Toshiba Portege R835: Less Ultra, More Notebook
by Dustin Sklavos on March 30, 2012 11:35 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Intel
- Toshiba
- Sandy Bridge
- Notebooks
System Performance
Essentially what we're dealing with when we look at the Toshiba Portege R835's full voltage mobile processor is just how much performance an ultrabook sacrifices to hit that 17W TDP on the CPU. There's more to it than that, but there are also potentially some interesting wrinkles going on with the Intel Core i5-2450M in the R835 that may manifest themselves.
The PCMarks are always going to skew wildly towards any system that enjoys an SSD, so the bottom shelf 5400RPM hard drive in the Portege R835 isn't doing it any favors here. Let's see what happens when we shift performance squarely to the CPU.
The i5-2450M pulls off an impressive run, demonstrating that there's still a notable difference between a low voltage and a standard voltage chip. The R700's last-generation processor is soundly beaten by this generation's low voltage chips, the turbo-less i3-2367M excluded.
Without DirectX 11 support, Sandy Bridge graphics can't run 3DMark11, but 3DMarks Vantage and 06 demonstrate the importance of both having a faster processor and a faster IGP core. You're not going to be running wild in Battlefield 3 on the Portege R835, but nerds like me can still enjoy games like Magic: the Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 on the IGP.
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retrospooty - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
"My aforementioned laptop IS 768p, and I can do everything you just mentioned, perfectly fine. Sure I have to scroll. That's not really a big deal to me"That is exactly why we hate it. I dont want to scroll to click "OK" or "next" on every other window when I am working. Its aweful. Its not really about scrolling to read a web-page. Its about decision boxes and or buttons you need to click to process something, apply a change or make whatever decision your app or site needs you to make and you cant see the options or button because its below the bottom of the aweful 768 line screen. AAAAAAUGH just typing it pisses me off. LOL
tim851 - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
I have an 11" 768p laptop and I can't remember ever having to scroll for confirmation buttons. 1024x768 is the baseline for Windows 7, everything should be a-okay here.retrospooty - Saturday, March 31, 2012 - link
Its not.I deal with alot of different software, servers and IT related stuff. Its totally unlivable.
I suppose for a normal person it works.
KPOM - Sunday, April 1, 2012 - link
It's good enough in an 11.6" display, but for 13" or larger a higher resolution ought to be standard by now. Having more vertical real estate is a good thing.retrospooty - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
"I saw the resolution was only 1366x768 on a 13.3" display and just skipped the rest."Exactly. As soon as I see that it goes straight to the no way in hell would I but it or recomend it to anyone.Total deal breaker. My freegin 4 inch phone has almost that much res.
dcianf - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
Am I the only one seeing an iPhoto for iOS gallery on page 2?dave_the_nerd - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
Nope.Dustin Sklavos - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
Fixed.Colin1497 - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
Didn't I just read an iPad review where it was discussed that chassis changes were expensive? Toshiba has been in this market for a LONG time. This is now 8 generations of product named Portege RXXX and there were Portege 2000 model (review from 2002: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,7722,00.asp). I've owned a number of them, going back to the 2000, and it's common for them to keep a chassis and general design around for 2 hardware cycles. I wouldn't be shocked at all to see the R9xx have a bunch more changes.bji - Friday, March 30, 2012 - link
Here is how I read an Anadtech notebook review:Before reading a single word, skip immediately to the features chart on the first page. Look for the Display line item. If it says 768p, STOP. Do not read article. If it says something better, enjoy article.
Stop wasting your time reviewing notebooks with stupid display resolutions. I will not read them. Demand that vendors send you notebooks with worthwhile resolutions and refuse to review 768p notebooks.
Thank you.