Portege R700 - the thin and light 13.3"

Could the default settings of Windows Ultimate be doing a better job at power management than Windows Home Premium?

Is there less pre-installed crapware on the r700 vs the r705?

EDIT: I'm looking at the exact same laptops for grad school too; I'll probably end up with the one with the best battery life - don't really need full power for word documents..

 

I pulled the trigger and grabbed the R700 with the i3 processor. Buy.com is selling them on eBay for $987.99 and with the Bing CashBack and eBay Bucks, plus shipping it to a friend in CT to save on tax, it came to under $890. I didn't think it was worth paying $200 more for the R700 over the R705, but for $80-90, it is definitely worth it!

Will let you know how it goes when I get it next week!

 

Nice, 80-90$ more for a matte screen and a 3 year warranty. I'll have to look into that!

 

for me R700S1310 is winning to the vaio Y.... just waiting the WEI of the Y configured with the i5/ati...

 

but then you don't have WiDi capability (not that I would ever use it), resolution+, and the hard drive impact sensor...

it does have BT and easyguard tech whatever that is. The 3 yr warranty is worth the 80 bucks though.

Maybe the R700 has 6 hrs of battery life compared to 4 on the R705 because of the best buy software that is automatically installed on the laptop?
That's what they suspected here...
http://laptopforums.toshiba.com/t5/...3;jsessionid=B941069921E8411441161F27AC75FD96

 

Alright. I'm in for an S1330. Should be coming tomorrow.

Edit: Do you guys think this thing will run Starcraft II?

 

Did you order from Buy on eBay?

 

Nope. Online retailer. I don't think they sold the S1330 (i7) on ebay. But more importantly, does anyone think it'll run Starcraft II at native screen resolution?

 

Just got my R705 today. Initial impressions:

- Really light. I was using an Acer Timeline AS3810TZ before, which isn't much heavier at 3.6 lbs. But this feels significantly lighter even though the difference isn't huge (3.2 lbs). Pretty remarkable given that there's a built-in optical drive, which the Acer lacks.

- Yes, it does run hot, significantly more so than the Acer (no surprise as this is a much faster processor), though this is limited to the underside of the laptop, on the corner where the Esc key is located.

- Build quality is good but nothing special. Perhaps it's a matter of taste but the smooth (though not glossy) plastics feel a little cheap to me. I actually like the feel of the Acer's textured plastics better.

- Screen is technically glossy but much less so than most consumer laptops these days. Unfortunately in terms of brightness and color rendition it seems to be inferior to the Acer, which itself doesn't have the best screen in the world. Not a huge deal as I plan to use this mostly with an external monitor.

- Read some complaints about the keyboard. Certainly it's no ThinkPad, but I have no real problems with it either. I think most people will have no problem getting used to it quickly.

It may seem like I have quite a few complaints, but really they're fairly minor. The bottom line is that Toshiba has built a full-performance ultraportable with optical drive at a great price. I'd strongly recommend the R700/R705 to anybody who's looking for a light laptop in the 13-inch class.

 

You can now customize this notebook on Toshiba's site, but the price difference versus the Best Buy version is absurd.

 

It's iffy at it's native resolution, but you might be able to run it with the lowest settings and say 1024x768. Blizzard makes game that can run on computers with less power though, so they can market it to a wider audience. I was able to run WOW on my dell 710m with a Pentium M 1.7 ghz, 64mb Intel Extreme graphics (1024x768) and 1 GB DDR with no problem.

It sure would be nice to be able to run SC2 on any settings on this baby...then again if I am studying at the library and away from my desktop I shouldn't be gaming!

Here is a link to the requirements for SC2 Beta. The intel HD on the R700 can borrow up to 1.7 GB so who knows?

Update: Just read a post on Yahoo answers from someone claiming to run SC2 on lowest settings with a 2000 Vaio, no graphics specs but I would think that would put the R700 in the "capable category".

 

Hi, people are reporting the upper-left corner of the bottom gets really hot. Do the other parts of the bottom remain cool?

 

The configurable model's options don't include SSD drive! Am I missing something?

 

Can anyone confirm if I can get the configurable model with the 320GB HDD and then replace it with any separately bought 256GB SSD? Which SSDs would be compatible?

 

With the reviews coming out (Laptopmag.com and Engadget.com) and the length of this thread, I have a feeling that r705 owners are going to be asked this quite often.

The left corner does gets warm when the processor gets stressed but it isn't scorching hot. I wear shorts quite a bit and it isn't a problem. The benefit to Toshiba's Airflow technology is that it allows all of the remaining parts of the laptop to remain cool, particularly the keyboard and touchpad.

If you have owned a thin and light in the past, you probably have experienced heat and fan noise since that heat has nowhere to go. The fan in my previous thin and light would run at high speed when I wasn't even using it (e.g. Norton 360 scans) or just doing some light browsing. That noise became the number one reason I replaced it with the r705.

With the r705, Toshiba does a great job of getting rid of the heat but the price to pay is an exhaust point. The great thing is that fan noise is fairly minimal (but constant), even at high processor stress. It is light years better than my previous laptop. Not bad when you consider there's an i3 under the hood instead of a lesser powered ULV.

 

What are you getting for Battery Life with the R705?

 

After all of the comments about battery life the past few days, I timed it yesterday. With a mix of video, browsing, Excel, IDEA data extraction activity, and some Rhapsody, I got 4:46. I can live with that.

 

Thanks for the reply. Did you do a reinstall of Win 7 to get rid of all the bloatware? Did you try to max you battery life? ie. decrease brightness...Thanks!

 

Would it be hard to install an internal bluetooth card in this notebook? I've thought about doing that rather than buying a dongle.

 

Heck yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!

 

It "should" work. The nice geek squad guys at Best Buy opened up a 705 for me with a screwdriver, and we were able to access a standard 2.5" laptop drive. So an SATA SSD that has the same form factor should theoretically work.

I am slightly annoyed that Toshiba has decided to offer configurable models now that I ordered a pre-config, because what I really wanted was an i7 and a cheap HDD so I could swap in a high-performance SSD. OH WELL.

 

R700 comes with bluetooth, R705 does not but I'm sure you could add an internal one...

 

Yeah, I was referring to the 705. I was very surprised it doesn't include an internal card.

Think doing so would void the warranty?

 

I didn't do a fresh re-install of Windows 7 to get rid of bloatware but I did delete the Best Buy software and some of the startup programs. I still need to go through msconfig to review several other startup programs to see if they are "necessary".

Other than that, I usually use Toshiba's ECO software settings to conserve on the juice and that's about it.

 

You know, there was an article a while back on engadget with a prototype of this laptop using an scib battery in that bay. Looked bad a*s ! Maybe they're saving that model for next year.

WAWHOOO!!! Configurable models!!! This is what I have been waiting for

 

What configuration do ya like?

 

Checked out the R705 at BB today and was thoroughly impressed. I am definitely sending back my M11xR2 and getting this! I can game on my desktop anyway! The screen was glossy but not so much that it was a problem. I was actually pleased with the glare on it. Can't wait to pick one up once I get my refund.

I guess if battery life becomes an issue I will just buy the 9-cell which should provide more than enough juice.

 

Any SSD with a SATA interface (which means just about all of them) would be compatible. Do you know which SSD you want?

I think buying this machine and expecting it to run StarCraft II is a bad idea . . . Intel HD graphics *should* meet the minimum requirements but the recommended video cards (8800GTX, HD 3870) are probably 10x as powerful, which is not good.
Ask here and see what people say:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...tebook-run-ask-about-your-notebooks-here.html

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Nice to see the R700 is now configurable (link: Toshiba | Laptops, Notebooks, Accessories, Electronics & Projectors. Pricey though . . . the Best Buy version for $900 seems to be the best value.

 

Not expecting it to run SC2, just HOPING it will. If it doesn't I have a desktop that is more than capable of running it.

The BB version is $799

 

So I attempted to replace the SSD with a Momentus XT laptop hard drive. When I remove the cover I'm faced with this.





Everything I read about the R700 said the SSD interface was sata, this ain't sata. How do I get an sata hard drive in this thing short of sending it back and getting one that comes with a standard hard drive?

 

Looks like the SSD (1.8"?) is in some sort of plastic 2.5" caddy. Would need to have a look for fastening screws to remove it. Worth ringing Toshiba if not sure so as to not damage anything while it's still under warranty.

 

The size isn't the problem and it's easy enough to remove. The problem is that this isn't a SATA interface. From what I've been able to google it's a ZIF interface, whatever that is. My question is, is there an easy way to use a SATA hard drive with this interface? Is there an adapter? Anyone with experience have an idea?

 

Any idea when this is coming to Canada? No retailers here sell it and it isn't listed on Toshiba's Canadian website. It's either this or the Vostro V13 (or Latitude 13...once I find the difference between the two) for me.

 

If it's one of these drives:
http://www.toshiba-components.com/prpdf/5983E.pdf
then it's a 1.8" drive with an LIF and an SATA interface. Which makes me wonder if there's an adaptor...

 

what level of brightness was your screen set to?

I've been all over the place in search of a laptop that best suits my needs (HP Elitebook 8540w, HP Envy 14, HP DM4, Acer 4820TG, Acer 5820T, Sony Z122) and now I'm leaning towards the Toshiba R705, as it seems to be the best compromise. I know... my selection varies quite a bit, but I'm just having a hard time deciding if I want to keep my TM2 and add a 15.6" laptop w/ dedicated numeric keypad or just get an ultra portable with a standard voltage CPU and can get at least 5 hrs of battery life. The GPU in the Acer 4820TG and HP Envy 14 is tempting, but realistically... I most likely will never play games on my laptop.

 

first, hi to you all, we should change this to an owner thread shouldnt we?

been using first gen panasonic w2 for 6 years then a dell mini 12, now need a switch becoz of the slow atom

i just registered because of this discussion of R700, wonderful discussion here

i just made the purchase of S1320 on ecost as they are willing to ship to canada (i have 2 successful purchases from them b4)

thot about waiting for the release of this in canada (end of july according to toshiba.ca) but the damned bilingual keyboard, and no bluetooth on canadian i5 version made me purchasing from the states instead

i originally wanted to buy a vaio z but this toshiba seems to be a solid laptop and has a little bit longer battery life, thinner in size, less expensive, and magesium alloy casing, i miss only the resolution on the z but im ok with 1366x768 and i dont need a discrete video card since i use it for work

 

Toshiba's ECO settings take the display brightness to 3 (along with some other power saving settings) when ECO is turned on. I usually leave ECO on all of the time.

 

I haven't had a chance to use the built-in WIDI of the r705 (since I didn't buy the adapter), but I have used the HDMI connection to my HDTV quite a bit. It works all of the time, even after hibernating. My previous laptop would constantly lose either video, audio or switch to the laptop speakers and a reboot would not always solve the problem right away. That drove me crazy but the Toshiba works like a charm.

Hulu looks great.

 

Does anyone know if this is the same notebook as the Dynabook RX3W that toshiba touted at Computex? That one was supposed to have fancy SCiB insta charge batteries and looked slicker in the promo pics, but otherwise had same specs.

 

Thanks for that. I checked Toshiba Canada website but couldn't find anything about the Portege R700; i did however find info on the Tecra R700, which has almost identical specs to the Portege. What is the difference between the two?

Also, being that I'm in canada and need this computer relatively soon (I start med school in a month), i was wondering how this would compare performance-wise to the Dell Vostro V13/Latitude 13. Is there any negligible performance difference between the two for word processing, notes, Internet, music etc.?

 

Can you then separately control the brightness still keeping it in ECO mode?

 

Does this mean that I can't replace the HDD of the HDD models by any standard SATA2 SSD?

 

runsilent, this is my first laptop with an hdmi port, and i want to hook it up to my hdtv...i tried doing it the other day, but the resolution was grainy and the colors were a little washed out. i tried a standard VGA cable and everything looked perfect (much better than hdmi). both settings were under 1920x1080, are there some settings i need to tweak, i'd rather use the hdmi cable if possible for several reasons...

Yes, you can adjust the brightness any time you want, you can even change the brightness settings that eco mode will run under...the power management is really easy on this thing and their eco utility has a cool interface for showing you how much power you are using

 

No, I'm pretty sure if the notebook comes with a 2.5" HDD, it should be replacable with the usual 2.5" SSD. The best buy 705 has what appears to be a removable 2.5" HDD, for example. However, specifically the R700-S1330 (core-i7 prebuilt) comes with an SSD, and it appears the SSD is a 1.8" LIF-type SATA drive with a funky connector. Unless someone knows of an adapter, I don't think you ca replace the SSD with a standard 2.5" SSD.

 

Can someone with the R705 from Best Buy tell me if it included Win 7 disks? I'm planning on dropping a momentus XT in when I get one

 

are you sure your HDTV is running at 1080? I think if you mirror or extend the display to your TV, it will only display 720 since your laptop maxes out at that much.
pretty sure you have to set the HDTV to your primary AND only display to get 1080

 

yeah i'm sure, the display resolution is a function of the display, not the laptop....the laptop screen maxes out at 1368x768, using the VGA and my HDTV i can set the HDTV screen to 1920x1080 and it's crystal clear...with the HDMI i can set it to 1920x1080 also but everything appears to be stretched off screen a little...i tried using the shrink screen feature, which made it fit, but colors were still washed out and edges were blurry...what i've been doing is plugging in the laptop and closing the lid so i use the HDTV as the primary screen (for both cases)...

 

I think that TerribleLie is right and you are not getting 1920x1080 when you think you are. Try this. Hit the Windows key and 'P': Windows-P
And select the "Projector Only" option. Then right click on the background and check "Screen Resolution". If it's not 1920x1080 set it to that. But selecting projector only should make things right.

In any case, HDMI really should look just as good or better than VGA, just because it is a purely digital connection, so no losses in the cabling, interface, or LCD pixel timing.

 

Specifically, this:

Toshiba building world's lightest 13-inch laptop with fast charging SCiB battery? -- Engadget

 

Laptop Mag had an early hands-on of specifically the R700 wherein Mark Spoonauer stated the 9-cell battery snapped into the docking port. Is this true? I'd hate to be locked out of the larger battery because I got the R705.