r835 worth the investment?

ive been doing some research via the other threads in this forum and it is as the title states with all of the pro/cons to this series is it worth the investment.

specifically looking at the Microsoft Store Online - Toshiba Portege R835-P55X - Buy from Microsoft Store

 

I like the portege. For it's price it offers a lot of features.

The only laptop I would buy over the Portege is the SONY-S series (which I did buy). However, you're looking at $1100-$1200.

I'm sure others will chime in. Good luck

 

What are your requirements in a notebook? If you start with a list of requirements like "must have" and "would like to have", you can pin down if the Portege is right for you.

 

You can see some other ultraportables in the thin-and-light link in my sig. 12.5" Lenovo X220 and Dell E6220 (outlet), and 13" Asus U36SD are similarly priced alternatives. The first two with expresscard slots and the latter with a GT520M. The R835 is capped to SATA-II only performance. X220 with a IPS LCD would be my pick but it's style is certainly not to everyone's taste.

 

i had a thread started in the "what should i buy?" section that lays out what ive been looking at

edit: http://forum.notebookreview.com/what-notebook-should-i-buy/604466-laptop-college.html

ive narrowed it down to a u36 or a r835

ive read thru the pros and cons to each model and the asus was looking like a sure thing but then i did some digging over at NVIDIA Forums -> Optimus & Hybrid Graphics and due to some of the issues the recent series of optimus eGPUs have been having it makes me a little apprehensive.

 

I looked at your "What should I buy" thread, I don't really play any games on our R835 so I can't comment on how it plays games that are graphic intensive. I did notice you put "not essential" for an optical drive. One of the big reasons I went with the R835 is the inclusion of an optical drive, along with the long battery time and low weight. If you don't need an optical drive, there are much more options for light notebooks.

I would suggest the R835 over the Asus, I am not familiar with the Asus model but even if you decide you don't need the optical drive in the R835, swap and put the hdd in there and use a SSD as your OS in the future.

 

If you read my thread "upgraded my R835-P56x " I am sure you will see what a great buy the notebook is. I first had the Samsung series 9 and MBA and returned them both. This is the fastest computer I have ever had & that includes the ipad. jimjoh

 

I like the r835. It's super light and fast. It's also easily customizable with hdd caddy and upgrading the wifi to get bluetooth. As for gaming, I ran L4D2 and it works fine most of the time but it does get choppy around heavy swarms of undead (I think it may have been to me being in ECO mode). Its a bit sluggish in ECO mode but regular mode it's pretty snappy and quick.