Toshiba kicks out sexy new Portege M500 ultraportable

If you're weary that the shiny white MacBook may not stay that way for long, or just prefer your laptops to come pre-loaded with palm rest stickers, Toshiba has a trendy new notebook aimed at you. The Portege M500 sports a sleek 4.1-pound enclosure, "white pearl" (and black, too) color scheme, and a 12.1-inch LCD. Beneath the hood of this sexy machine is Intel's 1.73GHz T2250 Core 2 Duo processor, 512MB of DDR2 RAM, 80GB SATA hard drive, dual-layer DVD burner, a 5-in-1 flash card reader, and a built-in microphone. It also boasts a fingerprint sensor, "spill-resistant" keyboard, and a "Quick Play" function that plays back DVDs without the OS being booted. The M500 can be snapped up now, provided that you're in South Korea and have 1,390,000KRW ($1,489) to spare.

[Naveed @ Nov 13th 2006 2:15PM]

the screeen looks to small for the computer, seems they could have made it small for 12.1"

[Sandeep @ Nov 13th 2006 2:50PM]

I have an m400, and thank goodness they moved the speakers to the screen!! The speakers right now are right below the hinge, and are always tinny no matter the orientation of the screen.

Hopefully the m500 can make it here at a reasonable price...

[Matt @ Nov 13th 2006 3:46PM]

finaly a sexy macbook knockoff. and one i would like to have i might add

[Jimmy @ Nov 13th 2006 4:16PM]

once they release a C2D version of the M400 with a better vid card i'm gonna have to upgrade from my aging M200..

[ChrisN @ Nov 13th 2006 4:19PM]

Anyone know when the Portege R300 coming to the US? I've only seen it in Canada.

[sdsdv10 @ Nov 13th 2006 5:06PM]

Does 4.1 pounds qualify as ultraportable? Just wondering is all...

[Naveed @ Nov 13th 2006 6:13PM]

^ that r300 is pretty sweet

[ChrisN @ Nov 13th 2006 6:54PM]

The R300 looks very sweet. I'm tempted to just get someone to order me one and import it myself. WXGA screen, dual core, 1-4gb ram, 80gb drive, 5 hour battery, and under 3lb? I want one.

[James @ Nov 14th 2006 2:32AM]

Good to see more of these 12-13" Core2Duo notebooks coming out with 'quickplay', 'mediadirect' or whatever they call it. The Dell XPS1210 needs more competition to hopefully drive its price down.

[Topa @ Nov 14th 2006 4:13AM]

I wonder what kind of graphics this has...

BTW, T2250 is Core Duo, not Core 2 Duo

[Steve @ Nov 14th 2006 1:32PM]

There is a ANZUS spec sheet available: http://203.56.127.51/topic/pdf/DOWNLOADS/BROCHURES/Toshiba_Portege_M500_Specification_Brochure_19.07.06.pdf. Specs on this stock config (PPM 51A-00H002) indicate 1.66GHz T2300 Core Duo processor and 60GB (5400 rpm) SATA.

[Chris @ Mar 5th 2007 1:54AM]

Bought a M500 in Hong Kong about 2 months ago. Now using it travelling around the world. Mine has the T5500 processor and dark blue lid, so may be an update on the review above.

What a great machine! So well built, and so fast. Like all Toshiba's, it is loaded with pointless software slowing the otherwise fast system down. I have installed Vista Ultimate, and it now runs like a dream.

It is fast, quiet and runs suprisingly cool, even when running with restricted airflow on my lap. I thought the fingerprint thingy was a bit of a gimick, but with Vista's drive encryption, it truely is now a secure system. The DVD-RAM drive is quick and quiet and the keyboard far more tactile than my last laptop.

I think the only critism is the battery life of about 2.5 hours, but with a machine this small and light, I don't think I can really complain.

Certainly the best laptop I've ever bought, and if you after something small, light and fast for a good price, you've found your new machine!

Highly recommended on all levels.

[Karen chan @ Dec 21st 2008 3:55AM]

does anyone know how i can replace the dvd drive without paying couple hundred??? i have the pearl one and i haven't been able to find another like this. I LOVE my laptop but recently i've been running into a lot of problems.. my DVD DRive was destroyed and my my baby got a virus and i need to run the recovery dvd but my top's dvd drive is physically dismantled