure if it would be the right thing to purchase it now, and then find out Netgear is gonna come out with a better box that improves the wireless display technology. Is it worth purchasing it now or wait until they come out with a better box?

 

Been torn between the Asus UL30VT and the R705, but battery life is pretty important to me. I'm looking to get at least 6 hours and thinking of adding an extended battery to the R705 to equal (or get close to) the Asus' battery 10 hour-ish life.

Do any of you have an R705 (or even R700) and an extended battery? How long does it last you with typical wi-fi use? Does it bulge from the back or from underneath? And does the extra bulge or weight affect your daily usage? Any picture(s) would be incredibly helpful, thanks a bunch!

 

p.74 of this thread, +/- one page, has a discussion of the 9 cell battery.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/toshiba/493524-portege-r700-thin-light-13-3-a-74.html

And poster "renormalized" has a 9 cell battery. You could PM him to ask about his results. I think that he (or someone else) said that the 9-cell gave about 5.5 hours under reasonably heavy use. That's probably pretty close to some of the Asus models (you could probably get longer if you weren't doing video and used ECO mode).

BTW, the 9-cell battery sticks out of the bottom. Picture on p.74 of this thread.

 

4-5 hrs of normal use should be easily achieved with the 6 cell
since the 9 cell is 50% bigger, figure 6-7.5 hrs should be expected from normal use with the 9 cell.

 

I purchased the Netgear PVT1000 to use with my R705. I was hesitant after reading the reviews on Best Buy's website for the early adopters. My results, however, have been excellent. The quality and the sound are pretty incredible when you consider it is coming from a wireless signal. Websites like Amazon On-demand, Hulu, TV.com as well as Windows Media Center are great sites for free media content. I stream Pandora and Rhapsody to my HDTV as well to take advantage of the stereo equipment. It puts out a little more volume than the Portege's speakers.

There are 2 major downsides to the technology: 1) Latency - It is between 1-2 seconds. You can browse websites just fine but if you intend to edit word documents using your HDTV as a large monitor, you may get frustrated. 2) Copyrighted Blueray/DVD cannot be streamed to your HDTV due to DRM issues. Hopefully, Intel will be able to address both of these issues in the near-future.

That being said, I use it almost daily. It is easy to setup and it is nice to lose the HDMI tether. Losing the tether will set you back $99, however, and you can't stream your DVDs. Some will wonder if it is worth it but it was for me.

One other issue I have noted: When I extend the screen so I can view my emails or browse on one screen and beam video on the other, I can't keep the video at full screen on the HDTV if I am scrolling or working on the email/browser. I need to find out if that is a current limitation or if I need to change my setup.

 

How do you like it compared to the xps m1330? Is the screen similar?

 

The screen appears much brighter on the r705 to me and i like it overall. One thing though, im a fast and aggressive typer, and it can cause the screen to vibrate but its nothing too bad. Overall, I like everything about it except for the fan noise. My 1330 was dead silent and i will surely miss that.

 

Good I just want to make sure I get a better system than the 1330 as I love the xps model but it is dying due so it is time for a change. My xps fan is noisy so it won't matter to me and I type slow so that won't be a problem.

Did you do a fresh install? How is the heat compared to the XPS? Is the weight similar or is the Toshiba lighter?

 

The toshiba is MUCH ligher, I love it. I did not do a fresh install, but something to consider to get rid of the bloatware...im not even sure i got a win7 CD to do a fresh install...

The heat is very good, excpet for the top left corner underneath which is a known issue for everyone, but its not too bad. if you sort of glide your fingers in the top left corner you will notice it, but it doesnt cause an issue in normal typing acitivty. The Toshiba is probably about 1.5 lbs lighter

 

This is good to know, I was undecided as I really like my xps other than the fact that it is dying so this should be a good upgrade.

 

Wow, thanks! Though now I feel a bit embarrassed that I didn't search back 12 pages That extended battery doesn't look too bad! I think I'm slowly edging towards the R705 instead of the Asus UL30VT. But knowing me, I'll probably find some reason to change my mind again tomorrow, haha. These two laptops are just too close!

 

hello everybody. I've just become a member in this forum. I'm a newbie .
I'm preparing to buy a R700 Series but I want to know what the difference between R700-S1310 and R700-S1311 . I tried but not find any infomation about it. If anyone has related information, pls send me. Thanks in advance.

 

I believe S1311 has dual layer write support while S1310 does not for the optical drive.

 

for those who want the s1311 instead of the s1310, it is now available on many online stores as of yesterday

 

Gizmodo Review of the R705.

 

Argh, am I conflicted! Last night, I was 99.9% convinced I'd get the R705 over the Asus UL30Vt, and just pick up an extended battery to match the Asus. But after trying out the R705 at BB again today, I gotta say the keyboard is alot more cramped than I expected.

I've never had issues with non-netbook keyboards, so I sorta dismissed the reviews that mentioned the smaller size. But man, those keys are definitely shorter and not normal. They really slowed me down as I had to keep correcting errors. Did anybody else have this problem initially, and how long did it take you to get used to the R705's keyboard?

I know keyboards are a very subjective thing, but I'd really appreciate any input. This is pretty much the only thing holding me back...