Toshiba Portege R700: A Truly Ultraportable 13.3"
by Vivek Gowri on September 7, 2010 6:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- SSDs
- Toshiba
- Portege R700
Toshiba Portege R700—Performance
In all seriousness, the first step with this computer should be to do a clean install of Windows. With most other computers, it’s fairly easy to just remove the few pieces of pre-installed crapware--the Nortons and McAfees of the world. But with Toshiba, there’s about 25 mostly useless utilities that don’t need to be there. Online backup, a bunch of media apps, updater services, etc.
One of the few utilities that was quite useful was the function key mapping app. Once you press the Fn key, it brings up a listing of what the function key triggers are, so it’s easy to find. For someone who switches from notebook to notebook on a day to day basis, that was a godsend—you don’t need to hunt for each different F-key to change the brightness or volume.
Now, with that out of the way, we can get to the important stuff—benchmarks! With the SSD and the Core i7, we expected the R700 to fly, and that it most certainly did. The CPU benchmarks were on par with the HP 8440w workstation that we had in for review last month (which uses the same Core i7-620M processor). For a thin and light, especially one under 3.5lbs, our R700 test unit is powerful, easily one of the fastest of the breed. The lesser models with the Core i3 processor will probably perform similarly to the ASUS U33Jc except without quite as much gaming prowess. For the $799 R705, that’s pretty respectable given the aluminum construction and super-light form factor.
As a sidenote here, I must add that Peacekeeper results couldn’t be taken, due to a bug with the Toshiba fingerprint reader authentication utility that causes Firefox to crash. Did I mention that you should clean install before doing anything else? I’m personally not a huge fan of fingerprint readers in general, so I’d gladly sacrifice the scanner to use Firefox. Though if you’re a Chrome or Opera fan (or an IE fan, if such a creature exists) I suppose this doesn’t really matter.
For the guys that like looking at Futuremark results, here you go. The Intel HD graphics chip actually holds its own fairly well against most of the other IGPs out there, at least in 3DMark. The PCMark results are dramatically increased with the SSD, and in some sense are artificially boosted by the number of hard drive access tests in the benchmark. Oddly enough, the SSD doesn’t seem too much faster in daily use other than in application launching. Maybe because the Toshiba SSD in the R700 isn’t as quick as the Intel X18M I had in the Adamo, but it just doesn’t feel as zippy as other SSD-based systems do. Or maybe that’s just Toshiba’s battalion of utilities making themselves felt in full force. Really, it needs a clean install to bring out the best performance, I can’t emphasize that enough.
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bertomatic - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - link
While i agree I hate bloat/crap ware, and always do a "clean install".I'd like to see before and after results of all tests of this system, one "out-of-the-box" and one with a "clean install"
Thank you...
DigitalFreak - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - link
I agree. Even if you don't run the full test suite, I'd love to see benchmarks from both out of the box and after a clean install. If all the big review sites would do this, maybe the manufacturers would get the hint when they see public benchmarks showing their system runs like crap with all the bloat-ware.yyrkoon - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - link
I too agree that Toshiba has a talent for loading their laptops with bloatware. Just in case you're looking Toshiba. This is not a compliment.With the above said. I myself own a Toshiba. An inexpensive $399 model from newegg. This laptop as usual came with loads of crapware. However, I knew this going in, and what I could do about it. Since Toshiba is very good about providing drivers for most, if not all of their laptops. It was nearly a joy to wipe the HDD clean ( I actually bought a bigger HDD ), and retrograde from Vista HP, to WinXP Pro. Not one driver was missing. Although, some of the utilities such as the auto sense application that detects when an external mouse is plugged would not work. Big deal . . . manual touchpad disable is easy enough.
Now I am currently running Windows 7 Ultimate x64, and guess what. Not a single missing driver. Three distinct versions of Windows, and Toshiba has them all covered. For someone who knows how to use a system, truly. This is a serious major factor when dealing with a name brand. Here, I think they deserve a lot of credit.
So, perhaps it is not the speediest laptop, with all the latest gadgets a computer geek may/may not ever use. But at least Toshiba gave those of us who know how to deal with a bloated install an option. As it stands. For the money, it is every bit worth the cost, and more.
Longevity . . . well that remains to be seen. So far though, I am working on 2 years, and the only real issue I have is: Once in a while the fan port gets a bit of dust in it, and the laptop will lockup from heat. That is, about once every 3-4 months. A simple shutdown, followed by flipping it over, and blowing the fan port out with compressed air fixes the problem. Of course, before blowing it out, you will want to use something to keep the fan from spinning, so it doesn't burn out.This is less than ideal, but you get what you pay for, and this is something I am personally willing to deal with.
Of course, I treat my laptop with respect, and do not toss it around. In return, I expect that it will last every bit of 4-5 years.
Aloonatic - Wednesday, September 8, 2010 - link
No one likes the "bloatware"but doesn't it play a part in making the hardware (and software that you actually want, the OS at least) more affordable?It's a hassle to get rid of, but if it means that the machine is cheaper, then can we really complain too much? It's not like Toshiba are the only people who do it. Every machine that I have bought has had a fair bit on.
mfenn - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - link
Vivek, it seems like you've really found your voice with this article. Keep it up!seanleeforever - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - link
any possibility to get a Lenovo X201 and do a review?seanleeforever - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - link
by the way. there is no mention of the venting hole on the bottom? i know this is subjective, but i know a handful of people, including myself, would not consider any portable computer with vent on the bottom, you can easily cover the vent with your leg or some soft surface and overheat the system. this is, IMHO, a huge design flaw.Jarp Habib - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - link
Sony's VAIO Z has manually switchable graphics only. Better than ALWAYS ON ALL THE TIME but it's not Optimus. There's been some work hacking together Optimus drivers for the VAIO laptops, but it's certainly not official.saqqy - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - link
Those are comparable laptops with Core i3/i5 also starting around 3.2 lbs for an 11.6"Roland00 - Wednesday, September 8, 2010 - link
The 11.6 Timeline X models use ULV processors (18w TDP) while the 13 inch models use standard 35w processors. The fastest 11.6 inch Timeline X uses the i5 430um which runs at 1.2 ghz and 1.73 with turbo boost. The 13 inch Timeline X use the standard 35w parts, the 35w i5 430m runs at 2.26 ghz and 2.53 with turbo boost (a difference of 46% to 88% in clock speed).Now you don't always need the clock speed difference, I love my predecessor I have an 1810 (the predecessor of the current 11.6 inch timelines) which is based off an 1.2 ghz core 2 duo based processor. The form factor, battery life, price ($350 at time of purchase) were everything I wanted; and it is fast enough for school work, internet, travel, and amazingly WoW when you turn down the settings.