Toshiba Portege Z835 Review: The Best Ultrabook Discussion

[weinter]

I'm comparing ultrabooks to ultrabooks. MBA comes out tops in my opinion. And it's not just my opinion, it's Anandtechs, Laptopmags and Notebookchecks opinion too.

Asus UX31 came close but it's being let down by poor contrast and a poor trackpad.

That is a very weak reasoning to defend your stand because reviewers opinion doesn't reflect the views of people who do real work on it.
If you do real development work on computers the lack of ports really affects how you work.
Ports are not there to make the laptop look ugly, it is to attach devices for working.

[Phil]

That is a very weak reasoning to defend your stand because reviewers opinion doesn't reflect the views of people who do real work on it.
If you do real development work on computers the lack of ports really affects how you work.
Ports are not there to make the laptop look ugly, it is to attach devices for working.

OK so my reasoning is weak and Anand Shimpi doesn't do real work on his computers. Interesting.

I'll agree with you though that for people who need a lot of ports the Air would be a horrible choice.

[Pseudorandom]

Ultrabooks don't exist in a vacuum. If we only compare ultrabooks to ultrabooks, yes the MBA would probably come out on top, but ultrabooks compete with high end netbooks (HP dm1, Thinkpad X120e), high end thin laptops (VAIO Z, Fujitsu SH771), and traditional ultraportables (Thinkpad X220, Toshiba R830).

It seems as if the HP Folio that was just announced is aiming at this Toshiba. Both are slightly beefier UltraBooks that offer a better port selection than their competitors. One might have to choose the Toshiba on the touchpad alone (boo HP, with your integrated mouse buttons. They never work right!)

The Z830/Z835 is actually the most portable of the 13 inch ultrabooks.

[Phil]

No they don't and my post was a reply to the phrase "Best Ultrabook". A phrase that can stir a lot of discussion as we can all see.

[Mitlov]

I think one of the keys to the MBA 13's success is that Apple isn't cutting corners to make a $999 price point. Sure, they offer an 11" model with a tiny SSD that costs $999, but the MacBook Air 13 ranges from $1300 to $1600. There's no $999 MacBook Air 13 for a reason. On the other hand, the 13" ultrabooks are all trying to reach that magic $999 price point, and a significant amount of corner cutting (whether it be cheap keyboards, no backlighting, cheap screen, heavy weight, flimsier case, etc) must be made in order to make a 13" ultrabook cost 25%-40% less than a MacBook Air 13. Every ultrabook cuts a different set of corners, so maybe someone can find one where they don't care about the corners that were cut, but every single one inevitably cuts serious corners to meet that magic $999 price point.

[BigNerd]

Even at $1300 (the lowest MBA 13")... seems like PC makers are having issues with building a similar ultrabook.

Only 2 of the 4 currently out are priced below $999... so why aren't they able to match Apple?

In my opinion, the myth of the Apple Tax is a bit overblown.

[Pseudorandom]

There a few reasons to get an ultrabook other than style. I would argue a lot of things like value, ergonomics, etc matter significantly less, since if they mattered, you would be looking for a traditional ultraportable and not an ultrabook.

From this thought that style matters over all else for ultrabooks, I think that the MacBook Air and the IdeaPad U300s are the best ultrabooks. The MacBook Air looks better than all the MBA lookalikes, and the U300s has a unique styling of its own.

From a functionality and value standpoint I completely agree with the review that the Z830 is the best ultrabook.

[Phil]

Ultrabook Showdown: Which is the Best?

[Mitlov]

In my opinion, the myth of the Apple Tax is a bit overblown.

I think there's something to the "Apple Tax" with the MBP line, which are very well-made machines, but even so, more expensive than I would expect. But I think the MacBook Air, iMac, and iPad are very reasonably priced for what they offer.

[flyingsilverfin]

Hey this looks like my still functioning toshiba r200... even the # ports in the back (minus modem :P) top view's almost the same haha