Toshiba Portege R500 - Expert Reviews

Review summary: Looking for a laptop that you can carry around all day and not notice it? Then you might want to take a look at Toshiba's Portégé R500-10U. In fact, you could carry this one around all ...

Verdict: Pick up Toshiba's Portégé R500-10U and you'll be stunned by just how little it weighs. On the plus side it's remarkably well priced considering that it has a solid state hard drive, but the down side is the overall fragility and rather poor battery ...

Review summary: When we first laid eyes on Toshiba's latest ultraportable, we were in awe of its crazy-thin, crazy-light profile. In the past, such notebooks sacrificed performance to fit into such tiny shells. To combat this performance sag, Toshiba paired its ...

Pros: So, so tiny. Transflective screen rocks! Amazing battery life

Cons: More flexible than we usually like our notebooks

Verdict: Toshiba filled the R500 with loads of features. We love its full-size keyboard, 120GB hard disk (a 64GB solid-state drive is optional), and 12.1-inch 1280x800 widescreen display. But the best feature is the sunlight-friendly transflective nature of ...

Pros: Outrageously light ; lots of ports ; blazingly fast hard disk ; screen can be used in sunlight

Cons: Flimsy chassis ; poor viewing angles ; expensive

Verdict: Light as a feather, but the plastic casing is worryingly thin for regular commuting

Review summary: There are five different R500 models, with the entry-level Portégé R500-106 costing £1,099 (ex. VAT). Our review sample, the top-end R500-10U, is available for £1,599 (ex. VAT). DesignThe first thing you'll notice about the Portégé R500 is how ...

Review summary: The most remarkable thing about the Toshiba Portégé R500-U10 is its 800g weight. It's easily the lightest 12.1in laptop we've ever looked at and, for a fully functional notebook, it's an incredible piece of design.

Pros: Incredibly lightweight, Decent battery life, Good specification

Cons: Prone to scratches, Expensive

Verdict: A remarkably light laptop, but its delicate construction is a disappointment