Toshiba Portege R835-P56X and Toshiba Satellite A665-S5176X Reviews

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This computer system review lifts the hood on the Toshiba Portege R835-P56X and Toshiba Satellite A665-S5176X laptops to see what makes them tick.

The Toshiba Portege R835-P56X is a 13.3-inch laptop that comes packed with a well-rounded feature set and a user-friendly design.  While it comes in varying configurations, the particular setup used for this review sells for approximately $900.  Toshiba pairs the laptop with a one-year warranty on parts and labor.



The Portege R835-P56X comes with a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5-2410M processor.  This processor is part of the newer Intel Core i5 family, and it gives the laptop impressive performance when compared with others in its class.  The two cores help when you want to run multiple applications at the same time, and you can count on this laptop for all of your daily computing needs such as internet surfing, viewing multimedia, and some light gaming.  The 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM offers additional multitasking power.

Graphics on the Portege R835-P56X are supported by an Intel HD 3000 card.  The integrated graphics are a step up from previous editions, but, again, do not expect to convert this Portege into a dedicated machine for gaming.  You get an ample amount of storage via a 640GB hard drive.  Battery life is quite impressive, with the included 6-cell battery offering approximately nine hours of usage on a full charge.  Trying to find a similarly sized laptop with such battery life is not extremely common, so it is easily one of the main selling points of the Portege R835-P56X.  The operating system of choice is Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit. 

Additional features of the Portege R835-P56X begin with fast 802.11n Wi-Fi.  There is also an integrated DVD drive for watching movies and listening to CDs.  If you want to stream content to your television, you can do so using the laptop's Intel Wireless Display technology.  A separate NETGEAR adapter is required for this feature to work.  Video chatting with friends is easy thanks to an integrated webcam and microphone.  For fast transfer of data with digital devices, there's a media reader onboard that supports a variety of formats.  Bluetooth was missing on this particular configuration, but Toshiba does offer it on more upgraded configurations.

The Portege has a very unassuming, yet professional look.  The laptop has a slight blue tint and employs plenty of brushed metal throughout its body.  The R835-P56X measures in at 12.4 inches wide by 8.9 inches deep by approximately 1 inch thick.  It's streamlined and quite portable, yet appears to be built like a rock.  Some chrome hinges offer a little bit of flair to the design, although some people may find them to be tacky.

The Portege's 13.3-inch LED backlit display has a HD resolution of 1,366 x 768.  Graphics are bright and vibrant, although they may be lacking when compared to other competing laptop displays with better resolution.  The keyboard is spacious and offers wide, flat keys.  While the keyboard is good for typing, it is not backlit, which is a bit of a disappointment.  The touch pad is equally as spacious, and is very responsive to the touch.  Connectivity options on the R835-P56X are solid.  The left side features a VGA port, an eSATA/USB port, another USB port, and a HDMI port.  The right side features the DVD drive, media reader, microphone and headphone jacks, a third USB port, and an Ethernet port.

The Toshiba Portege R835-P56X is a solid ultra-portable laptop in every sense.  Its performance is impressive, and so is its feature set.  Add in a sleek design and good connectivity, and you have yourself a laptop that should definitely earn strong consideration.

Next: Toshiba Satellite A665-S5176X >>
 

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