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Toshiba Portégé Z830-104 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £1097
inc VAT

Its full-size ports and backlit keyboard make Toshiba's Ultrabook stand out from the crowd

Specifications

13.3 in 1,366×768 display, 1.1kg, 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5-2557M, 4.00GB RAM, 128GB disk, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk
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In terms of performance, the Z830 is typical for an Ultrabook. With an ultra-low voltage Intel Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM, it’s certainly got enough power for most tasks. The dual-core i5-2557M normally runs at 1.7GHz but can Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz when extra power is needed. An overall score of 46 in our benchmarks shows the laptop can handle everyday tasks as well as some more intensive video encoding. The ZenBook is a touch faster, by a 100MHz, but it’s not a noticeable difference day-to-day.

Toshiba Portégé Z830-104

Battery life is equally impressive – the laptop lasted almost seven hours in our light use test – matching the ZenBook. 3D games rely on the processor’s integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics, which, as a jerky 16.4fps in our Dirt 3 benchmark shows, are only powerful enough for older titles.

Like all Ultrabooks, the Z830 relies on an SSD for storage. This not only helped it boot into Windows in a snappy 15 seconds but, thanks to an SSD’s lack of moving parts, the disk should be more resilient to small knocks than a normal hard disk.

Toshiba Portégé Z830-104

At nearly £1,100, the Z830 is currently at the top end of Ultrabook pricing. Its full-size video and Ethernet ports are certainly useful, especially for those on the go, but Asus’s UX31e has a higher screen resolution and a slightly faster processor for £100 less. If you don’t mind carrying around a few port adaptors, Asus’s model is, just, the better buy.

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Basic Specifications

Rating ****
Processor Intel Core i5-2557M
Processor clock speed 1.7 GHz
Memory 4.00GB
Memory slots 2
Memory slots free 0
Maximum memory 4GB
Size 16x316x227mm
Weight 1.1kg
Sound Realtek HD Audio
Pointing device touchpad

Display

Viewable size 13.3 in
Native resolution 1,366×768
Graphics Processor Intel HD 3000 Graphics
Graphics/video ports HDMI, VGA
Graphics Memory 384MB

Storage

Total storage capacity 128GB
Optical drive type none

Ports and Expansion

USB ports 3
Bluetooth yes
Wired network ports 1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support 802.11n
PC Card slots none
Supported memory cards SDXC
Other ports minijack audio output, minijack microphone input, 1x USB3

Miscellaneous

Carrying case No
Operating system Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Operating system restore option restore partition
Software included Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition
Optional extras none

Buying Information

Warranty one year international
Price £1,097
Details www.toshiba.co.uk
Supplier http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk