Comments on: Toshiba's new ultraslim ultraportable

Toshiba's new ultraslim ultraportable

[richlux]

Yes, it will use SSD

According to Toshiba's website:

"*Lightest model configuration of 1.72 lbs is based on a 64GB solid state drive (SSD), a 3 cell battery and no optical disk drive. The Portégé® R500 with the solid state drive will not be available until the end of July 2007. Weight may vary. See Weight Legal Footnote at www.info.toshiba.com."

[evalowrain]

So??? How'd it perform

How'd it perform? What'd you use on it? And how user-friendly is something that small?

I'm so jealous. Drool....

[genotypewriter]

This is not small...

Small is my Fujitsu P1610, 1280x768 on 8.9" screen, weighing at 1kg (2.2lbs). The Toshiba R500 has a 12" screen, which is not small at all compared to smaller notebooks out there.

I think you meant to say "light" instead of "small". The lightness will only make it lighter to carry. I didn't say it'll make it easier to carry because I find smaller things easier to carry... and at around 1kg, a few grams more or less won't make much of a difference.

Looking at the specs, this should perform quite alright. But at 12" it's not really your secondary computer or your primary one... so something better than the dual core 1.2GHz, Intel's 950 graphics, and the single RAM slot would be nice. I'm not sure if the mechanical HDD on this is a standard 2.5" type but if it is, then the advantages of going for the 64GB SSD are not as obvious as it would be compared to a 1.8" (mechanical) HDD.

Also, in case anyone overlooked this due to CNET's reference to R500 as being the successor of R400, R500 is not a tablet! And did CNET say it's more expensive than the R400 because Toshiba's site is saying that the R400 starts at $2600 and the R500 at $2000?

I'm a bit reserved with the R500, in addition to having the previously said concerns, because of the screen resolution. I think these companies can easily fit a screen with a much higher resolution at that size. Some will argue that higher resolutions will only make things harder to read, but it's not really an issue since you can adjust font and icon sizes and Vista does a very good job at this (over XP).

Anyone in the market for this sorta notebook should check Sony's TZ and G series notebooks.

[allyTorrick]

R500 Club - Also another happy owner

Good review but the R500 picture you have I don't think does it justice. I love mine though, unbelievably light weight, and as thin as a magazine. I would recommend the RAM upgrade for it though, 1GB isn't enough IMHO. I bought my R500-S5001X from firstworldtech.com originally because they were the only ones who have them in stock. But also because they're an Authorized Toshiba dealer so I got the free 3 year warranty, and there was a packaged deal for extra RAM. It definitely helps the speed a lot.

Some other key points about Toshiba's R500...
-Option for Lo jack anti-theft (Yup if you lose it, they can actually find it for you.) This is the first laptop I know of that has this.

-Finger Print reader - Full SuperMulti drive , and as you mentioned an awesome battery life. The build quality is superb too.

Seriously recommend this for you guys who travel a lot. I absolutely my R500!

The laptop is great, but don't go to firstworldtech.com. That's a scam company. It's hard to find, so they say they have it. I discovered this too late, and now I'm out $2,148. I've been trying to get in touch with them, but they don't answer phones, or email or mail or courrier. I've finally had to file formal charges. Their site is still up, but I think they went out of business and simply take money now.

I finally got a R500 from http://www.softchoice.com. It took them a while to get it, but they did. The machine is really nice. Light, pretty fast, long battery. The keyboard is a bit mushy on one side. Also, I've had to install the "common module" several times. It seems that they get unregistered or disconnected easily? I'm not sure why, but every once and a while the all the toshiba custom buttons don't work and I've got to run that little script again.
Still, It's a great little laptop.

The other company has already cost me an additional $500 in attorney fees. Stay away from FirstWorldTech.

[denn70]

www.ice-drink.ru

[denn70]

Good review but the R500 picture you have I don't think does it justice.
http://www.wood-life.ru

[denn70]

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[denn70]

http://www.i-survive.ru