The Toshiba Portege range: for portability, power and performance
Positives: The Portege family has a myriad of benefits and features to make your life easier. Firstly, it has enhanced security options with a fingerprint reader as well as a suite of safeguards against shocks, spills and falls to improve durability. These laptop computers are light, under 3 pounds, less than an inch thick and ultra portable. The newest in the range, the Toshiba Portege R600 has a built-in optical drive, solid state drive, LED backlit display alongside two USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n wireless networking, D-Sub, an SD card reader and headphone and microphone ports. Plus the entire Portege line boasts some of the most eco-conscious laptops you can buy today, recently earning coveted EPEAT Gold status.
Negatives: Such a premium product is, as you may have already guessed, a tad on the expensive side. Also, for such a high price it doesn’t quite hit the mark in terms of its looks compared to some other high-end laptop computers. Plus, if you start nitpicking, the screen is only 5mm thin and a little bit flimsy, and some features like the WiMAX radio operate poorly.
Toshiba Portege Processor
The processer is the Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400, which ranks 5 stars with Intel. It is an ultra low voltage processor great for multitasking, watching videos, downloading and enjoying music, editing photos, and more. According to Intel, the clock speed, i.e. how fast a processor performs an activity, is 1.4GHz and thanks to an energy-efficient design, power consumption is kept to a minimum.
Storage and performance
The Portege family is primarily aimed at those seeking supreme portability capabilities. These models range from ultra-thin, super-light laptops―ideal for mobile executives or serious travellers, to highly flexible Tablet PCs, which help students with specific digital tasks.
Although the laptop computers offer a 160GB hard drive, it’s the 512GB solid-state drive that clearly separates Toshiba from the rest of the competition, performing to such superior levels that it blows any competitors away. For example, copying a 700MB file on a Macbook Pro (with a 320GB, 7200 RPM hard drive) might take 35 seconds whilst the Toshiba Portege R600 will be under 8 seconds…
With speeds blitzing the competition, the Toshiba Portege also has a built-in DVD RW drive and an ExpressCard slot, giving you backup storage and expansion options.
Toshiba Portege Battery
The Toshiba Portege R600 operates on a 6-cell, rechargeable, Lithium Ion battery. It has an impressive battery life that can uphold for up to 4-5 hours in rigorous testing, and of course even longer when being just casually used.
Toshiba Portege Price
Because the Toshiba Portege range is so great, the price ranges also vary from AU $2000-4000. The Portege R600 is around AU$3700.
Toshiba Portege Support:
- The Australian sales support number is 13 30 70
- You can find online help at either http://laptopforums.toshiba.com/ or http://forums.computers.toshiba-europe.com/forums/index.jspa
- The entire Toshiba Portege range incorporates a three-year standard limited warranty
