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Update: 1/13/11This will be the last update. My girlfriend and I broke up and she returned the laptop to me because she doesn't feel comfortable having it anymore. I've sold it on Auction on Ebay for $680.00. This is still a great laptop and I'm truly disappointed I will not get to see it again. I'm thankful for all the positives feedback I've been receiving about this review and I'm very happy to help out. As you can see, the reviews are growing slowly for this laptop so you should feel very confident you won't be disappointed in this laptop.
As for my girlfriend and I, we're not talking anymore and she's gone ahead and purchased her own new laptop, a Sony.
Update: 11/21/11
There was a few problems regarding wifi on this Toshiba where it wouldn't connect to networks that require a password within the browser (workplace or school network where it required your id number/username). We tried using an external wifi adapter via USB and it turned out it still wouldn't connect. I called Amazon and verified with them there seem to be something wrong with the Wifi, it would connect successfully at home or on a mobile hotspot but not at work/school. Amazon was very prompt and got a supervisor approval to send a new replacement laptop with free one day shipping. We tried it out just today at both work and school and now it works just superbly!
I'd like to give FIVE STARS to AMAZON for their great customer support, I've been buying from them constantly since 2006 and they've been nothing but fantastic towards treating me like their VIP customer.
Besides that, we now have a like new laptop again, and I'm not really concern about moving data back and forth to the hard drive because of my expertise in computers. I've been reading other reviews, yes this laptop is quite delicate but this laptop is so light of course it's going to be fragile! The keyboard seems just fine, it's not an exactly nice finish like a macbook but it's still just a decent keyboard. The webcam has not provide much issue, I webcam with my girlfriend almost every other night and I can hear her clearly and see her clearly just fine. She would even point the webcam at our fish pet and I could see the fish even in low lighting!
Currently my girlfriend is a moderate business worker and full time student and this laptop has been nothing but quick, fast, and lightweight for her. Even I'm enjoying playing with it now and then over my White Unibody Macbook.
Update: 11/8/11
Its been over two weeks. The laptop is still running strong and there hasn't been any problems at all. My girlfriend mentioned during her class someone complimented on her laptop stating that it's so lightweight and you don't see many lightweight laptops with an i5 processor. We purchased this case (attached item name below) and it fits perfectly and very easy to put in and out. There has been no issues with the battery life, it's still very long exactly as stated. The wireless connection has been superb. There has been some Toshiba software that may be bloatware, but half of it is actually useful compared to other laptops. Toshiba really focused on making programs that is truly essential for the user.
Case Logic QNS-113 13.3-Inch EVA Molded Laptop Macbook Air/Pro Sleeve (Black)
Update: 10/31/11
It's been over a week. This laptop has been nothing but fantastic for my girlfriend. No problems whatsoever. Very quick and fast at both starting up and turning off. There was some skeptical questions regarding the battery life. At 90% it said there was 4 hours of battery left, but once it went down to 70% it said there was 6 hours of battery left. Regardless overall depending on the usage, just surfing the internet and doing light word processing it goes beyond seven hours which is plenty of time away from a power outlet.
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I'm a very tech savvy person and have worked with all kinds of laptops from Toshiba, Acer, Asus, HP, Compaq, and Apple. I have to say I'm amazed of how great this Portege is, it's definitely lighter than many of their rivals, and it carries an i5 Sandy Bridge processor, and it's equipped with a large amount of ram and hard drive space.
From Squaretrade Warranty, Toshiba was rank #2 in reliability in laptops with the least malfunctions after three years, with Asus landing at #1. The reason why I prefer Toshiba is because they only make Netbooks/Laptops in the computing world. All the other brands they make laptops/desktops/all in one pcs. Toshiba however, only focuses on portable computing.
I've worked with the previous Portege, the R700 /w the i3 processor. The one thing that blew me away was that it's a 3 pound 13.3 inch laptop. The Macbook Air at the time was lighter but it didn't have an i3 processor. This new updated model though was a great find for me. I was looking around for a new laptop for my girlfriend. She asked for a bigger monitor than her netbook, much faster, and something that would last for a long time.
The screen seems pretty reflective in high lighted setting, say outdoor in the sun, this may boast as an issue for some. However, 90% of the usage on a laptop for many users out there is indoor. When using this indoor I see no problem whatsoever. It plays very smoothly HD quality videos with no lag. The brightness is very bright as well, I see myself turning the brightness down mostly and could still see just fine. It's bright enough on medium setting and it's LED.
The i5 2.4 ghz processor is one of the latest ones for laptop thats just about right for your everyday multitasking job. It also has a turbo boost technology that could crank it up to speed to 3.0 ghz if it needs to under big work overload. This is useful for those gamers out there or those who want to do photoshop.
It has 640gb HD. Usually laptops have 250GB or 320GB but this has 640GB!!! That is twice as big as the average laptop HD size! You will not have to worry for a long time regarding laptop space on this laptop. Trust me, if you're not going to be downloading many movies or plan to put 1,000,000 pictures on this thing, you're going to be really happy wit this large amount of space.
6GB of ram, this is what lets you run multiple applications and windows at the same time. 4GB ram seems to be the average of most laptops, so again it goes beyond the standards once again. You can run ten internet windows, watch a movie, and run a webcamming conference and that 6GB of ram will let you run everything just fine without any lag, thanks to that large ram.
Only 3.2 pounds. Tats less than a pound more than those really light netbooks out there. Netbooks go for 2.5 pounds, the Portege is at 3.2 pounds, and the Macbook Pro goes for 4.5 pounds. It's very ultraportable and can fit nicely inside your handbag/backpack, it's also very thin as well. This laptop quality is very durable material as well. It's not some cheap plastic material, it's actually well made like a professional. If you didn't know yet, Portege is a business designed laptop.
Lastly, with this entire processor, ram, hard drive space, and being ultraportable, how long will the battery last? It says on the standards it should be 9 hours long! That's amazing! I however have heard about tests and from real life tests you'd probably be getting 7 hours of battery life realistically. But the great part is that Toshiba has the "ecosaver" program equipped that really helps conserve the battery longer and helps you measure how much "watts" you're using.
Overall for the price, this makes a great laptop, and the best part is this just came out quietly this month, October 2011. I plan to update this review as the months go by to see if my girlfriend runs into any problems. But comparing this to my Unibody White Macbook. I think this laptop seems to be much more powerful and faster than mine. It's light weight, powerful with a great processor, up to date on going beyond the standards on RAM and Harddrive space, and long lasting battery life to get you through your day on the go. You won't be disappointed with this purchase.
Best Deals for Toshiba Portege R835-P81 13.3-Inch LED Laptop - Magnesium Alloy
I'm an IT professional and have used tons of laptops. This Toshiba laptop is very light compared to the macbook pro 13'', and has good battery life. Build quality is also good. However, it has some major drawbacks -its hard drive, BIOS, and customer service.The stock hard drive is 5200rpm which is on the slow side. Besides, Toshiba put lots of redundant software on top of windows 7. The result is that starting windows and some apps takes a long time. One resolution to fix the slowness is to get a SSD to replace the slow hard drive. Now here comes the 2nd drawback -its BIOS.
The SSD I purchased is very fast and supports Sata III. However, the BIOS only supports Sata II which forces the SSD to work at a much lower speed. Note that the Intel chipset built in the laptop does support Sata III; it's just Toshiba's BIOS disabled the Sata III speed. This issue applies to the whole R835 series and has been discussed a lot online. Many people have complained to Toshiba and requested them to enable Sata III.
To my surprise, Toshiba decided to ignore customers' feedback and requests. Their CSR is simply not answering customers' questions. It's very simply for them to change the BIOS and enable Sata III, but they simply choose not to do it. Very disappointed w/ their customer service attitude.
In summary, the price is simply too high for this handicapped device. Many other laptops at this price fully supports Sata III. Unless they fix the issue, I won't recommend it to anyone who wants to get the speed out of the money they spend (which they deserve for this price).
Honest reviews on Toshiba Portege R835-P81 13.3-Inch LED Laptop - Magnesium Alloy
Hi,If your wondering about getting this laptop, well, just go ahead and get it because it's great.(I own the R835-P56x, very similar)
BUT! Here's a few things you need to be aware of.
Pros:
-Super Light
-Great battery life(over 6-7hr on mine)
-Eco Mode actually works, brings power consumption to 9-11watts
-Fast CPU, Windows movie maker takes care of 720p content easily.
-Feels great, keyboard is fine with me.
-Plays Dirt 3 at 720p on med-high settings. Portal 2 on high at 1080p. Using .2559 Driver
-DVD drive in such a small laptop, it doesn't use the battery hardly at all.
Cons:
-Display doesn't WOW
-The hard drive is flippin slow. Buy a $120 120GB ssd from newegg.com. I got the Intel 320 series for 120 after rebate. Windows experience index now 7.7
-RAM, 4 is ok but I got ADATA XPG Gaming Series 8GB from Newegg.com WEI now 7.5
-Speakers are absolute crap but it's a 3LB laptop so I can't complain. The headphone jack puts out amazing quality.
***** BlOATWARE is terrible **** The first thing I did was find my student copy of windows 7 and installed that from scratch. You do NOT want Toshiba's recovery crap installed on an SSD.
-The mouse left and right are noisy but you can just double click in the trackpad. Also put up the sensitivity of the pad in the settings.
-SATA 3 disabled by Toshiba BIOS, 2 is more reliable anyway
That about sums it up. BTW, the bios startup is wicked fast, especially with an SSD. Go ahead and laugh at the macbook pro next to you.
Drivers you will need to download after a fresh install of Win:
-Toshiba Value Added(To make the keyboard functions work)
-Realtec Audio Drivers(I got them from realtec), windows standard drivers work too
-USB 3.0 Driver(From toshiba)
-Intel Raid Storage Technogy(MUST download from toshiba), it doesn't come out of sleep properly if not installed.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Toshiba Portege R835-P81 13.3-Inch LED Laptop - Magnesium Alloy
I own the Toshiba P25 Portege for the last 18 month's. It has been a very good lightweight Laptop. I concur with the other reviews in their overall opinions. I noted a lower price at ToshibaDirect at $799.00 this week. Ofice Max offers a similar model with 4gig memory for $799.00 presently.Just noticed Costco now sells similar model with a couple of extras for $799.00 OfficeMax selling the 4gig model for $699.00.
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