Toshiba Portege A605: just like the R500, only different (and heavier)

Just when you thought you were safe from the overwhelming spate of laptops we saw last week, Toshiba strikes again with the Portege A605. This notebook is based on the R500, but where the R500 measures .77-inches thick and weighs in at 2.4 pounds, the A605 is a relative behemoth at 1.18-inches thick and over 3 pounds. And unlike the R500 series, there are no SSD options available. Other than that, you get just what you'd expect: a 12.1-inch LED backlit screen, Core 2 Duo processor, 3GB of RAM, 250GB SATA hard drive, DVD burner, and the promise of almost seven hours of battery life. Prices start at $1,399, hit the read link for more info.

[lowdef @ Oct 21st 2008 6:18PM]

portege? not portage?

[happy_penguin @ Oct 21st 2008 6:24PM]

Portege, yes. It's been a line from Toshiba for at least a decade, probably more.

[lowdef @ Oct 21st 2008 6:32PM]

my bad

[happy_penguin @ Oct 21st 2008 6:41PM]

No bad. Just answering your question and offering a bit of information. :)

[Lowest Ranked @ Oct 21st 2008 8:12PM]

You are way too happy for a penguin.

[Ian @ Oct 21st 2008 6:46PM]

But the R500 was flimsy. I'm not sure if the extra weight is a bad thing.

[Boards of Canada @ Oct 21st 2008 10:18PM]

heu... is it me or... 3 pound, 12 inches LED, D2core, 3gb and 250gb + 7 hours of battery for 1399$ is way better that the fruit laptop in the post above..?! but nobody care of course...

[dubya @ Oct 22nd 2008 9:59AM]

You are correct of course. I'm not sure why Apple won't make a replacement for the 12" Powebooks. Maybe it's screen price. Cheap-o laptops seem to be 14". I hope the Inspiron 12 will be a decent replacement for my slowly dying iBook G4.

[dubya @ Oct 22nd 2008 10:03AM]

argh. cheapo screens seem to be < 10" or > 14"...

[Bender @ Oct 21st 2008 11:41PM]

The upcoming R600 is far more like the R500, this A605 is a different line.

[Mark @ Oct 22nd 2008 1:14AM]

Uh guys, there's another 3 lb laptop with DVD burner that everyone is spazzing over - the Lenovo X300. This is great news for folks who need a light laptop but don't want to pay more than $2k for one.

[Bad Beaver @ Oct 22nd 2008 6:53AM]

No Firewire.

[Jeff ATC @ Oct 22nd 2008 1:53PM]

I am actually considering this laptop or the new baseline Macbook. But I think I've decided on this since I was wanting 3GB RAM and a larger hard drive any ways. I'm a PC guy but have an iPhone and was considering making the switch. Especially since this computer is really just for photo/music/video storage. Probably won't be doing any work-related stuff with it.

My only concern is build quality/customer service. I've had Dell before and their build quality/CS used to be really good but I've read that it's gone down while other companies, like Toshiba, have gone up.

Has anyone purchased a Toshiba laptop in that last year or two that can offer advice/opinions?

[bob sakamano @ Oct 22nd 2008 10:15PM]

how are toshiba laptops? ive never heard much good about them

this seems like a better deal than the lenovo x200

[bob sakamano @ Oct 22nd 2008 10:17PM]

also, how is this processor compared to a regular core 2 duos running at like 2.4 ghz?