If you love your notebooks “impossibly thin and light”, then Toshiba’s re-working of its 755 gram laptop the Portégé R500 (imaginatively monikered the Portégé R600) should intrigue you – as it has the folk at trustedreviews.com.
Initially somewhat disappointed with its predecessor, they were “were delighted to discover a much improved machine when we got our hands-on on the Portégé R600 at Toshiba’s Mobility Conference in Zurich” – reassuring us that “problems we had seen with its predecessor were largely remedied.”
Whatsmore, according to Andy Vandervell, “nowhere are the improvements more apparent than in the keyboard” – and “the build quality issues of the R500 have been remedied quite comprehensively”. Also, with new batteries on their way (see here for details) – things are only looking up for the world’s trimmest laptop.
So pop over to read the full low-down at trustedrevies.com, and with it the interesting shots of the laptop from all angles – not to mention stripped of its tasty shell!
Never ones to have too much of a good thing, we’ve taken yesterdays popular topic of Toshiba-related conversation, the Portégé R600 – and are expanding on it. This time by focussing on a really rather cracking review of the lightweight notebook by pcpro.co.uk – who ensure us that with this stylish notebook “the devil is in the detail”.
Focussing on those all-important little extras like the better protected, and more flexible, screen “certainly we gave it a good old flex and it stayed in shape”, and embedded 3G mobile broadband which “with an extended battery - and an astonishing weight of 779g, makes this a highly attractive laptop for mobile professionals”.
There are some more basic elements of the device that have been turning pcpro heads too, not least the keyboard, which “is a pleasure to use too. All the keys are large and easy to hit, with a responsive feel” – nice, and what of using this feather-light (almost) laptop outside? “There’s a transflective LED display, and by pressing a single button you can make it feasible to use outside on a sunny day.”
To read the whole account of this laptop, pop over to the source on pcpro – or just feast your eyes on this pretty image below.
The world and his dog are attempting (or pretending at least) to go green at the moment, and for companies across the world, there is an entire dictionary of popular eco-related buzzwords that must be adhered too.
However, according to those over at gadgettell.com, “Toshiba are taking a different approach”, and are aiming to recycle 12 million pounds of electronics in the US by 2010. Agreeing to recycle any kind of e-waste, “Toshiba will accept any sort of electronics from cell phones to computer to video game systems, all without having to buy a single thing” – unlike Dell, who only deal with Dell branded items.
Even better in these dark days of economic decline, “Toshiba will even pay you for recycling as a trade-in (which, admittedly Best Buy has offered before). For example, my two year old MacBook Pro would get me $325, and a $25 Starbucks gift card. Not bad” says the correspondent “if I wanted to get rid of my computer.”
For more information, click here – and search out those old devices – they could be worth a few quid.
“I love it” is the resounding conclusion of the Toshiba Equium delivered on YouTube by 1234BlueBoy, albeit just a small clip of his 19 minute long, 2 part comparison of the Equium and his pal’s MacBook Air.
Focussing heavily on what he sees as a very reasonable pricepoint of the device, and all the features packed in to his Equium, it’s fair to say that he rates this notebook very highly. Take a look at the video below, and then follow this link for part 2 of his comparative review.
OK – so we all know that Toshiba’s Toshiba Portege R500 weighs less than 2 pounds (1.72 to be precise), and the fact that it’s lighter than the much lauded Apple MacBook. But how does it fare in all other respects?
Well – for those whose eye’s are a touch weary after a long day at the computer, allow the soft visuals and gentle words of our pals at logictv.com take you through the benefits, and otherwise, of this notebook.
This computer “offers the latest bells and whistles in an ultra-portable laptop with lightweight frame”, although there is an Achilles Heel – in terms of performance… To find out more just click ‘play’ below.
It seems that a certain proportion of the laptop-buying public won’t rest until they have the lightest notebook on the market, and it is with some delight, no doubt, that our pals over at infopockets.com have discovered the 1.72 pound Toshiba Portege R500-S5007V.
First things first – and we know it’s the question everyone will be asking, and the
answer is an unequivocal yes! “Apple’s MacBook air clocks in at 3 pounds and Lenovo’s Thinkpad X300 is still 1.21 pounds heavier than the Portege at 2.93 pounds”. So there you have it – and we’re saying nothing.
Of course, such demure laptoppery (I’m inventing words here) comes at a price,
and “if consumers opt for the “world’s thinnest widescreen,” at.77 inches, the notebook comes with an integrated DVD-SuperMulti drive. However, if you want the ‘world’s lightest widescreen’ you will have to live without the optical disk drive.”
More links, and more news today fresh from the Take a Closer Look event – this time from our good pal Steve at ‘Machines that go Bing’ who has posted a huge account on the launch of the Portégé M800 laptop.
Not only has he got a whole heap of information on the technical specifications, inspiration and information behind the notebook, but has even included some of the comments from Tim Jaekel of Toshiba based around the devices similarity to Apple products that Steve cheekily explored… Well, they did ask for tough questions.
Do keep an eye on his blog, which will be generating plenty of content over the next few days – and meanwhile, take a look at this short video of Steve’s experiences of the event.
Hmmm – What to do with those spare 8 minute intervals that crop up daily? You know the ones, when you’re between jobs at work, perhaps waiting for your pal to call with plans for the evening or otherwise un-engaged without anything to occupy your mind.
Well – you could do what joby866 did a few days ago, slip out your high powered Toshiba Satellite A200, and proceed to open every single programme that you have installed – and see if the laptop can handle the pressure. Whether it’s Halo, Paintshop or Adobe Reader - he just kept on opening everything he could find, and *wham* set it all to a funky beat, followed by that MacBook Air song by Yael Naim.
But does the Toshiba cope – or spiral out of control and die a squalid death? Well, I won’t spoil it for you (you’ll just have to watch the video), but I will give you a clue by mentioning just one or two of the comments made about the A200 show. “That’s a good computer”said one user excitedly, whilst another drew deep into his full powers of wordsmithery to produce the exalted gesture “Wow.”
The Toshiba Portégé R500 has been shouldering its way firmly into the blogosphere over the last few weeks, with a whole heap of reviews and opinion generated about the slimline notebook. As reported on Talk Toshiba itself, the 12.1” screen, and the 7-8 hours battery life have received particular plaudits from a number of bloggers – with forum posters speculating on exactly how the Portégé shapes up against the Macbook Air (rather well as it turns out).
Therefore, being a blog of the people – we’ve been chatting to Toshiba, and can proudly announce that we will soon be in the position to offer some sparkling Portégé R500 laptops for you to trial. Whether you’re having computer problems yourself and need a stand-in device, or are puzzling over whether to buy an R500 or one of its rivals – do give us a call.
All we need is for you to post your feelings about the device, be it good or bad, within Social Media space – so if you’re interested, just email us details of where you are active online (blogs, forums, twitter, pownce, facebook, YouTube – whatever) and we’ll let you know if we can help. It would be great to hear your opinion!
Also, just to whet your appetite, take a look at this trailer for the notebook itself…
Over in the Digital Spy forum, there is praise for the Portégé R500. alanwarwic came up with the ‘walks on Air’ epithet, another in the long list of fans who reckon that Toshiba’s latest beats the new super-thin offering from Apple.
FlatulentBadger (surely the best forum name ever?) looks at a list of the specs for the R500 and says ‘Now that is what the Macbook Air SHOULD have been’. He reckons that Apple have slipped up by not including features that Toshiba packed into the R500 such as the 12.1” screen, and the 7-8 hours battery life on one charge.
vinba has the last word, though, mentioning that the several he has in his office work extremely well, ‘nice machines, very light’. The big plus point for him is the ability to carry the laptops around easily; ‘in terms of portability and design, first class’. That is why he is a Toshiba customer and will continue to provide his staff with Portégés, not Airs.
If you are an established forum member or blogger and want to get your hands
on a Toshiba notebook to test drive, contact us and we'll see what we can do to
help.
talk Toshiba is sponsored by Toshiba. Comments and opinions expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of Toshiba.
If you love your notebooks “impossibly thin and light”, then Toshiba’s re-working of its 755 gram laptop the Portégé R500 (imaginatively monikered the Portégé R600) should intrigue you – as it has the folk at trustedreviews.com.
