The good: Slim, upscale design; excellent keyboard and touch pad; includes Intel Wireless Display and built-in 4G wireless; solid value.
The bad: Missing dedicated graphics and Bluetooth; battery life merely average.
The bottom line: The Toshiba Portege R705 is as close to a perfect balance of design, price, and performance as you'll find in a Windows laptop.
Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/toshiba-portege-r705-p35/4505-3121_7-34213713.html#ixzz1Eqf0kwOe
The bad: Missing dedicated graphics and Bluetooth; battery life merely average.
The bottom line: The Toshiba Portege R705 is as close to a perfect balance of design, price, and performance as you'll find in a Windows laptop.
Review: Editors' note (February 16, 2011): Anyone shopping for the product reviewed here should note that it will soon be replaced with the Portege R800 series. The Sandy Bridge-powered laptops were first unveiled in Europe, and North American release dates and pricing are expected to be revealed soon.
Editors' note: The review below reflects hands-on testing of the Toshiba R705-P25 model. The R705-P35 here adds a built-in 4G wireless option, but is otherwise identical. As such, it retains the Editors' Choice designation of its predecessor.
We know that the quest for the perfect laptop is ultimately fruitless. Different users have ... Expand full review
Editors' note: The review below reflects hands-on testing of the Toshiba R705-P25 model. The R705-P35 here adds a built-in 4G wireless option, but is otherwise identical. As such, it retains the Editors' Choice designation of its predecessor.
We know that the quest for the perfect laptop is ultimately fruitless. Different users have ... Expand full review
Editors' note (February 16, 2011): Anyone shopping for the product reviewed here should note that it will soon be replaced with the Portege R800 series. The Sandy Bridge-powered laptops were first unveiled in Europe, and North American release dates and pricing are expected to be revealed soon.
Editors' note: The review below reflects hands-on testing of the Toshiba R705-P25 model. The R705-P35 here adds a built-in 4G wireless option, but is otherwise identical. As such, it retains the Editors' Choice designation of its predecessor.
We know that the quest for the perfect laptop is ultimately fruitless. Different users have different needs, budgets, and expectations, and tomorrow's technology threatens to make any just-purchased laptop semi-obsolete before it even comes out of its cardboard box. That said, the new Toshiba Portege R705 comes about as close as anything we've seen this year, offering a great mix of price, design, features, and performance.
The Portege R705 is a 13-inch laptop (similar to Apple's MacBook), which is the biggest screen size we'd consider carrying around on a regular basis, but also the smallest we'd be able to comfortably use for full-time computing. It's thinner than the current white plastic MacBook (but not as svelte as the MacBook Air or Dell Adamo XPS) and has a sturdy magnesium alloy chassis.
Toshiba lists this version of the Portege R705 for $899, but as of this writing, it can be found online for $749. A handful of business-oriented configs are also available (called the R700, instead of the R705), adding a docking port and a few other corporate-friendly features for $999 and up.
In this fixed-configuration retail model, for $250 less than an entry-level MacBook, you get a newer Intel Core i3 processor (the basic MacBook has an older Core 2 Duo CPU), a large 500GB hard drive, and Intel's Wireless Display technology, which allows the laptop's display to be beamed to a remote TV or monitor (this requires a sold-separately $100 Netgear Push2TV adapter that connects to your TV). Not to draw too many MacBook comparisons, but the R705 also has an SD card slot (as does virtually every Windows-based laptop no matter the price), and HDMI and eSATA ports--all things the $999 MacBook lacks.
Another advantage found on the P35 variant of the R705 is built-in support for 4G wireless. If you live in an area served by a WiMax provider (e.g. Clear, Sprint, Time Warner), you can set up service at the time of sale (you'll need a contract, but may be eligible for a discount on the hardware) or add it later by contacting the provider directly. It's yet another monthly bill, of course--and it'll certainly speed up your battery drain--but you won't need to have any extra USB dongles or external Mi-Fi devices in tow.
There are a few issues. The integrated Intel graphics are a drag, the keyboard isn't backlit (which would have been a nice touch on this slick-looking system), and the merely average battery life isn't quite enough for a full day of on-the-go computing. Also, out of the box, the hard drive accelerometer was far too sensitive, parking our HDD head every time we so much as breathed on the R705. Onboard Bluetooth is also a no-show.
Those problems aside, the Portege R705 looks and feels like a much more expensive laptop, and is our new go-to choice for those who want a slick 13-inch experience but can't (or won't) join the MacBook masses
Editors' note: The review below reflects hands-on testing of the Toshiba R705-P25 model. The R705-P35 here adds a built-in 4G wireless option, but is otherwise identical. As such, it retains the Editors' Choice designation of its predecessor.
We know that the quest for the perfect laptop is ultimately fruitless. Different users have different needs, budgets, and expectations, and tomorrow's technology threatens to make any just-purchased laptop semi-obsolete before it even comes out of its cardboard box. That said, the new Toshiba Portege R705 comes about as close as anything we've seen this year, offering a great mix of price, design, features, and performance.
The Portege R705 is a 13-inch laptop (similar to Apple's MacBook), which is the biggest screen size we'd consider carrying around on a regular basis, but also the smallest we'd be able to comfortably use for full-time computing. It's thinner than the current white plastic MacBook (but not as svelte as the MacBook Air or Dell Adamo XPS) and has a sturdy magnesium alloy chassis.
Toshiba lists this version of the Portege R705 for $899, but as of this writing, it can be found online for $749. A handful of business-oriented configs are also available (called the R700, instead of the R705), adding a docking port and a few other corporate-friendly features for $999 and up.
In this fixed-configuration retail model, for $250 less than an entry-level MacBook, you get a newer Intel Core i3 processor (the basic MacBook has an older Core 2 Duo CPU), a large 500GB hard drive, and Intel's Wireless Display technology, which allows the laptop's display to be beamed to a remote TV or monitor (this requires a sold-separately $100 Netgear Push2TV adapter that connects to your TV). Not to draw too many MacBook comparisons, but the R705 also has an SD card slot (as does virtually every Windows-based laptop no matter the price), and HDMI and eSATA ports--all things the $999 MacBook lacks.
Another advantage found on the P35 variant of the R705 is built-in support for 4G wireless. If you live in an area served by a WiMax provider (e.g. Clear, Sprint, Time Warner), you can set up service at the time of sale (you'll need a contract, but may be eligible for a discount on the hardware) or add it later by contacting the provider directly. It's yet another monthly bill, of course--and it'll certainly speed up your battery drain--but you won't need to have any extra USB dongles or external Mi-Fi devices in tow.
There are a few issues. The integrated Intel graphics are a drag, the keyboard isn't backlit (which would have been a nice touch on this slick-looking system), and the merely average battery life isn't quite enough for a full day of on-the-go computing. Also, out of the box, the hard drive accelerometer was far too sensitive, parking our HDD head every time we so much as breathed on the R705. Onboard Bluetooth is also a no-show.
Those problems aside, the Portege R705 looks and feels like a much more expensive laptop, and is our new go-to choice for those who want a slick 13-inch experience but can't (or won't) join the MacBook masses
Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/toshiba-portege-r705-p35/4505-3121_7-34213713.html#ixzz1Eqf0kwOe
No comments:
Post a Comment