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Toshiba Portege R835 Review
Product Summary
A step up from the new Toshiba Satellite L755, the Toshiba Portege R835 comes with a speedy processor, an astounding amount of storage, all the ports, slots, and drives a user could ask for and at a very reasonable price. Its screen is not for the large-screen lovers, but it has quality over quantity going for it in the display department. It has the typical Toshiba function-over-style design and is very light-weight for a computer with its components. This is a great computer for the average user and worth putting on your list as a potential.
The Features
Let’s start with Toshiba Portege R835’s screen. It is a 13.3-inch, LED backlit, widescreen, TruBrite display with a maximum resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. This is a display that might not wow anyone with its size, but will definitely bring users a crisp, bright picture for watching videos and viewing images. It also has both VGA and HDMI ports for hooking it up to your HDTV if it is size that you desire. The Portege R835 comes with an Intel 2nd Generation dual-core i3, 2.1 GHz processor, 4GB of RAM (with a max expandability of 8GB), and a staggering amount of storage at 640GB! You’ll have no problem adding music, pictures, videos, and other media to this laptop. It can fit it all on its huge hard drive and has the processor to quickly explore your files. Toshiba claims the Portege R835’s battery gets 9 hours of battery life, but testers say they could only get 7 while pushing it through various tests. Perhaps it could get 9 hours when it’s resting. The Portege R835 supports wireless IEEE 802.11, BluTooth 3.0, Fast Ethernet, Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet networking. It has a sound card and microphone and comes with the powerful Intel HD Graphics Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0. This is a computer that can handle all home computing and small business functions with its Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit operating system. And here it comes, the list of ports, drives, and slots: SDHC, SD, miniSD, MultiMedia, and security lock slots, an Ethernet port, and VGA, HDMI, Hi-Speed USB, and Super Speed USB 3.0 ports. It also has a rewriteable optical drive for all your DVD watching and burning needs. Finally, the Portege R835 comes with a whole host of preloaded software programs that will aid in your day-to-day computing requirements.
The Design
Toshiba has never been one to spend a lot of time on looking good. Not that the Portege R835 looks bad by any means, it just isn’t going to turn heads when you carry it under your arm into a coffee shop or local library. It is 12.4” wide, 8.9” deep, and 1.1” thick, which makes its weight of only 3.3 lbs especially impressive. Toshiba keeps the ports accessible and piles them on both sides of this laptop. It also uses the much preferred button volume changer over the old volume wheel of yore. Overall it is an average looking, extremely functional design for a modern laptop.
What Users Say
Users had some mixed feelings with this computer. Many were very excited about the sound quality and bright, clear display of this computer, as well as the fast processor, and excellent price for what they got. There were some that had trouble with the hardware though. These same users complain of poor customer service by Toshiba and, within a short period after their purchase, having to go without their computer for repairs. Failures include the fan, the DVD drive (which others agree is too flimsy), and hard drive crashes. Still others say the webcam is very low quality and nothing to plan on using for sharp-looking pictures. Despite these issues most were very satisfied with the light weight and portability of the Portege R835 and say they would recommend this computer to a friend.
Final Thoughts
The Toshiba Portege R835—despite some users’ issues with hardware failures (which are inevitably is going to happen to a percentage of users with any computer, and tend to be the same users motivated to write reviews)—is a quality computer with a lot of good things going for it. It has a fast processor, a huge hard drive, a plethora of ports and slots for adding peripherals, a great sound system, and the advantage of being light-weight and easy to take around town. Some are going to need a little more umph for designing or editing video and pictures on their computer, but for most average users, this computer is going to serve your purposes. And, with a $699 starting price, this computer is not going to hurt your pocketbook as much as some of its competitors. Compare this with other 13” laptops and you will likely be impressed with what it has to offer.