R835

Why you can't buy the most popular laptop on CNET

While many of our most-read laptop reviews are of household name systems such as Apple's MacBook or HP's Envy, the single most-read laptop review on CNET right now is the Toshiba Portege R835. It may not be as popular on college campuses or coffee shops, but we absolutely loved this 13-inch laptop's near-perfect mix of design, components, and most importantly, price.

Even better, retailer Best Buy has an exclusive configuration that includes an Intel Core i5 CPU, 640GB HDD, 4GB of RAM, Intel Wireless Display, and even a WiMax antenna, all for $729. That version, the Toshiba Portege R835-P70, was easy to recommend as a great budget alternative to Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro, or any number of other more expensive 13-inch laptops. … Read more

Do we really need sexed-up business laptops?

We've seen a number of redesigned business laptops lately. "Not your father's business laptop." "A business laptop for the cooler set." Whatever you want to call them, these notebooks are defined by thin profiles, sleek bodies, and features more often seen on "consumer" laptops. In other words, they're trying to be business laptops in disguise.

The ThinkPad X1 and ThinkPad Edge E220s. The Dell Vostro V130. The HP ProBook 5330m. All of them are, in their own way, worth considering for nonbusiness users.

Why, then, call them business laptops?

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 reviewed: Thin, sleek 13-incher for the business set

Especially in an age of iPads and tablets, thin laptops seem to be back on the rise. Emerging into a landscape full of MacBook Airs, Samsung Series 9s, and Toshiba Porteges--to name a few--is Lenovo's corporate take on the thin, sexy 13-incher, the ThinkPad X1. We've played with one for a week now, and have finally emerged with our review of Lenovo's sex(ier) beast.

The ThinkPad X series has been alive and well for years--the x100e and X201 are recent members of the ThinkPad's ultraportable line--but the X1 is a 13.3-incher that's … Read more

Toshiba's Editors' Choice Portege R835 available for even less

As it is an excellent update to last year's Toshiba Portege R705 (one of the most popular laptops we reviewed in 2010), it's no surprise we also liked the new Portege R835 model. We just reviewed the $929 R835-P56X, with a fast Intel Core i5 CPU and outstanding battery life, and awarded it a very rare Editors' Choice designation.

And now, just as it did with the R705, retailer Best Buy has just put an exclusive version of the R835 on sale at a steeply discounted price. The Portege R835-P50X is $749 at Best Buy, while Toshiba lists … Read more

Hands-on with the Toshiba Portege R835

One of our most popular reviews last year was of the 13-inch Toshiba Portege R705, a slim high-end laptop that managed to pack in a solid set of components for around $800. It became one of my go-to recommendations for people who liked the look and feel of MacBooks, but wanted to either spend a few hundred dollars less, or had to stay on Windows.

But in 2011, the still-popular system was hampered by being stuck on Intel's previous processor platform, while newer laptops moved to the latest Core i-series Sandy Bridge chips, which offered both outstanding performance and … Read more