Oct 032009
Interactive Notebooks
Posted by: LaptopsArena in Toshiba
By now you are probably asking what models will complete and close the Portege line from Toshiba. After three models, today you are going to read about the ultimate Portege masterpiece. As you probably recall, the entry line A600 Portege brought the basic needs in a small package for a good portability.
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Its built quality was good but not exceptional, and the specs list was quit normal (although improved than other small notebooks specs list). Toshiba offered for the A600 about five configurations.

The next notebook in the Portege line was the M750. This notebook isn't exactly the lightest on the market. However, it is included in a mobility line because of its convertible feature (transform the M750 from a notebook to a Tablet PC). M750 offers almost the exact specs like the A600. Toshiba offers six configurations for this model. The R500 Portege is considered to be an excellent choice for a whole day work notebook (without charging your battery). It's also the first model in the Portege family to bring the solid state drive as a feature (only for one configuration). Toshiba offers the R500 in only two configurations, with the only hardware difference between them being the hard drive offered. So, what else is missing from the Portege family? For the average user, the Portege family is complete.

However, for the unsatisfied users Toshiba released an upgrade to the R500, Portege R600. Even Toshiba considers the R600 its best achievement for the Portege line. To summarize in a few words, the R600 is the ultimate ultraportable notebook. The design is very similar to the one on the R500. However, there are small improvements here and there, not really easy to detect, if you are not familiar with the R500. Therefore, R600 has the sale design features found on the other Portege models, being considered one of the thinnest and lighest ultraportable notebook you can find on the market.
Portege R600 has a height of 0.77 inches to 1 inch, wide of 11.1 inches, deep of 8.5 inches, Toshiba R600 weights about 2.46 lbs (however this value depend on the configuration chosen). The R600 has a silver aluminum lid, which offers an excellent user experience. Because Toshiba used aluminum you don't have to worry about fingerprints or scratches. Everything is safe and in order.
Even more, the chassis is made out of magnesium alloy. The Portege R600 can easily compete with MacBook Air in terms of design.

The excellent design is completed with some different finishes. For example, the silver Toshiba logo on the lid, or the black matte frame surrounding the display, which also includes the web camera. R600 sports not just a stylish design, but a safe design. Your notebook is protected by the 4th generation of Easy Guard technology, not only in software department but also in hardware features. Therefore, Toshiba included in R600 the latest shock absorbing design, a HDD shock absorber; chassis shock protector, LCD panel shock absorber, spill resistant keyboard, and other features. Toshiba included all the ports and slots in the R600 on the left or right side. The back side of the R600 was left blank because of the notebook design. When opened the aluminum silver lid looks and works like a hinge and blocks the back side.
On the front side, Toshiba didn't include any ports because it wanted to slim down as much was possible the R600 profile. On the left side you get the power input, RBG monitor output port, two 2.0 USB, headphone output port, microphone input port, and other ports, while in the right side you can easily find the Fixed Optical Disk Drive, the memory card slot, one 2.0 USB port, Express Card Slot, and the 64 pin docking connector. Once you have opened the notebook, you will see that the keyboard from R500 was simply imported on the R600. This is not a bad thing, since the Portege R500 offered a great keyboard with US layout.
The keys have good dimensions (excepting the Fn keys which are half the size) and provide good feedback and no flex when pressed. Under the keyboard you can find the touch pad. This is the same as the one on the R500. It still lacks multi touch features, but offers good feedback. However, it is made out of a slippery material, so you might encounter a few problems in that direction. You need some time to get used with this touch pad. Under the touch pad you get the fingerprint reader centered by Toshiba assist button and Toshiba outdoor display switch.
As a small reminder, don't use your fingerprint reader to password your notebook. Use it only in combination with the classic password for a better intruder protection. Toshiba included in the Portege R600 a 12.1 inches WXGA (1280 x 800 pixels) Trans Reflective LED display. The R600 display offers high brightness. Because the WXGA display is Trans reflective, you can use without any visibility problem the notebook indoors or outdoors in direct sunlight.

The display offers vibrant colors, and great rendering of photos and even business documents. The connectivity is ensured by the Intel PRO / 1000 - 10 / 100 / 1000 Ethernet, Bluetooth version 2.1 with enhanced data rate, integrated Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 5100 AGN with 802.11 a/g/n profile, Express Card, secure digital slot, two 2.0 USB, one eSATA 2.0 USB with sleep and charge function. Even if R600 has two configurations available, just like R500, these two configurations only differ from the hard drive used. Therefore, both configurations have the next specs: Mobile Intel GS 45 Express Chipset, Intel Core 2 Duo processor SU9400 with 1.4 GHz, 3 MB L2, 800 MHz FSB with 64 bit. Also Toshiba included in R600 S4201 and R600 S4203, 3 GB PC 2 6400 DDR 2 SDRAM. Even so, you can upgrade this value to 5 GB DDR 2 SDRAM.
Another common feature is the Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500 MHD with 128 MB to 1340 MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory. This graphic chipset will not provide sufficient power for you to play "real" games. Maybe at minimum settings you will be able to play Warcraft, Tribal Wars, or The Sims. Another plus to the specs list is the built in optical drive with nine supported formats: CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM. Toshiba included in the R600 S4201 a 160 GB HDD with 5400 rotations per minute, while in the R600 S4203 Toshiba included a 512 GB solid state drive serial ATA. The Portege R600 comes with 5800 mAh Lithium Ion battery pack. This battery should provide about 7 hours and 32 minutes of autonomy.
The main difference between R500 and R600 is the solid state drive. The 512 GB solid state drive found on the R600 is three times faster than the 128 GB solid state drive found on then R500. Therefore, beside the fact that it weighs less, the R600's solid state drive uses 50% less power. By doing so, Toshiba successfully created the ultimate ultra light notebook learning from the R500 mistakes. Toshiba ships the Portege R600 with Windows Vista Business Service Pack 1 for both 32 bit and 64 bit versions. Other preinstalled software found inboard the R600 are Toshiba Config Free, Toshiba Management Console, Toshiba Security Assist, Toshiba Disk Creator, Sun Java 2 Runtime Environment, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Google Toolbar, Google Picasa and a trial version of Microsoft Office Ready with Microsoft Office Professional 2007 and Norton Internet Security 2008.












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