An exciting ultraportable Toshiba laptop coming soon!

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pianowizard · #1 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:04 pm

It was Gator who told me about this Toshiba Portege R500. It's the answer to my prayers:

2.4 lbs
Core 2 Duo
2.5" HDD
12.1" 1280x800 LCD
built-in DVD burner

What's more, the article says "In the third quarter of 2007, Toshiba plans to further reduce the weight of the Portégé R500 Series to 1.72 pounds, effectively creating the world’s lightest widescreen 12.1-inch notebook". That's even lighter than the legendary Vaio X505 that Sony made 4 years ago.

Forget about the X-series, or the HP nc2400, or the Panasonic Y5/Y7. I am getting a Portege R500!

#2 Post by **gator** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:14 pm

A pic here:

qviri · #3 Post by **qviri** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:31 pm

pianowizard wrote:What's more, the article says "In the third quarter of 2007, Toshiba plans to further reduce the weight of the Portégé R500 Series to 1.72 pounds, effectively creating the world’s lightest widescreen 12.1-inch notebook".

The fine print says "Lightest model configuration of 1.72 lbs is based on a 64GB solid state drive (SSD), a 3 cell battery and no optical disk drive." That SSD will cost you a pretty penny. (Though I suppose this machine isn't meant for the cheap among us anyhow.)

Impressive that they managed a full-size hard drive. The lack of a trackpoint is disappointing though.

#4 Post by **tomh009** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:10 pm

They say world's longest battery life, but not how long that battery life is, and then the impressive disclaimer:

Battery Life. Longest in the category of notebook computers which are under 2.4 pounds in weight, incorporate a 2 spindle design, feature a six cell battery and run Windows XP operating system.

That said, it's still pretty impressive, though not impressive enough for me to abandon the X series!

#5 Post by **Kyocera** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:12 pm

Sri, the pic is gone

#6 Post by **JaneL** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:13 pm

Yes, it is gone. I've taken a harsher line today re pics with no warning....

#7 Post by **gator** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:31 pm

Sorry, I thought the pic was small to be put in the "Off topic' section. Here is a link:
http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resourc ... shiba1.jpg

#8 Post by **gator** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:54 pm

Review here:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3769

Machine looks fantastic!

#9 Post by **tomh009** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 6:54 pm

That's some serious flex on the case!

Interesting that Toshiba is still introducing new laptops using the Napa chipset (rather than Santa Rosa).

#10 Post by **gator** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:54 pm

http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks ... Preview/p4

Turbo Audi · #11 Post by **Turbo Audi** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:17 pm

...anybody wanna buy an X60s?

snessiram · #12 Post by **snessiram** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 4:47 am

tomh009 wrote:That's some serious flex on the case!

Indeed, looks like if you carry it in a bagpack or so the keyboard would be pushed against the screen...

#13 Post by **gator** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:05 pm

This R500 gets 3G now:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/20/tosh ... -approval/

mattbiernat · #14 Post by **mattbiernat** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 1:12 am

snessiram wrote:
tomh009 wrote:That's some serious flex on the case!
Indeed, looks like if you carry it in a bagpack or so the keyboard would be pushed against the screen...

this thing would never survive in a backpack. honestly i think that for everyday stress x series and toughbooks will do much better. but i guess it is up to you whether you need something super light or something pretty light that can also take a beating.

furrycute · #15 Post by **furrycute** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:55 pm

I would be very hesitant to purchase something this fragile. If it can't take a beating in my backpack, then it's not practical for everyday use.

Sure I can just leave it on my desk and use it as a desktop replacement. Then again why would I need something this underpowered for desktop use?

sugo · #16 Post by **sugo** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 3:21 pm

gator wrote:Review here:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3769

The video shows that the keyboard flexes significantly.

furrycute · #17 Post by **furrycute** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 8:13 pm

Thanks for the video.

Wow, there flexes EVERYWHERE (these are MAJOR flexes), on the LCD, on the keyboard, on the back. I can't imagine how this thing will survive through everyday use.

You can only make things so thin before you start to compromise structural integrity.

With this new model, Toshiba will have its hands full with cracked LCD's, broken DVD tray hinges, cracked motherboards... talk about an over zealous obsession of form over function.

compnerd4 · #18 Post by **compnerd4** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 8:24 pm

Turbo Audi wrote:...anybody wanna buy an X60s?

Seeing it beside the X60 was REALY interesting!
Its wasome because it is soo much smalled AND have a CD drive!

#19 Post by **gator** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:36 am

Yeah, it is indeed tiny ... I guess toshiba will work out the flexing issues in the actual production machines, remember this is just a pre-production unit.

This laptop now became ever better with HSDPA, and has been cleared by the FCC:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/laptops/tosh ... 280704.php

I guess we'll see it soon for retail sale.

#20 Post by **ryengineer** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:15 pm

Well the review for this notebook is up. Based on that, it looks somehow the pre-production unit was better in some aspects.

Puppy · #21 Post by **Puppy** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 11:07 am

The screen looks really bad

pianowizard · #22 Post by **pianowizard** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 11:49 am

Puppy wrote:The screen looks really bad

This comment doesn't mean much, because FlexView LCDs are the only screens that you find acceptable and everything else is horrible!

Puppy · #23 Post by **Puppy** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:39 pm

pianowizard wrote:
Puppy wrote:The screen looks really bad
This comment doesn't mean much, because FlexView LCDs are the only screens that you find acceptable and everything else is horrible!

Well, but it looks even worse than X31 screen unless those pictures are bad.

On the other hand T61p WUXGA display pictures posted recently to the T forum looks promising considering what (crap) we can get now

Especially the backlight bleeding is getting better.

An exciting ultraportable Toshiba laptop coming soon!

An exciting ultraportable Toshiba laptop coming soon!

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