Toshiba Portege R400-S4831 Notebook

Toshiba Portege R400-S4831 Notebook

The Bottom Line
Toshiba's Portege R400 is certainly innovative in its design and features, but they just don't justify the cost of the system. Sure the system is stylish and very functional but they are really targetting first adopters with such a high price.

Pros

* Convertible to Tablet Interface
* LED Display
* EDGE Secondary Display
* Stylish

Cons

* Extremely Expensive
* No Optical Drive Included
* Somewhat Limited Battery Life

Description

* Intel Core Duo U2500 Dual Core Mobile Processor
* 1GB PC2-4200 DDR2 Memory
* 80gb 4200rpm ATA Hard Drive
* 12.1" WXGA (1280x800) LED Backlit Touchscreen Display and Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
* Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g Wireless and Bluetooth 2.0
* Two USB 2.0, Type II PC Card Slot and Fingerprint Scanner
* 12" x 9.4" x 1.3" @ 3.8 lbs.
* Windows Vista Business, Office OneNote, WinDVD, Ulead Movie Factory

Guide Review - Toshiba Portege R400-S4831 Notebook

2/13/07 – One of the most notable features of the Portege R400 is the display. The LCD screen uses a new LED backlight that provides a brighter display with more color definition. In addition, the 12.1-inch screen has a very sturdy pivot hinge that lets it be converted into a tablet interface. Once rotated, Vista's Tablet interface takes over and users can use the built in stylus or their work. Toshiba also built in a secondary OLED display on the front the notebook that tells status information such as the time, battery life and it can also tie into your email and schedules in Outlook. This edge display is available even when the system is powered down, one of the aspect of Vista's new SideShow function.

The Portege R400 has updated components from the previous R200 specifically to handle the new operating system. It uses the Intel Core Duo U2500 dual core processor that is a significant improvement from the Core Solo used in many ultraportables. The full gigabyte of memory is pretty much a requirement for a smooth operation of Vista, but really it could use a bit more. The hard drive is also quite sizable at 80GB.

But even with all these features, the Portege R400 isn't without its problems. This version does not include a CD or DVD drive either internal or external. This is a significant oversight for such an expensive system. In addition, the battery life is lower than one should expect from its dimensions and weight. A secondary battery is available, but that pushes it into the realm of larger thin and light systems. Finally, the price of the system puts it well above even many competing ultraportables that one really has to question if all the features are truly worth the price tag.