Portege R700 - the thin and light 13.3"

Thanks for the review!

 

Anyone read when we'll be able to custom build this machine? I might call Toshiba tomorrow and ask.

 

Arggg...the base i3 version is going for only $800 before taxes at BestBuy!

 

Everything about the laptop i love. The feel of the keyboard, the trackpad, the weight, the sturdyness, the core i3 is great, but it COULD use some dedicated volume buttons somewhere on it. but it has an FN combo to vol up/down so o well. After installing a bunch of programs and running a bunch of stuf i wasnt even able to get it to lag at all... it runs a BIT hot on the top left corner where the fans are, but its definitely not uncomfortable at all. its the perfect size, i love it! 800$ @ bb + 70$ tax and 7$ recycling fee. i got the last one in stock after checking several different BB stores
also it comes with very little bloatware that can be uninstalled immediately. I also love how its all black (except the outside cover), and how the whole laptop is basically a matte finish, except the somewhat-glossy screen. Matte is great! The battery life is nowhere near 8 hours for me because i use high brightness and run lots of stuf, but i dont mind, 5 hours is plenty.

theres my mini review.

 

wonder if the stupidly large Toshiba logo could be covered painted over

 

pics

http://www.upload3r.com/serve/280610/1277794069.jpg

http://www.upload3r.com/serve/280610/1277794091.jpg

http://www.upload3r.com/serve/280610/1277794101.jpg

 

This more or less crushes the ULV competition in the thin/light arena and performance combination. As long as battery life and the lack of a dedicated GPU not a worry, this more or less trumps the Vaio Y and UL30VT/JT.

 

update - i left my laptop on for about 5 hours now using it, running lots of stuff, including copying 80gb of stuff from an external hard drive onto it, and it is definitely pretty hot, but to be honest, not as hot as i'd expect it to be. if u lift the back of the laptop up just a little bit, it won't get uncomfortably hot no matter what

 

Graphics stuf: http://www.upload3r.com/serve/290610/1277798659.jpg
(its integrated, but i dont care cus i wont be gaming on this lappy)

As far as power consumption, ill do a test later if i have time with the battery at 100%, but im sure it can hit 8 hours if you put everyone on lowest settings. With what I use, i think im getting approx 6 hours on it, but i havent done any tests yet.

Max viewing angle:
http://www.upload3r.com/serve/290610/1277798866.jpg

 

Gmermatt, how much does the laptop + power supply weight?

 

I dont have an accurate scale with me, but just the laptop advertises that its 3.2 lbs, significantly less than a 13.3" macbook pro. this laptop is VERY light

 

R705 model does not have an expresscard slot, nor a docking connector. Those items are reserved for the R700. Means there is no way of getting a USB 3.0 onto it. Similarly priced x201i however does...

US$780 12" Lenovo X201i i3-330m 2.13 2GB 250GB expresscard, no bt, no webcam.
US$800 13" Toshiba R705-P25 i3-350M 2.26 4GB 500GB W7HP *no expresscard slot, no dock connector*
US$990 12" HP 2540P i5-540M 2.53 2GB 250P W7P
US$990 13" Toshiba R700-S1310 i3-350M 2.26 4GB 128GB-SSD W7P +expresscard

 

could you please take some photos of the power supply with laptop?, is it bulky?

Thanks!

 

How good the screen is? What about viewing angles and contrast?

 

guys,

those of u lucky ones who've already got their hands on one, could you let me know what it is like outside in the garden - how is it working in sunlight - is it practical - is their a lot of reflections, do u have to strain u're eyes to view text properly? someone mentioned the backlight goes out - does that help or hinder in viewing the screen?

Some of u are saying the screen is glossy - I was under the impression it is matte anti-glare - or is it a glossy screen with an anti-glare coating on it?

thx for all u're help.

 

I am most interested in the heat aspect. How does the bottom and palmrest area feel? No noticeable heat vs slightly warm vs quite warm vs hot?

 

No bluetooth either, but a bluetooth dongle is cheap enough.

I don't have a need for the expresscard slot, personally -- but I'd really like to have the docking connector. I used a docking station on a previous laptop and loved the convenience.

BUT... I'm not sure it's worth an extra $400 for this feature ($200 more for the R700 vs R705 and another $200 for the docking station itself).

 

I only tried it at BestBuy, but I did feel a bit of warmth on one section of the bottom. Not hot, but warm. The rest of the bottom was cool, and the palmrests were cool.

 

Super impressive machine! I am really attracted to the business version since it has expresscard and a docking station option. This just might be the work machine I am looking for.

If it only had a Geforce 310M (being realistic here) with Optimus, then this would be the perfect ultraportable short of the Sony Vaio Z! But then again having integrated graphics would stop me from playing games on it

 

I will probably buy the Best Buy version. Does anyone know if the i3-350 processor is user upgradeable to an i5?

 

You should be able to. But you should ask yourself if the performance gain is worth the hassle of potentially voiding your warranty.

Generally manufacturers solder ULV processors to their motherboards. For example, Alienware does it with m11x.

 

That is precisely what I am asking about.

If it is a solder down processor then the answer is no. If anyone has checked and seen a socket there then the answer is yes, it is user upgradeable.

 

ok, why doesnt everyone ask a billion questions at once. -_-

yes, the r705 doesnt have docking capabilities or an express card slot, but who freakin cares lol. i dont

the power supply is pretty darn small, but the cord is rather long. it doesnt really matter though because u can get 8 hours out of this baby

the whole laptop does have a matte finish, the outside is brushed aluminum and feels very nice. BUT the screen is indeed glossy (trubrite). I havent actually seen any laptops that do not have a glossy finish on the screen. It does reflect a bit, but not too bad. Im just happy the whole rest of the laptop is matte. As for the heat, I already talked about this earlier in the thread. The back of the laptop does get warm, but never uncomfortably hot. The front of the laptop, where ur hands are - keyboard and trackpad - NEVER get hot at all.

 

I called Toshiba. The sales rep said she's not aware of Toshiba planning to allow customers to customize this laptop. They'll only sell pre-built models.

 

1. How much of the hard disk is occupied by factory installed stuff?

2. I guess heat-wise, it's worse than Sony Vaio Z, which is reported as not even warm at bottom.

3. Is the 128GB SSD of r700-1330 user upgradeable?

 

1. How much of the hard disk is occupied by factory installed stuff?

2. I guess heat-wise, it's worse than Sony Vaio Z, which is reported as not even warm at bottom.

3. Is the 128GB SSD of r700-1330 user upgradeable?

 

Well when u first get it, the hard drive says that "___ free of 455GB." I believe the software already installed only takes up 1 or 2gb at most.

 

How would you pit the display in comparison with the vividness of MacBook Pro? Or, is it rather dull?

 

With the high resolution on this 13.3" (1366x768) and the brightness turned up, it is definitely very vivid, couldnt ask for more.

 

haha, thanks though! You saved me from making another hour-long trip to Best Buy.

 

Glad i could help!

 

A couple of questions...

Does the R705 have WiDi (Intel Wireless Display)? I've read that it does.

Also, is $800 a sale price? I saw somewhere else that it is going to be $900 regularly.

Edit after googling:


Looks like it does have WiDi.

For those looking for a docking station, you could probably just use a USB keyboard/mouse combo and get away with that. Hook your WiDi receiver into your main monitor and you'll be set to go.

 

It appears Best Buy's normal price is $799

 

I saw one in person and to be honest, I wasn't too impressed by how it looked. Before you all descend upon me like a pack of wolves, I will say that this was probably because anything that thin and light registers as "flimsy" to me, regardless of how solid it actually might be! Also, it appears that it was manhandled quite a bit, and was sporting a nice coat of smudges and whatnot.

 

I don't think you have to worry much about a pack of wolves. That fierce bear of yours would scare them away.

 

There is no excuse why Sony would charge their Y the same price as this Toshiba with just a light processor and no DVD drive and weight more!

And Sony charge their Z at $1.9K and its the same weight as this Toshiba!

 

Neither was I. It's nothing special to look at. But having a full-power laptop that is this light and includes a DVD slot for under $1,000 is pretty darn impressive.

But I agree... if you're wanting a great "looking" laptop, this ain't it.

 

buyer shock wore off.

lid is a fingerprint magnet. palm wrests get marked, too. chiclet keys take some getting used to, but i like them, i think.

anyway, how do you guys clean your laptop screens? how do you clean fingerprints from the lid and palm marks from the area on either side of the trackpad, the palm rests?

help me out! i helped you guys out!

 

Request: can an R700/R705 owner do an Everest->Motherboard->Chipset->Soutbridge pci-e ports screenshot like this AND take a photo of the mPCIe wifi slot? Does it have a cover to access it easily? I want to see how accessible the mPCIe slot it is for DIY ViDock and what port numbers the expresscard and mPCIe slots correspond to.

 

800$ regular price at best buy. on toshiba direct its 890$ for the r705 for some reason.

Its great looking imo, i love the all black matte finish

The brushed aluminum outside collects no fingerprints on my r705
Palm rests can get SLIGHTLY fingerprints on them, but not nearly as bad as glossy finish. And after using this laptop for about 10 hours now, I have started to really like the chiclet keys. as far as cleaning, i use a glasses cleaning cloth or just my shirt

http://www.upload3r.com/serve/290610/1277877031.jpg
not sure what the mpcie wifi slot is. it might only be on the r700's though if ur talking about that slot to dock it on.

 

Thanks! I can only see port1 and port2 (wifi). Can you down the page and post the screenshot? The chipset has up to 8 ports and I need to see how the others are laid out.

I have asked for Toshiba to chime in here.

 

um ok ill do that later i guess

http://www.upload3r.com/serve/290610/1277879783.jpg

 

Thanks. The UK website has 700 models with a 3G option. Is there a mPCIe slot for that in the US 705? If so, could you possible swap over the wifi and see if the port number changes from port2 to some other port? Doing this should not void the warranty. Is there antennas and a SIM slot for internal 3G?

 

Why clean off fingerprints. They reappear the instant you use the laptop. Just get used to the fact that you will be having fingerprints.

If you must clean them off. How about a microfiber cloth dipped in a mild dish soap solution and wrung out until almost no moisture. Use that to wipe them off.

 

Does anyone know of discounts (like say student discounts) available for the R700?

 

Oscar2, I see you already own a Vaio Z. Why would you want an R705 if you already own a Vaio Z?

Just curious...

 

My son is going to college. I'm buying it for him. Also, I guess I'm just a sucker for 3.2 pound laptops with 13" displays

 

Ahh, gotcha.

For me, I love everything about the Z -- except for the price -- so I'm looking for the next best thing. This MAY be it, but it's too soon to tell for sure.

 

I too love my Z very much. However, if the R700 had been available at the time I was buying my Z I would likely have gone with it. I am not a gamer and so the Nvidia GT330 stays mostly disabled. Also the Toshiba offers the 360GB 7200 rpm drive. Whereas the Z only offers the non-standard SSDs that cannot be upgraded.

My biggest beef with the Toshiba is they don't allow you to customize what you want. For myself, I would want the one with the i7-620M cpu because that one supports virtualization, however that is only available with the 128GB ssd. (grrr)

 

Same here, I'm not a gamer (no games what so ever). But I would like to dabble in some AVCHD video editing of home/family videos. Any thoughts on the minimum R700 needed for this?

My main beef with the Toshiba is that it doesn't have a backlit keyboard. I suppose I could live without it, but I really wanted one on my next laptop.

My only other minor gripe is that the keys on the Toshiba are a bit smaller than typical chicklet keys. Not a deal-killer, though.