Toshiba Portégé R500 Saves Power with Solid State Hard Drive
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 08.12.07
The Toshiba Portégé R500 hitting stores this month can boast a battery which lasts 8 hours. But the trick is not in the battery. This machine has no hard drive, relying on the same memory technology that makes your USB stick work. In addition to being less susceptible to shocks and temperature swings, the no-moving-parts technology uses half as much power as a traditional hard drive. And with 64 Gbytes of memory, the technology is not a compromise on storage capacity. However, like many things green, you will pay a premium to be the first in your neighborhood with this low-power alternative: it will cost you $550 to swap in the SSD compared to the lower-end traditional model.
The Toshiba's 12" screen uses backlit LED technology and is trans-reflective, high-tech speak for you can use it while sitting in the sunshine on a riverbank and still see good contrast in the image on screen. Since it weighs in at less than 800 grams (1 and 3/4 pounds), getting it to the riverbank is not a problem either. Reviews give the Toshiba points for better performance than the Sony Vaio TZ150, which is also available with SSD data storage.
In spite of its high-tech green potential, reviewers are slamming Toshiba for failing to build in a mobile broadband antenna. Maybe Toshiba is tuned in to the German Federal Government's newest warnings that workplaces should avoid the use of WLAN to minimize the potential risks of exposure to the radiation--which has caused the industry to question the attack on WLAN in the face of the facts that WLAN is well below the established health limits and substantially less than the radiation associated with cell phones.
Of course, the Toshiba Portégé R500 offers some eco-advantages, but remember that a new computer is not more environmentally friendly than continuing to use your old computer until it dies a natural death. But if your computer is at that point, remember to recycle your computer and take a look at the Toshiba and other options for greener computing when you make your next purchase.
See other laptop reviews in TreeHugger for the ASUS Bamboo
Tip: an SSD disk may be fitted into almost any notebook computer, so just keep yours, or choose anyone of your liking, and put an ssd inside, if you feel that saving a couple of watts each hour is such important to you.
Wow - when OLED screens come out, that could boost battery life on this model to 10-12 hours... just awesome!
This technology is going to become more and more common in Laptops, it's good to see these things rolling out into the market but in coming years this technology will evolve and get better.
I bought the predecessor to this, the R100, three years ago because I commute by bike and wanted a super-light computer. I LOVE IT. I got the high capacity battery addition which only adds a tiny bit of weight. I can go 5 to 6 hours without plugging in, while all my colleagues are tethered down to the wall socket that keeps their boat anchor powered. Toshiba's support has been great. I bought the 3 year warranty for ~$90 and have since had my screen and hard drive repaired for FREE even though I DROPPED IT!
Anyway, I've been raving out the Portege series to all my friends and was thrilled to see the opportunity to rave about them here as they raise the bar again.
Speaking of using the laptop while sitting on a riverbank. I actually do take my laptop to parks and cafes to do work all the time. It is really pleasant. And with 5 hours of battery time, I rarely run out of juice before I'm ready to head home anyway.
Hi, my porteget r500 comes with the sata hdd. I am thinking of replacing it with a SSD. So I called Toshiba support and asked them if I can simply buy one from the marrket and plug it in. The support guy sounded hesitant because "there is some wiring to do". Basically, I think a SSD is just a hdd, and should be usuable off the shelf like any traditional hdd. Can any expert here confirm my view? Thanks!
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batteryfast.co.uk
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batterylaptoppower.com
I tested this camera for a client. I didn’t have the light running for more than 15 minutes. The battery lasted approximately 6 hours before recharging. The LCD, however, had a few dead pixels - never saw this before. Tried returning for exchange and had to put up quite a fight. Anyone else seen this? http://www.batteryfast.com