Toshiba R700 / R705 /R630 Owners Thread

you can even use 3 monitors.... hdmi, vga and internal at the same time.....

 

Hello, I just bought a Toshiba Portege r705-p35 and I found that the optical drive seems to be "loose" on my laptop. When I push on it, it sinks in slightly. Is this normal for this line of laptops or did I get a defective one?

Thanks

 

its supposed to do that. It's part of the balancing mechanism, it's also the shock absorber if you are carrying it around...

Think of it as the anti-skip feature of old CD players

 

We bought two of these at my work (University.) One had a white hotspot on the screen (about the size of a 12pt letter O and very visible on a white screen.) Toshiba refused to replace the screen (they called it an acceptable error) so we paid to have it replaced, as to us it was a critical flaw.

Now the second 700 is displaying the same problem. I am not impressed with the screen on this laptop. It seems too cheap for the alleged quality of the machine.

 

You should not have accepted their answer the first time. The first level tech support probably has no idea that a 12 pt letter 'o' is huge, that it represents a lot of pixels side-by-side. I'm assuming they probably gave you the standard 'stuck pixel' response.

Second, I have never heard of the problem you are describing. And then you have two separate laptops with the 12 pt letter 'o'? On this or any other laptop (and they all pretty much use the same types of panels and cpus and such), this would tend to make one believe that something peculiar is being done to it that is inadvertently causing this. Especially since it wasn't doing it at first.

 

It is the size of a letter O, it is not a letter O. What it is is a bright hotspot, visible on a white screen (so I can see it now in the white part of this box.) The laptop was sent back to Toshiba and we argued with them for a week, but they would not budge. Nothing has been done to the machines, nothing has been modified, they are both "out of the box" and used by two different members of staff.

 

Hi, my R630 arrived. I want to replace hdd with ssd. I thought I will need to copy recovery partition over from hdd to ssd, but upon start and installation of OEM windows, I do not see any recovery partition there, only c:150GB and d:150GB. Any idea how to proceed? Can I install plain windows 7 and activate with the product key that I see on the bottow of the laptop (and another one I see with keyfinder app)

edit: ok, I see 7.3GB folder on d:
do you think I could try to use it by copying to SSD or (better) USB to recover onto new SSD disk?

 

I see that there is option to create recovery media on usb. anybody can help me by sharing English based recovery image? *mine is in German, I want to recover in English.

update: scratch that. I just need contents of HDDRecovery folder on d:
It is big folder (7GB), but maybe somebody would be so kind to make it available via torrent?

 

solved here http://forum.notebookreview.com/toshiba/521601-toshiba-portege-r700-clean-install-2.html
no need to buy Ultimate to change Windows language

 

Can anybody please give some input if their R700 or R705 makes a noise when turned off?

I need to know if it's normal or I should try to exchange it.

I Started this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/toshiba/528555-toshiba-r700-buzzing-noise-when-turned-off.html

 

Hi, I'm looking to buy the Toshiba Satellite R630-141 as its pretty similarly specced to one of the higher end R700s but I really need hardware virtualization, can anyone with a R630 with an i5 check the BIOs to see if it is available. I have seen earlier in the thread that its available on the R700 but it may be different between the business and consumer models.

Thanks in advance!

 

vtx is available on my r630 with i5-450m. vt-d will only be available with i5-5..m

 

Thank you, that's all I need, VMWare can sort out the rest. Saved me 350 pounds as well over the equivalent r700!

 

See here forum.thinkpads.com • View topic - White Spot on LCD? and here Justin Blanton | PowerBook white spots and here Bright white spots appear on LCD screen - PCWorld Forums

In other words, not unknown at all. And bloody annoying

 

I'm familiar with dead pixels. Heck we've probably all had the occasional stuck pixel on some LCD monitor we've purchased.

But what I thought was unusual, in his case was that it wasn't just some random dead pixels. In his case they were tightly grouped forming a spot the size of a letter 'o' (or maybe 'O', who knows ).

Then to have another laptop develop the same problem of THAT MANY stuck pixels all clustered together like that....

That's the part I was commenting on when I indicated it might be related something peculiar to his situation.

 

Well, its true and I'm looking at them as I type.

 

I have an R705, and lately I've noticed that when I return from hibernate/sleep, sometimes my screen's colors will look completely bleached out and over-saturated. Colors seem to bleed, nothing looks sharp anymore, and everything just looks "off". I tried adjusting the Intel graphics properties to "default" for every setting, juggled different power options, but nothing changes until I reset the computer. Has anybody else encountered this?

 

Of COURSE I'd figure it out as soon as I posted my problem. I'm guessing it must be Intel's wonky graphics properties, but as soon as I unplugged the laptop and went to battery, the washed-out, oversaturation display problem corrected itself. I then plugged it back in, and it's back to normal... Now just gotta figure out why it does this everytime the computer goes to sleep...

 

I notice that I lose about 5-10% of charge per day without use, is this due to the "sleep and charge" usb feature?

 

Are you saying that you are losing 5-10% per day with the laptop completely shut down, or in sleep?

I mentioned earlier that I'm losing around 45% of my battery over a 17 hour period in Sleep mode. I'm lucky if I can make it 36 hours in sleep mode after a full charge.

 

Try checking this post,

http://forum.notebookreview.com/toshiba/528555-toshiba-r700-buzzing-noise-when-turned-off.html

Maybe you can share if you also have this noise while off. I suspect this is using power. Are you shutting down the computer or putting it to sleep?

You can enable sleep and charge for AC only by unchecking the "Enable under battery mode" and that should not use any battery.

 

Oh god. I pressed the laptop to my ear and there is a periodic squeaking sound as if something was running. The sound is there even with sleep and charge feature disabled.

Yes, the laptop is totally shut down, not on standby. Bought it locally (Singapore, SE asia). Could this be a global thing?

=(

 

I just swap out a 256 ssd from dell xps laptop to the toshiba laptop, reload win7, but unable to get win 7 recognize the ssd, ms window experience stay at 5.9, disk defragment at enable. Both graphic and 3D graphic drop to 3.8. any help will be appreciate, thanks

 

you dont defragment an ssd.....

 

Yes, I mean to say win7, some how didnot recognize the SSD and set default to enable..

I end up reimage the laptop using the original Toshiba partition, with all the blobware and best buy stuff. Atleast this time, OS recognize the SSD. the WS is back to where it should be, 7.0 for the SSD.
What are some of the stuff do you guys recomend to drop, uninstall?

 

Id uninstall everything and install value package and the drivers ofcourse

 

Hi all, I really want to understand why the R700 dons not carry the same hi end components that Toshiba is selling to Sony like the full hd screen 1920x1080 and the raid0 256ssd the Toshiba r700 and the vaio vpc-z are both playing in the same category but the z has better component graphic card and screen !!!

 

I got my Toshiba Satellite R630-138 2 days ago and when I upgraded to an SSD (Corsair F120GB2) disk I got problems. At first the Win7 installer had problems finding it, then after a few reboots while I looked for a mass storage driver, it suddenly started working.

Then when I rebooted I got the error below and after a few resets it fixed it self. Until one time where nothing helped so I tried letting it cool down, and it helped.

"Intel Boot Agent GE v.1.3.52
PXE-EG1: Media test failure, check cable"

the cable seems fine.

Should this combination of hardware work together, is there something I am missing such as a setting, firmware or driver, or is there a problem with my SSD disk and if so how can I verify the error?

I have currently managed to boot into Win7 and I am writing from there. HD-tune think it is fine.

 

Ummm..., maybe because Sony is building the Z to sell for $1800-$4700 (typically say $2500) whereas the R700 is an $800-$1600 laptop (average maybe $1000)?

 

Different strokes for different folks. I personally would love to have an R700 with a premium screen. I ended up paying a lot more for a Sony Z, primarily to get the better screen. I am currently typing on my Z with my R705 right next to me. The difference in quality of displays is huge. Even if you ignore the higher resolution of the Z, the colors, contrast and viewing angles of the Z just make the R705 screen look like a toy. Its a shame Toshiba doesn't give the higher end R700's a better screen option.

 

Hello!

I'm considering buying one of this models, Portégé R700-18P (i5-560M) or the R630 (i5-460M). The question is, the performance of the R700 and his respective components worth the extra money?

I really need performance, battery life and lightness, i'm just wondering if the extra money we pay for the Portégé worth it.
I could use the fingerprint reader. (i'm a software dev, security/networking)

I've never layed my hands on Portége, only on the R630, but i'm assuming they both look/feel the same.

Thanks

 

A new bios update (v1.70) is available via the Service Station or by downloading it from the Toshiba support website. The update improves battery management.

 

I'm interested in the R705 and the T235. I tried the R705 at Best Buy and came away a bit disappointed at the lack of feel in the keyboard (especially the spacebar). I know the T235 isn't as nice, but I'm wondering if anyone has used both and can comment on the keyboards in comparison.

Thanks

 

I tried both - The T235 has a more traditional feel but the keyboard on the R705 requires less pressure to activate the keys. In the end, I bought the R705 due to all of the other features (e.g. optical drive, full-powered core i3 processor, WI-DI, etc.). I figured that I would get used to the keyboard and I have.

 

I can't find it for R630

maybe its only for R700

 

Does the R630 come with Toshiba's Service Station app? If you haven't already, try that. That is how I knew the Bios update was available for the R705.

 

yes it does, but there isn't any update.

I know (think) that they are the same notebook but I'm not going to try

why did they named portege and satellite if they are the same?

 

r705 exact same graphics problem. washed out display with very high contrast all last night. I tweaked and tweaked to no avail. Then I gave up....now this morning, when I was about to return the machine it looks ok...very disconcerting....

 

I have exactly the same curious color problem on my R630. Actually, even sometimes it happens the other way: the contrast gets low and the screen gets darker. And this happens absolutely sporadically, I cannot regenerate it myself. It just happens for no reason. Andit gets normal only after a restart. Anybody can shed a light to this please?

 

I am about to purchase a 700 or 705. Question 1 - how is the LED screen, comments?

Question 2. Is there really any appreciable difference between a 5400 rpm HD and a 7200 rpm HD? I will do office work and watch dvd movies when travelling.

Many thanks for your thoughts.

 

Also, what is the closest that anyone has to the screen quality of the Sony V and the all the lightweight qualities of the porteg 700 line. I would love to pay extra for the Portege 700 with a better screen.

 

It's been happening less and less for me now. But everyone once in a while when it does get super contrast-y, I just unplug my laptop, switching from AC power to battery, and the screen colors automatically correct themselves. Then I just plug back the power cord, and it stays ok at the default colors/brightness. Not sure why it does this, but thought I'd share how I've been dealing with it...

 

Thats an excelent news.

The battery drainage during the machine in sleep is really incredible

 

This really works, thanks. However, I don't really want to deal with it by such workarounds. Is Toshiba possibly aware of the problem? Have you read about this anywhere else? This is the only forum that mentions to this problem.

 

I don't know what causes it, I have seen it a couple of times on my R700, but it also happened on my Vaio Z. So, I don't know, maybe it's some kind of a Windows 7 weirdness...

 

I'm about to purchase R630 and I was wondering how bad is the fan noise?
According to notebookcheck.net is seems pretty bad:
The model that was tested R630-13J /Core i5 450M CPU & GMA HD
I was thinking of R630-13T with i3 and GMA HD ( shouldnt the fan on this model rotate at lower rate?)

" the maximum noise level of 34.2 dB(A) is still tolerable. The noise intensifies quickly with increasing load. The sound is similar to that of an airplane that has its turbines warming up for takeoff. It is rather high-pitched and basically fluctuates between two levels during 3D intensive programs, such as the 3DMark benchmarks. An average volume of a very audible 43.7 dB(A) is reached here."

 

how is the noise on the R700? Does it whine? Are the fans loud? Does it get hot?

 

For me: fine, no, no, and no.

 

Thats odd, according to netbookcheck.net: R700
" the constantly running and always-present fan bothered us, even under very little load.Under load (3D/PCMark), an average volume of 42.6 dB(A) was achieved, which is very audible. During the stress test-----rose to a a maximum of 52.5 dB(A) "

I guess I have to go and listen myself

 

I have answered this question many times. Heat is the nemesis for thin and light notebooks - It has nowhere to go. Toshiba has chosen to address this with their Airflow technology. With Airflow, the fan is used to keep components cool instead of turning on when they become hot. As a result, the FAN RUNS ALL OF THE TIME. The downside, of course is fan noise. In most situations you will hear a very low hum. When you stress the processor, the fan will ramp up to audible levels. No whine, though.

The upside of Airflow is that the major touchpoints (e.g. trackpad and keypad) always stay cool. The exhaust point by the ESC key can get warm but it is tolerable - I use it on my lap wearing shorts with no problem. My previous thin and light (HP dv3z) was always hot to the touch, the fan ran constantly at high levels, and it sounded like a hair dryer. The Toshiba R705 is twice as powerful, the noise level is significantly lower, and it runs twice as long on battery power. Win-Win-Win.

All laptops have issues with fan noise. But if you're extremely sensitive, a thin and light notebook like the R700/630 isn't probably a great choice for you. Toshiba has managed to make a system that keeps the heat down with acceptable fan levels by my standards. You'll have to decide if that is the same for you.