Toshiba's Portege R600 ultraportable gets the hands-on treatment

Toshiba's R600 ultraportable got lost in the din of Tuesday's MacBook announcements, but TrustedReviews got their hands on the 12.1-inch ultraportable, which replaces the crazy-thin-and-light R500 and goes up against some pretty tough competition like the VAIO TT. Not a lot of external differences here -- it looks identical to the R500 -- but the keyboard, screen, and overall fit and finish have apparently been much improved, and the bump to Centrino 2 and the corresponding 1.2 or 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo processors is certainly appreciated. Click on for a bunch of pictures of the new rig, including some teardown photos.

[wilcoholic @ Oct 19th 2008 4:54PM]

Still no competition for the 12 inch LG one who packs as much punch as a Macbook Pro in a tiny package.

[lolwecsan @ Oct 19th 2008 6:31PM]

what about the lenovo x200? It's 12.1 in. And it has more power than a macbook.

[HOOPER @ Oct 19th 2008 4:54PM]

Man, I still get creeped out every time I read an Engadget headline mentioning the "hands-on treatment".

[who? @ Oct 19th 2008 4:56PM]

It's ok, they only do that to smart, innovative, interesting things. You're totally safe.

[Rowdehaj @ Oct 19th 2008 4:59PM]

It's funny that, as Apple moves away from the metallic keyboard design, it becomes another manufacturer's trademark.

[Saad Rabia @ Oct 19th 2008 5:26PM]

It's funny that, as the whole world has been using a plastic keyboard design, it becomes Apple's trademark.

[Patriks7 @ Oct 19th 2008 5:17PM]

What's up with all these small laptops using 1.2 and 1.4 GHz processors?

[indeed @ Oct 19th 2008 5:30PM]

battery life

[Chin-Poh @ Oct 19th 2008 5:44PM]

Increased battery life, lower heat and power consumption. You seriously expect a 2.53ghz Core 2 Duo in such a thin and light frame without the bottom becoming melted?

[Patriks7 @ Oct 19th 2008 6:27PM]

No not a 2.53 GHz but something around 1.8 of the Air..

[lolwecsan @ Oct 19th 2008 7:44PM]

why don't they use an atom processor? They will probably start using atoms in ultraportables when the dual core version becomes available in netbooks.

[Patriks7 @ Oct 20th 2008 2:30AM]

@lolwecsan
Yah that was my whole point..

[meh @ Oct 20th 2008 9:49PM]

the 1.2 and 1.4 Ghz Core 2 duos are actually more powerful than upcoming atom dual cores cause they follow Centrino 2 architecture, not the crappy, cheap one Intel used for Atom:

http://www.techpowerup.com/70823/Atom_Dual-Core_Performance_Numbers_Emerge.html

[Ramin @ Oct 19th 2008 5:59PM]

Boy, I sure love those teardown "phoos".

[KilgoreTrout @ Oct 19th 2008 6:37PM]

If it aims to compete with the Vaio TT or even the LG it's got no chance whatsoever; if it wants to cut out its place in the sun it must compete on price which is the only drawback of the TT. But since it will surely cost more than 500$ in any case my MSI wind is a better choice, specially after it has been pimped up a bit

[iofthestorm @ Oct 19th 2008 7:13PM]

This is in a completely different league than netbooks. Probably going to cost at least $1500, and that Core 2 Duo is probably several times faster than the shitty Atom. If you're looking for a small, cheap netbook this isn't what you're looking for, this is an ultraportable real laptop.

[Paul in Maryland @ Oct 19th 2008 9:44PM]

On behalf of a friend, I spent most of yesterday searching for a laptop PC that would be the size and weight of a Dell Latitude D430 (3.2 pounds, about the size of a sheet of U.S. paper) but includes a webcam and be available in XP Professional. The choices are few. The ThinkPad X200 weighs 3.2 pounds but, like the Dell, has no built-in optical drive. That wasn't a dealbreaker; my friend already uses the D430 at work. But Toshiba's Poretege R600 does it all: D430 size, XP Pro, webcam, and built-in optical drive...while weighing just 2.3 pounds, even with its shock-resistant construction to protect the hard drive and keyboard!

The plastic-framed Portege A600 has essentially the same specs but is a bit less svelte and weighs nearly a pound more. But that's still no heavier than the Dell or ThinkPad. It still includes an optical drive. And it lists for $600 less than the R600. The A600 got my vote.

For North Americans, the A600 appears to be available only from Canadian dealers. But Yanks like my friend can buy it from Canada over the Web.

Europeans should check out Samsung's X360; it's not yet sold in North America.

[frank @ Oct 19th 2008 10:30PM]

The R500 sounded great on paper and it is ridiculously light but using one is a pain the ass. Being used to sturdier builds like HP and ThinkPads, I couldn't believe how cheap it felt and how poorly the touchpad performed. The screen is pretty tragic too and has an extremely narrow viewing angle. If they really did improve them for this model, it just might be worth the price.

[chuck @ Oct 19th 2008 10:33PM]

This is the thinnest laptop with a optical drive built-in, a bud of mine has the imported version for about a month now. his configuration is set at 1.89 Ib with a ssd and cd-rom. .7 inch at its thickest point and a real life battery time of 8 hours. The down side is that his version also cost $4500. But if mobility is what you're aiming for, this is as good as it gets.

[Telanis @ Oct 19th 2008 10:46PM]

"Ultraportable" is normally applied to smaller laptops, no? Ultra battery life doesn't really qualify.

[Nineteen88 @ Oct 19th 2008 11:45PM]

I was going to ask about the difference between the Laptops, the Ultraportables & the Netbooks. & where's the place for smart-phones & PDAs?

[Pyrex @ Oct 20th 2008 12:46AM]

The processor might be puny but it's dual cored. The thinking man's macbook air.

[Ian @ Oct 20th 2008 6:35AM]

MBAs also come with dual core, and not one of the pathetic 1.0 or 1.2 GHz C2D processors, either.

Too bad it only has one effing port. Good screen and keyboard though, so anybody looking for an ultraportable without wanting to put up with a cramped screen and keyboard could look at it.

This R600 obviously kills it in terms of specs, but as a unit, everything about the previous R500 was garbage. Trackpad, screen, etc. Specs were good, but the unit as whole was crap. Compared to the MacBook Air, and even the Sony TZ (which wasn't strongly built either)....was crap.

It has an optical drive, though. I wonder if the TT is the better choice.

[Peter @ Oct 20th 2008 10:28AM]

i actually don't see an integrated webcam on the monitor
it has been shown on all the previous photos.. how come it's now gone when coming to "hands-on"??

[losdrivare @ Oct 21st 2008 5:53AM]

I hope the R600 will come in versions without optical drive, just like the R500 did. Being a fan of ultraportables for several years I happily leave the external optical drive at home 99% of the times I take my ultraportable out. This would save further weight. It doesn't sound good to me that the R600 is specified to have a starting weight of 2.4 pounds (1.08 kg) when the R500 had a starting weight of 1.7 lbs (0.78 kg).

Also, I really hope they improved the screen. This is an absolute must. It was dreadful on the R500: uneven backlight, terrible bleeding and ridicilously narrow viewing angle.