Portege R830 - i3 or i5

Hi all,
After months of research I have finally settled on the Portege R830 laptop.
Based on battery life and low weight.

However I need some advice from the laptop gurus out here:

1. Should I go for the i3-2310 or the i5-2410 processor??
The 6hr battery life was the big seller on this laptop and I am not sure which processor would be better for that (it will be used for business purposes whilst travelling, MS Office apps, internet/email)

2. Does anyone know how much extra battery life is acheivable with the 8-cell battery and what the laptop weight with the 8 cell is?

thanks,
Neal

 

1. The i5 offers a lot more power over the i3 [IMO]. The i5 can automatically overclock itself [Turbo-Boost] when needed; the i3 is "stuck" at the base clock speed.

2. I don't know about the "8-cell" battery. I do know the stock configuration for the Porteges come with a 6-Cell battery which is advertised to get 9 hrs of battery life (probably 6-7 real world life).

You can buy an upgrade to a "9-Cell" bettery [is that what you meant?]. I would expect somewhere around 30% more battery life. Maybe upto 10 hrs of real-world battery life.


Good luck

 

Yes, Sorry I was referring to the 9-cell battery upgrade.

I understand that the i5 has some improvements over the i3, but whats concerning me is if that comes at a substantial degradation to battery life, i.e. does the i5 processor degrade battery life.

 

Ya, the i5 will draw more power from the battery than the i3, thereby causing it to die faster.
[maybe the 9-cell would be a good upgrade if you purchase the i5 Portege; 9-Cell is $50 upgrade I believe; or about $150 if purchased separately].
Toshiba Primary Extended Capacity 9-Cell Li-Ion Battery Pack

If you don't need the extra power, i3 will work for you.


Good luck

 

Thanks for the replies.

Using your link I found the weight specs of the batteries for the Portege:

6 cell: 0.7lbs 8.2 x 1.7 x 0.8
9 cell :1.1 lbs 8.2 x 1.7 x 1.5

 

If you are interested in the extra Turbo Boost performance of the i5 when plugged in but don't want it using extra power when running on battery power then consider using a program like ThrottleStop. Simply click on Disable Turbo and the Turbo Boost feature will be turned off. You can also set ThrottleStop to do this for you automatically. Set your AC profile with Turbo Boost enabled and for your Battery profile, check the Disable Turbo feature. Now when you unplug and plug back in, you can have the power of an i5 when plugged in and similar battery power consumption to the i3 when running on battery power. Send me a PM if you buy the i5 and need help setting this up or you can email me directly by clicking on the Info/About button in ThrottleStop.

 

Don't the i3 and i5 have different integrated graphics? (2000HD vs. 3000HD)

 

Yup. However, I only consider the difference between the two marginal. Both are considered "Class-3" cards based off of notebookcheck stats.
Comparison of Laptop Graphics Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

Thanks for the great info. Will be placing the order in the next day or so.
Will definitely contact you about Throttle Stop.

As I'm in Canada I am stuck ordering the Canadian version which runs the lesser
i5-2410 processor as opposed to the USA models i5-2520.

The bonus is that we get the matte screen up here.
But the con being we get the terrible bilingual keyboard.

So I will have to order a replacement US keyboard ($55) from Toshiba USA parts.

I just hope I can get 6+hrs out of this laptop as the battery life and low weight is what sold me on it (was considering the Lenovo X220 but I feel the 12.5" screen is too small)

What I have learnt from the weeks of research is that there is no perfect laptop .... its all a matter of compromise and choosing the "least worst" alternative

 

Couldn't agree more. Good luck with your new laptop and let us know how it goes.

 

There is a school of thought that turbo mode will not hit the battery life because it allows the CPU to complete tasks more quickly and go back to sleep. That's assuming that the CPU doesn't have significant load. If it does, then locking the CPU down to minimum speed will reduce the rate at which it drains the battery.

John

 

Got the laptop and its great. Wieghed in at 3.5lbs as opposed the 3.2 I was expecting, no biggie at all just strange.

So now to the task of getting rid of the bloatware! And does anyone know how I get a copy of the Win 7 Pro that is installed on my laptop??
Toshiba Canada Support refuses to send me a CD. So doing a fresh install without that is impossible.

The only other option is to delete what I think is bloatware but at this point I am not really sure which of the Toshiba apps are required and which not?!

 

None of the toshiba apps are really needed, only one i wanted is the FN key display one which i've lost on my new 64-bit install!

microsoft may provide you with a disc to re-install, saving that the contraversial method is download, not that i'm condoning that.

my slightly older R700 weighs in at 3.25lb i think it is, 1.46kg anyway with the solid state drive i've installed (saved me a whopping 30g ;-))

 

I think Toshiba tend to weigh their notebooks without optical drives since some versions don't include them.

See this thread about legal Windows downloads. However, check everything is working properly and use the Toshiba utility to make a set of backup discs before you wipe the HDD and reinstall.

John

 

Thanks for the replies and the links guys!!

The only thing I dislike on this laptop is the sucky "bilingual" keyboard .... english speaking canadians do not even get an option to select the US keyboard, we are forced to take the "frenchified" one!

But I think that will have to be a mod for down the road as it would invalidate my 3 yr warranty with them.