Toshiba Portege Z835: A New Ultrabook Appears
by Dustin Sklavos on November 16, 2011 2:50 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Intel
- Toshiba
- Sandy Bridge
- Ultrabook
Battery Life, Heat, and Noise
Despite the incessant griping about the pokey Intel Core i3-2367M beating at the heart of the Toshiba Portege Z830, there's one place where a low-powered processor can pay dividends: battery life. The Z830 may have a weaker processor than the competing ASUS Zenbook UX21, but it also has a bigger battery. Check out this running time.
For sheer running time, the Portege Z830 lives up to the promise of ultrabooks, being an incredibly mobile notebook that lasts for a long time off the mains. When you look at the relative battery life, things get even better, with even the Optimus-enabled ASUS Eee PC and HP's E-350-based dm1z putting in weaker showings. Intel's CULV chips have historically been big winners, and suddenly the i3-2367M doesn't look so bad anymore: it's faster in every way than Atom or Zacate, and more frugal with power to boot. That said, the Z830 also benefits from having an mSATA SSD which is also going to sip power.
All that battery life wouldn't amount to much if the Z830 was noisy or hot in the process, but surprisingly it's neither of those things. The fan has a very low whine when the system is idling that isn't particularly intrusive, and while that whine does increase in volume under load, it's still nowhere near as irritating as the fan noise is on most notebooks. Better still, despite the thin, flimsy chassis, the Z830 remains fairly cool to the touch as well. During our stress testing loop, no hot spots really surfaced: this is a very cool, very quiet notebook that's definitely fine for using as an honest to goodness laptop.
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jigglywiggly - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Why are all ultrabook makers idiots?Really all you have to do to make them sell like hotcakes is:
1600x900 screen for 13.3 in model
Super good contrast and good brightness
Offer matte and glossy
Seriously, if they had this then they'd be great.
tzhu07 - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Also, get rid of the fucking stickers to the left of the trackpad.Samus - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
The stickers are out of control these days. Please bring the AOL desktop icon back instead.GotThumbs - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
While I don't like the stickers either....Toshiba most likely gets discounts for adding those stickers. I'm Certain INTEL marketing department would have a problem if the stickers were not displayed. Intel is ALL about marketing its brand and does a very good job of it.Any low-tech consumer is dazzled by these stickers and assume the system is a good purchase. General consumers are mostly dumb and buy primarily on visual information instead of factual research. How else could Apple charge the prices it does for its computers and its crazy upgrade prices. If consumers checked how much 8 gigs of memory cost on NewEgg (40.00) ...they'd tell Apple to go screw themselves and then purchase the memory to install themselves.
General consumers are typically lazy....they are PROGRAMMED to want things NOW and screw the cost or lack of real features. I don't think Toshiba is marketing to AnandTech users. I believe they are marketing to Apple fashionistias, Because their price point is less than Apple and they are most likely targeting those buyers who want something like an Apple airbook, but for less and with windows OS. Most of those users only check email and FaceBook.
Regarding stickers......Simple solution is to remove the stickers after your purchase.
Guspaz - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
"Regarding stickers......Simple solution is to remove the stickers after your purchase."Easier said than done. I tried removing one sticker from my Toshiba Portege r700, but it was practically burned on. No amount of scratching with my fingernails gets it off, water doesn't help, it's like a hard plastic film that just won't come off. A heatgun is probably required, and I don't have one.
tzhu07 - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
True. Any time I have to Google how to remove something, I know that the original intention was for it not to be removed.Ushio01 - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Use WD40 just a little bit sprayed on a paper towl and gently rubbed over the stickers removes them easily.GotThumbs - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
They don't make it easy, but it's not impossible if it really bothers you.I know the GOOP adhesive remover is really good for getting the adhesive off once you remove the sticker. I've heard that cooking oil as well as well. I'd think twice before using anything that containes a chemical, but you can try WD-40 (suggested by Ushio01) at your own risk.
You may want to try using a straight razor blade on the edge of the sticker to start the lifting process. Fingernails are just not thin enough. Patience is the key to accomplishing the removal without scaring your product.
Best wishes.
KineticHummus - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
I have the toshiba portege r835, the stickers came off NO problem. and ive heard its the same chassis toonubie - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
Goo-gone is available at the "dollar tree" store locally. The hardware store has much larger bottles for under $4.There is also a felt tip pen version, which would probably be perfect for the laptop stickers.
I didn't know about this product for years, but it will soften sticky things like magic.