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| Toshiba Portege Z835-P370 13.3-Inch Ultrabook |
The Toshiba Portege Z835-P370 is Toshiba's latest entry in a very competitive ultrabook market. Toshiba's aim here was to produce the lightest ultraportable laptop while maintaining some functionality and they've done a very nice job. The laptop weighs in at a hair over 2.5 pounds (which is about 3 slim magazines).
Toshiba Portege Z835-P370
Product Features
- Intel i5 Processor 1.6GHz (3MB Cache)
- 6GB SO-DIMM RAM
- 128GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
- 13.3-Inch Screen, Intel HD Graphics
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, 8.17 hours Battery Life
Processor, Memory, and Motherboard
- Hardware Platform: PC
- Processor: 1.6 GHz A110
- Number of Processors: 2
- RAM: 6 GB
- RAM Type: SODIMM
- Memory Slots: 2
Hard Drive
- Size: 128 GB
- Manufacturer: SSD
- Type: Serial ATA
- Speed: 5400 rpm
Ports and Connectivity
- USB Ports: 3
- USB 2.0 Ports: 2
- Modem: modem
Cases and Expandability
- Weight: 2.47 pounds
Power
- Battery Type: Lithium ion
- Rated Charge (normal use): 8.17 hours
Wireless
- Wireless Type: 802.11bgn
After reviewing the Macbook Air 13, the Zenbook UX31 and the Toshiba Z835-P370, I selected the Toshiba. In my opinion an ultra-book should include as many features of a standard size notebook as possible into the lightest, most compact form factor possible. The Z835 wins on the most ports and expansion options. The Z835 wins on being the lightest weight. The Z835 wins with having the most reasonable price. The MSRP is $1049.99, however OfficeMax had a sales promotion and the device was $949.00. On top of that, the Z835-P370 also had all of the features I wanted including the i5 quad core processor, 6 gigabytes of ram, Bluetooth and HDMI out. I also like the sleep and charge USB port which allows me to charge my Clear hotspot, a huge plus because I don't have yet another ac adaptor to carry around. The subdued styling works for me being as I'm not crazy about shiny / polished gadgets. The keyboard is great with the key spacing and key travel just fine for me being as I'm a touch typist. The keyboard backlighting also works well for me. The multi touch touchpad is one of the best I've ever used. The response is extremely fluid and smooth. I've stopped using my arc touch mouse, it's that good. For such a small device, the sound system puts out high quality sound. Between the speakers and the audio enhancement software, the sound is excellent. The sound is also great on Bluetooth when I stream to my Plantronics BackBeat earphones. I normally stream music from jazzradio.com, digitally imported or audio galaxy so I've always got access to great tunes. When out taking pictures, I either use the included sd card slot or use my Eye-Fi 4 gig wi-fi card to transfer photos. Everything has worked without a hitch. With the i5 processor, 6 gigs of ram and the SSD, the Z835 is extremely fast and has handled everything I've given it with absolutely no performance issues. Being as I have not been on battery power that often, I can't accurately discuss battery life. However all of the reviews I read give it very high marks for battery life. About the only complaint I have is the small SSD. I hope when larger SSD's come available I can swap them out on my own. For now I carry my 1TB WD USB 3.0 drive, which contains all of my music, pictures, data and movies. For my school and personal files I use on a daily basis, I sync with my cloud based DropBox account. The Z835, along with my Apollo 4G hot spot have become my complete mobile solution, it is that versatile. No more tablet or smart phone and the associated data access plans that come with them. In my opinion the Z835-370 represents the best overall value of all of the ultra-books currently available. The Z835-370 comes highly recommended.
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