Toshiba R700 / R705 /R630 Owners Thread

Readyboost works like a charm on my r700-s1321.

I formatted a spare 8gb class6 SDHC flash card and dedicated the whole shebang to ReadyBoost (google it or check windows help...kinda like adding more memory). After cycling thru my commonly used apps a few times then rebooting, the performance improvement was obvious. Highly recommended and much cheaper than an SSD or true memory upgrade...although probably not as fast. Windows 7 64 bit will support 256GB of readyboost flash. I'm certain to get a bigger card (32 or 64gb) when the price drops.

 

This is the link that I used to set up Mandriva on my 7 year old Compaq which replaced Windows XP. I also set up another Vista laptop with Virtualbox to run Mandriva (although I wish Mandriva was the host instead of Windows). Until last week, I had never tried Linux so the instructions are fairly simple. Let me know how they work out for you.

The Perfect Desktop - Mandriva One 2010.1 Spring With GNOME | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials

 

I've been having some trouble with my USB ports.

The other day I tried connecting a digital camera via a USB cable and at first it wouldn't connect. Finally it did.

Today my Patriot XPorter 16gb flash drive won't get recognized on any of the 3 ports. Blue light on the flash drive will flash for a couple of seconds but then nothing.

Yet when I was giving a lecture earlier today and using a USB dongle in conjunction with one of those Targus powerpoint clickers, that worked fine. So it's not that the ports absolutely can't power anything.

Any suggestions? It would suck to have to send the computer in for repairs. Device manager says that the USB ports are functioning correctly.

 

I went to my local Best Buy to look at the 705 and I was told that it was discontinued and they wouldn't be getting anymore. The employee said that they only sell most laptops for 3 months and then bring in new models. Has anyone else heard of the 705 being discontinued already?

 

Thanks RunSilent. That looks really useful. I finally cracked it last night. It was actually not managing to find the mandriva ISO file when I rebooted into the Mandriva installer. I tried moving the file around, typing in path names, nothing worked. In the end I hit ENTER rather than typing anything in when prompted, and the installation began! I then saw the steps that you laid out.


Mandriva installed and booting quickly. Just need to change the resolution now so it doesn't look so shonky. Anyone know the video mode numbers for the optimal desktop resolution for the R700/R705/R630?

 

I'm gonna buy a "satellite R630-11L"....
my only concern is about "High pitched noise"... Because I want to use it in library...
So, R630 buyers, what's your idea about this problem? Do you have it?

 

I have the Best Buy-version R705. My Sony Vaio SZ-680 died over the weekend and I had to scramble to get a laptop for work on Monday morning. I decided to give the R705 a shot since it was readily available at the local Best Buy and pretty cheap at $799. Of course, its worth noting that I paid $2200 for my SZ two years ago. So the Sony was in a different league.

Size/thickness/weight: The R705 is noticeably lighter and a tad thinner across the entire body (The SZ is more of a wedge shape).

Build Quality: Not even close, the SZ is much more solid with less flex. Sometimes I fear my thumb might break through the bottom of the R705 when I'm carrying it.

Performance: I'll let you know when I get a chance to do a fresh Windows 7 install. The bloatware on this thing is insane. My SZ was a fresh install with a high end core 2 duo (at the time). Overall, even with the bloatware, the i3 feels a bit snappier. The fan noise is barely noticeable when I'm working on office applications. It'll probably get quieter once I do a fresh Windows 7 install. It definitely cranks up when watching videos, but I've never had a laptop where that didn't happen. The DVD drive is extremely loud when loading software, but I don't use it often enough to care.

LCD Display: I guess I took my SZ's screen for granted (Same resolution, LED). This isn't even remotely close. The R705's screen is awful. Black text looks blurry, gray and occasionally blotchy. Viewing angles are mediocre at best. I don't really care about horizontal viewing angles, but the slightest raising or lowering of the screen just completely washes out the screen. I never had that problem with my SZ. I feel like I've been thrown back into the stone age of LCD displays with this thing. I guess good screens cost big money?

Keyboard: I think this is such a personal preference thing that its impossible for anybody to draw an accurate conclusion from others' opinion. The SZ had a notoriously squishy and flexy keyboard. Some people hated it, others were OK with it. I simply got used to it. The R705 is pretty much the exact opposite. Very little flex, no squish, more tension and far less travel. I'm having a tough time getting used to it, but I'm sure I will.


Overall: For $799, it has good performance in a very small and light package. I'm definitely going to keep it, but I'm not sure if I can use it as my everyday business laptop due to its poor display. I'll definitely keep it as a travel/leisure laptop. I just wish Sony would come out with a cheaper Z series laptop without the graphics card (since i don't really need it).

 

I changed my resolution settings to "Automatic" and that seemed to work the best.

 

Thanks. My SZ4 is cheaper euro RM/B version, so no LED screen, i guess difference shouldn't be that dramatic.
What about battery life? My SZ never lasted more than 3 and a half hours.
For me Sony Z is not suitable replacement, because it has smaller screen, imo 0.2 inch difference is noticeable in real life..

 

post deleted

 

Hey guys, Just picked up my R705 a couple days ago and am really impressed so far. I love this thing! Not really a computer guru and I'm really interested in making this thing run as smooth and as fast as possible. I've uninstalled some of the boatwear but am unsure about some of the Toshiba added programs. Can anybody recommend a good windows 7 tweak guide of provide a list of programs that I might want to uninstall?? Any help would be great. Oh, what about battery life. Is there anything I should change or just go with eco mode all the time? Should I download anything from the Toshiba website?? Thanks, WM

 

Hello!

Anybody has found a better program for sending SMS and MMS than the included by toshiba?

Thanks!

 

Hello folks,

Another newbie purchaser, I picked mine up from Dixons duty free on my way through the airport on Friday and have so far liked it a lot. The magnesium body is beautiful!

Unfortunately, I noticed that when I installed BatteryBar the battery seems to have 8.5% of wear as soon as I turned it on(?!) which thanks in part to being in the middle of moving house I just don't think I will have the time to get a replacement sorted, so will probably return it.

A real shame really, because apart from that I haven't had any of the issues mentioned on this thread. It was a Satellite R630 by the way.

 

If you check around on the forums, you will find the 8.5% battery wear notification on BatteryBar common. Apparently, this reading has more to do with how the battery is designed to increase longevity than it has to do with actual wear.

 

hey guys, my r705 is starting to collect a lot of dust and i was wondering if anyone tried cleaning out the fan and the heat sink in the portege r700/705?

is it complicated (ie break seals and disconnect connections) or simple(just unscrew and vacuum)?

the reason that i am worried about opening it up and cleaning it out is because the last time i tried cleaning out my previous toshiba laptop, i accidentally broke a connection trying to open the back...

if you tried cleaning the heat sink, please give me some feedback on how to do so.

Thanks!

 

No need for an apology at all! I could have been some loonatic spouting BS. I am impressed and delighted you had the gumption to giver it a shot. Thanks for your lovely post.

 

I'm not sure how this works, but I've always found it picks up the maximum resolution of a screen and I've not had to pick anything but the default for years. 1366 x 768 is what I have, What does "shonky mean?"

Glad you got it going. Which desktop did you choose?

I am loving this machine.

 

What settings are you guys running to get 4-5 hrs of battery?? I unplug mine and I'm only getting like 3 max in "normal" mode. Do you guys run it in eco mode all of the time?? Any help would be great.

 

I do run mine in ECO 99.99% of the time and get around 4.5 to 5 hours of battery life.

 

A new bios update is available. According to the Toshiba website, the update "Changed the Thermal Control Parameter(s)".

 

hi all,

i have a strange problem here with my r700. after a bios update (from 1.4 to 1.5) i cannot access my bios-setup anymore.
everything seems to work as it should.
i have to say that i setup a supervisor password the first time i powered on. i updated bios, was kindly asked for my password after power on and the boot procedure was continuing.
i installed software all day long (linux) and powered off after some time.
since then after power on:
no bios password question
no chance to get in bios setup (tried ESC, F2, F12, Ctrl+P, holding down keys...)
after reboot -> no toshiba logo
after power on -> toshiba logo
if i do power on and hold the F2 key down til the toshiba logo appears, the system reboots!

very strange stuff...
any ideas?

thx,
neolock

 

I'm using the InstantOn version, so there is no choice of desktop, and no automatic desktop resizing. As a result it looks pretty shoddy. It also doesn't boot in the promised 10 seconds. It's not much shorter boot than Windows 7. I just wanted something to help me eek out more battery life when watching video on the go.

I wondered if Toshiba have a fast boot OS they use for their netbooks? Maybe this could be ported over to the r700/r630.

 

Well, I went ahead and did a clean install and it was ridiculously easy. The results are as expected: the computer runs faster, I have less crap floating around my system, and I feel like my computer belongs to me. If anyone is considering doing this, I can't recommend it enough. I've started a new thread on it with full instructions here.

Only sad news is it doesn't cure CPU whine. Oh well. I'll move to the city. :cocktail:

 

Hey nichtich,

do you have the replacement yet? I'm thinking about returning my R630 because of the noiselevel (min. 43% fanspeed), so I'm very interested if your replacement could also solve the fan issue!

edit: has anyone noticed any differences with the new Bios?

 

i really like the look and sound of these laptops. However all the posts in this thread are putting me off.

i can always hear those high pitched noises, and everyone speaking of them in this thread is putting me off. Is it really as bad as people make out? Has anyone tried the new bios yet to see if it helps at all?

I would just go elseware and buy another laptop but the Asus U35Jc seems to have high pitched noises too, along with pretty much every other i core laptop.

 

Im sorry to say this but the high pitch noise is VERY VERY frustrating.

If u are like me ad notice these noises easily you will get frustrated.

PS: i havent tried new BIOS yet

 

Browsing the forums, it seems the high-pitched noise is common for the Intel core i5-7 series regardless of manufacturer. I have the i3 Portege R705 and I don't notice it. Is it there and my 46 year old ears don't hear it? What are the rest of you with i3 experiencing?

 

I have a 1330 (i7) and don't notice the whine, I guess maybe because my fan is constantly on. But, I do have the battery drain issue, regardless if in standby or hibernate. I would assume it would happen when completely off but I haven't tested this. It is quite annoying, especially if i don't use it for a day and come back to a half charged battery. Next step is calling Toshiba.

 

hey, ive got a similar issue to him and some guys who posted a few pages back. when i shut down the laptop completely and leave it overnight, the battery decreases to 98~99% charge level. any one else can confirm if this is normal?? thanks.

 

Has anyone noticed fanspeeds less than 43%?

Just took a look at the real CPU temperatures (not the toshiba percentages) and found out that it is running at 25-27°C in idle. Though this is a very low temperature the fan won't go less 43%.
I think it is a restriction by Toshiba, but I don't really like it because the fan is definately noticable. The BIOS update didn't change anything.

Can you confirm this observations for other models (got the Satellite R630 here)?

 

Hello,

same here. I have also a R630 and the the minimum speed of the fan is around 43% and the notebook is really cold at the same time. So there is no need for this.

I hope toshiba will releas new bios update (at the moment its running with version 1.6) which is fixing this problem, otherwise I think I must return the notebook..

I have also opened a thread in the toshiba support forums about this problem:

Toshiba Support Forums: Satellite R630 - Fan is running all the ...

Best regards,
Imk82

 

I am very annoyed by high pitched whines, but my i3 R705 is totally silent. No high pitched noises at all. And my fan rarely revs up during the day.

 

Personally, I'm much more annoyed by all the high pitched whiners on here than I am any noises coming out of my computer.

Fwiw, we all used to have CRT's on our desks, they of course emit a very loud 15-20KHz whine, desktops have always had loud fans (much louder than what we have in these laptops). Hard drives used to be much louder than they are now. Seems to me that any little noises coming from the motherboard have always been masked by much louder ones.
Now that the other ones are mostly gone, it's amusing to hear people go on and on about the little bit that remains.

It kind of comes across like ignoring everything beautiful about a diamond while fixating on the one microscopic flaw. Compared to anything we had just a few short years ago, these things really are amazing diamonds.

 

As it turns out, there is an updated 705 model, now the P35 which seems to be the same as the 25 with WiMax added. The price is 779.99.

 

I took a look at this issue last night and also noticed a heavy battery drain while in standby. Over 3 1/2 hours (yes, short night ) the R630 lost nearly 10% battery!

I will also ask for a replacement now, to see if this solves the problem...

@Oscar2: in a way you are absolutely right. The expectations are very high nowadays, but there otherwise are also laptops (and even older ones) which don't have any noise issue at all! My 4 year old Latitude D620 was nearly perfect in case of noise level.
I can understand everybody who is unsatisfied spending 1000$ and getting any kind of annoying noise, when there are (or even better: have been) other models which don't have any issue with that.

 

hello friends, it's been a day i joined the club
i installed a fresh win7 ultimate, and having problems with the drivers
i couldnt make the wireless driver work, as well as the one related with the function fn key, there used to be some sort of animation-like thing on the top of the screen when i press fn key but after the formatting i couldnt get it back, one another problem is that the little button for disabling touchpad is not working either. i'd appriciate any help, thanks in advance

 

I've finally bought this case for the r700:

http://www.tucanousa.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BFITS

and it fits PERFECT, very good item!

 

i read the pages of this topic, and found out osd on screen display for fn key, as told i installed added value package but stil there is not screen display when i press fn key does anyone know how to fix this problem?

 

I'm seeing something very similar with my R705. I'm losing around 45% of my battery over a 17 hour period in standby. I'm wondering if a fresh install of Windows 7 will help? Is it a crapware issue?

 

I don't think so. I have an early asus netbook that had this same problem. It would constantly draw power even when completely off. Unfortunately, it was a hardware issue and could not be fixed with software. I am hoping this is not the same thing, espcially for a $1500+ laptop.

 

Not sure if anyone has posted this but the Toshiba website (at least the US version) now let's you 'build' your own R700. Processor starts with an i5-560M but you can upgrade many things: processor, memory, HD (including SSD), webcam, add WiMax. Not a huge amount of customization and you will probably pay more than equivalent pre-config'ed models but the options have increased! You end up with a Portege R700-ST1303 laptop as they are calling this custom model.

Too late for me but I am quite happy with my S1311.

 

Hello Neolock,

hav you found a solution for your problem? I have the same..but without bios update, I've just set a supervisor password. Now I can't get into the bios anymore..!

Has any body an idea? I need help!

Best regards,
Imk82

 

I have the canadian version of the r700. I noticed somtimes when I am watching a youtube video, the video shows up green and grainy... Is it that because of the graphics card on the r700? I had an older 5 year old Gateway that never had that problem and I recently got the r700 in August.

 

Sorry, I dont know if this has been repeated and repeated and doing a search doesnt get me to a specific page ...

So here is my question ...

I try to search for a bluetooth module on ebay and it comes up empty. I am thinking of getting a R705 at BB but wonder if anyone has open up their R705 and put in a bluetooth chip.

Thanks!

 

Anyone knows how to open screen panel on R630?

My RC helicopters remote just fell from shelf on my R630 and it has a crack now.. Needs a bit fixing. That magnesium alloy honeycomb case works really well, from crash thought the screen would be totally f*cked up, but it works just fine, just a little hole that's is all left on the case by the impact of ~1kg remote control that landed directly on my notebook from more then a meter height..



So I believe I just need to remove the screen and will be able to push the crack from other side. Just can't find how to open it.. Maybe screws are under the rubber feet on the screen frame?

 

Hello all - recently became an owner of an R630, had it for about a week now and am loving every second.

One thing I am considering, however, is an SSD upgrade. I notice that several posters here have mentioned that they have installed SSD drives, so I was wondering if they might like to talk about some of the options and decisions that were available to them (Crucial, Intel, etc) and about ease of installation, etc.

 

As I reported some weeks ago, I was very annoyed about the fan noise of my R630 and ordered a replacement. Indeed the fan was better on the new R630 when I compared both side by side! But the difference was very subtle: The actual fan noise level was the same on both. But during the fan speed was changing, the old R630 whined more annoying. This was a problem! But I wouldn't say, it solved the fan issue in general (in other words: the fan is still way to loud for me, when i'm in quite room). Anyway: the last weeks i've used my laptop a lot on the way and in more crowded rooms and realized, that the fan isn't noticeable then. So I'm happy now with my R630.

 

Intel 80GB G2 is nice because it's a bit bigger than standard SSDs. I believe the perfect size for Win 7 machine... but on the other hand, Kinston V (V+) 64GB is a lot cheaper. And with all Intel, Kinston, OCZ you will see a huge speed difference compared to HDD (faster boot, better app, games load time, encryption, file coping and extraction). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGhsK57PUaA

 

Thanks for the feedback. Sad to hear the replacement didn't improve the noiselevel. However, you are right in saying the fan isn't noticable in loud surroundings. Thats exactly what convinced me to keep it.

As I said some posts before, I don't like to pay so much money for a noisy laptop if there are others which can do that better. The only problem is: at the moment there is no 13" laptop with that performance without any noise level! You'll have the same issue with HP's 5320m or Sony's Z12 (which are the only comparable devices for me).

Did you notice any problems with battery drain during standby?

Funny thing I noticed today: The R630 I want to return has a i5 520m, but it is only sold with a i450m in Germany!

 

im expiriencing the noise with i3 installed