Toshiba Portégé R835-P56x 13.3-Inch LED Laptop (Magnesium Blue)

Toshiba Portégé R835-P56x 13.3-Inch LED Laptop (Magnesium Blue)

Do your best work ever with the Portege R835-P56X, Toshiba's lightest full-performance ultraportable laptop with a weight of just over 3 pounds. The Portege offers a showcase of technological innovations and premium craftsmanship, as well as excellent mobile computing power. It features an impeccably crafted magnesium alloy casing with an ultradurable honeycomb reinforcement, spill-resistant keyboard, and an advanced AirFlow cooling system--enabling the Portege to perform better, longer, and cooler.

The Toshiba Portege R835 weighs just over 3 pounds and features a 13.3-inch LED backlit display (see larger image).

It's powered by a second-generation Intel Core i5 dual-core processor ("Sandy Bridge"), which provides breakthrough digital media management, content creation, and 3D gaming capabilities. With updated Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, the latest Core i5 increases speed automatically for whatever you're doing. And you'll enjoy a rich set of new features for a stunning and seamless visual PC experience with no additional hardware. It's complemented by the integrated Intel HD Graphics processor for up to 1696 MB of dynamically allocated graphics memory shared with the processor.

Additionally, this Portege R835 series laptop includes award-winning Intel Wireless Display functionality, which enables you to enjoying great image clarity and sound on your HDTV without plugging in any cables .

Thanks to the built-in webcam and Toshiba Face Recognition software on this machine, you'll enjoy a more convenient way to communicate, log on or share your laptop among the family. Other Toshiba exclusive features include a power-saving Eco Utility to help reduce power consumption based on your needs, USB Sleep-and-Charge port, and a hard drive impact sensor that protects your data.

This Portege comes pre-installed with the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium operating system (64-bit version), and you'll also experience new ways to deliver your best work with Office Starter 2010 ).

The Portege R835 is constructed of an impeccably crafted magnesium alloy casing with an ultradurable honeycomb reinforcement (see larger image).

Spill-resistant keyboard (see larger image).

Includes one USB 3.0 port plus a combo eSATA/USB 2.0 port (see larger image).

Key Features

• 13.3-inch widescreen HD TruBrite LED-Backlit display not only renders stunning visuals, but it's more as it uses less power (1366 x 768 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio). It also provides TruBrite technology, which makes images brighter and more vivid thanks to its anti-glare feature.
  
  
  
• 2.30 GHz Intel Core i5-2410M "Sandy Bridge" dual-core processor for smart performance with a speed boost (2.90 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology; 3 MB L3 cache). Intel's Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 maximizes speed for demanding applications, dynamically accelerating performance to match your workload--providing more performance when you need it the most. And Intel's Hyper-Threading Technology enables each core of your processor to work on two tasks at the same time, delivering the performance you need for smart multitasking. It also comes equipped with Intel Quick Sync Video, which provides accelerated encoding, decoding, and transcoding features (for converting video for portable players or online sharing).
  
• 640 GB SATA hard drive (5400 RPM)
  
• 4 GB of installed DDR3 RAM (1333 MHz; expandable to 16 GB)
  
• Intel HD Graphics with 64 MB - 1696 MB dynamically allocated shared graphic memory.
  
• 8x SuperMulti DVD drive with double layer support and Labelflash printing, which enables you to personalize your discs and keep them looking attractive and organized with direct-to-disc laser printing.
  
• Wireless Connectivity
  • With its integrated Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking capabilities, this laptop provides up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range using 802.11n-compatible routers as you would with 802.11g networks. It's also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found at Wi-Fi hotspots and in older home routers).
  • Intel Wireless Display capabilities, enables you to easily stream videos, photos and music from your hard drive, home network, or the internet straight to your HDTV--easily and wirelessly.
• Built-in stereo speakers
  
  
  
  

  Toshiba ReelTime.
  
• Included Toshiba Software:
  • Toshiba Media Controller offers simplified media sharing. Using an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, it lets you share videos, music and pictures from the media library on your laptop with compatible devices in your home entertainment network, or with other compatible laptops and devices, like an Xbox 360 game console. And you can do it all without moving equipment, burning discs or fumbling with cables.
  • Toshiba Bulletin Board is an easy-to-use organizational and productivity app that lets you build your own personalized space on your desktop. With Toshiba Bulletin Board, you can quickly and easily manage your to-do lists and calendars, plus create your own custom work area by pinning your favorite photos, documents, links and more.
  • Toshiba ReelTime helps you cut down the time it takes to search for files. The easy-to-use app takes traditional text-based file structures one step further to help you find what you're looking for more quickly. Accessible from your taskbar, it shows you a visual timeline of your recently accessed files--using graphical thumbnails--so you can easily identify and get to your files faster.
    
• Included Toshiba Utilities:
  • Toshiba eco Utility makes it easy to go green as you go mobile. Hit the Eco Button and you'll launch the Toshiba Eco Utility, which puts all sorts of easy-to-read information on your screen, and gives you the ability to adjust the power settings on your laptop. It also activates a light showing you're in the Eco Mode. The Toshiba Eco Utility lets you pick the optimal power plan for your situation. Choose High-Performance when you need every watt you can get, Power Saver for the least energy consumption, or Balanced as a perfect blend of the two.
  • USB Sleep and Charge offers a great way to keep your portable electronics powered up without requiring your laptop to be on. With this laptop's Sleep and Charge USB port, you'll be able to charge your smart phone, MP3 player, and other portable electronics--all without having to keep your laptop awake.
  • Hard Drive Impact Sensor takes the worry out of taking your most important files and multimedia on the go. Able to detect sudden movement along three different dimensions, the impact sensor (a complex system of hardware and software) helps safeguard your data by "parking" the hard drive heads in the event of a drop or sudden movement. And it works faster than you can blink to help protect your laptop and all-important data.
    
• Up to 9 hours of battery life (6-cell battery)
  
• Dimensions & Weight: 12.44 x 8.94 x 1.05 inches (WxDxH); 3.2 pounds

By 

SY - 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toshiba Portégé R835-P56x 13.3-Inch LED Laptop (Magnesium Blue) (Personal Computers)

I've had this laptop for nearly three weeks, and think it's great!

Summary:

Pros:

- Lightweight

- Clean and understated design

- Sturdy: most surfaces are made of metal (only the bezel, hinges, and a few bottom panels are plastic). You can easily lift it up by the corner with one hand.

- Battery life is good (7.5+ hours with mixed usage). Also, no "battery bulge" in the back!

- Battery is removable

- Trackpad has a nicely configurable driver (Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Mouse > Device Settings > Settings...)

- Value; saves enough money for an SSD compared to a competing system like a Macbook Pro (see below)

Cons:

- Screen isn't great. (It isn't bad, though -- just narrow in vertical viewing angle).

- Black color means you might be tempted to clean the keyboard/trackpad a little obsessively.

- Industrial smell coming from the vent in the first few days of ownership (now gone)

- When closed, the lid depresses a little when you apply pressure to the middle. I suggest keeping the included fabric insert thing to protect the lid from keyboard scratches. (Note that keyboard scratches also occur on other notebooks, including the sturdy Apple Macbooks, so I'm not taking off any points).

Overall:

I'm giving this laptop five stars because it represents a great value. I paid $835 for the system, and replaced the hard drive with an Intel X25-M 120GB SSD ($175). The total cost of my system therefore was $1010, which puts it in entry-level Macbook territory.

(Note that the SSD is very easy to install -- you unscrew two panels in the back, swap the drives, and clean-install your operating system).

Why the SSD? With the SSD plus Sandy Bridge processor, performance is superb -- startup is fast (15 seconds from button to login screen, plus 8 seconds from login to loaded desktop). Programs launch quickly, and shutdown is quick as well. I'd say the stock system with the hard drive is a bit imbalanced (processor is too fast for the 5400 RPM hard drive) but at least it comes with plenty of room and doesn't cost much. With this configuration, program launching and startup are slower, and you are stuck with bloatware, but the computer still operates reasonably fast.

-Comparisons with other systems:

Compared with the Air, the R835 (with SSD installed) gives you:

- more storage space (120GB SSD on my R835 vs. 64GB for the $999 11" MBA model)

--- with SSD, similar bootup times (23 seconds for R835 vs. 15 seconds *see 6/2/2011 edit* for MBA) and wakeup times (both about 2 seconds)

- a better processor (core i5-2410M vs. a core 2 duo) and more memory

- longer battery life + removable battery

- a DVD drive, USB 3.0 port, eSATA, VGA (no need to carry a dongle around)

- 0.9 or 0.3 pounds more weight (vs. the 11" and 13" MBA models, respectively).

- about 0.25" more thickness

Compared with the Macbook Pro (13" entry-level model), you get:

- $190 in savings (with SSD in the R835) or $365 savings (with stock HDD)

-- With SSD swap, you get performance gains compared to the MB. With the default hard drive, you get twice as much storage (640GB vs. 320GB, both 5400 RPM).

- Removable battery

- Similar metal build quality (Macbook pro feels a little sturdier, but weighs 40% more)

- 1.3 pounds in weight savings (!)

Compared with the plastic Macbook (13" $999 model), you get:

- Metal build quality

- an SSD (for about the same total cost), or $165 in savings + 390GB more hard drive space

- Better processor (two generations ahead) and RAM (4GB vs. 2GB).

- 1.5 pound weight savings (!)

So, I saw no reason to go with the Macbooks when I could get superior performance and save money, weight, and battery flexibility with the R835.

Compared to other PC systems -- It's thinner and slightly less expensive than the Lenovo x220 (but isn't as rugged and has slightly shorter battery life), and is very much cheaper and has a better processor (but has an inferior screen) than the Sony Z series.

In short, the R835 makes its Apple competitors look seriously overpriced (or under-featured, depending on how you look at it) and costs less than its PC competitors.

-My evaluation of the unit:

I liked the design -- it's quite sturdy (with its metal construction) and light (3.2 pounds). It doesn't feel as "dense" as the Macbook Air, but it's sufficiently sturdy and light enough, such that you can lift it by a corner with one hand. Also, it certainly breaks a threshold in thinness, so it certainly *looks* thin. The CD/DVD drive makes a great "but wait, there's more" parlor trick!

(The design also appeals to me because it's pleasantly different from the Macbooks' design. In my Econ class, it looks stealthy and elegant compared to the sea of glowing Apples. Funny how "Think Different" should now apply to a PC rather than a Mac...)

As noted above, the performance is good, especially with an SSD installed. The weakest point is the integrated graphics, though it's not completely pathetic; I was able to play Portal without too much choppiness.

The battery life is great -- I got 7.5 hours with mixed use (web browsing, spreadsheets, including an hour of Steam running). I estimate you get about 4-5 minutes per percent used (according to the Windows battery icon), or 400-500 minutes total.

There are a few minor drawbacks. For one, the screen is merely average because the vertical viewing angle is not good. Also, a downside to the black body color is that I obsessively clean it with every fleck of dust. The unit had a distinctly industrial smell when it first came, but now it's gone. Also, its lid depresses a little, which I suspect will lead to the keyboard leaving scratches on the screen (this also happens to Macbooks, which are supposed to be the pinnacle of design, so I guess it's acceptable). To counter this, I use the included piece of fabric between the screen and keyboard when I transport the unit around.

Despite these minor drawbacks, the system overall exudes great quality, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a well-built, fast, and highly portable notebook. I would strongly recommend replacing the stock hard drive with an SSD to balance the performance, especially given that the relatively low price (for this weight class) leaves some money to acquire an SSD.

EDIT (5/16/2011): PCMark Vantage scores for my system are here: [ ... ] . You can compare with other Core i5-2410M systems here: [ ... ]

EDIT (6/2/2011): I visited the Apple Store today. The 11-inch MBA started up in about 50 seconds (not sure what took so long), while the Core i7 MacBook Pro ($1500) started up in about 35 seconds (didn't have a chance to try the i5 MBP). If I remember correctly, the default R835 took about 60 seconds to start up. Again, the startup time for my configuration is 23 seconds.

EDIT (7/24/2011): Thanks to several reviewers for bringing this up: apparently, the motherboard does support SATA III speeds, but Toshiba disabled the speed, thus getting you SATA II speeds. This would mean that it wouldn't be too valuable buying a SATAIII SSD for use in this computer. I'll update this after I confirm this limitation.

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By 

NR - 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toshiba Portégé R835-P56x 13.3-Inch LED Laptop (Magnesium Blue) (Personal Computers)

I like everything about this laptop - it is light, powerful, decent to look at, has good keyboard and trackpad, and is not super expensive - but, and this is a big but, it make persistent and loud fan noise that is distracting in quiet office conditions. Sadly, this one will go back to Amazon.