New Portege Z830

[alexUW]

Originally Posted by SoundsGood

Guys, I'm still confused about which screen is better on the Z830/Z835: is it the TruBrite version or the regular (NON TruBright) version? Which one is recommended??

Only thing we know is the Truebrite = Glossy. Some on here say their z830 has matte, so we are assuming the non-trubrite is a matte screen.

Remember, the z835 is the lower tier model; that ONLY HAS the trubrite glossy screen. z830 is higher tier and has truebite and non-truebrite

The R/Z Toshibas are SATA-II capped so maybe look elsewhere if need fastest SSD performance

Actually a member on here "Series 9 Guy" has reported he attained SATA-III speeds on his z830 [with a different brand SSD]. However, he is the only one as of yet that has reported this.
His review: http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews/...g-ultrabook/5/
New Portege Z830

[nando4]

Originally Posted by alexmuw

Actually a member on here "Series 9 Guy" has reported he attained SATA-III speeds on his z830 [with a different brand SSD]. However, he is the only one as of yet that has reported this.
His review: Toshiba Portege Z830 13.3" Ultrabook Laptop Review - Toshiba Creates One Amazing SSD Ultrabook! - The SSD Review
New Portege Z830

Interesting. "Series 9 Guy" does test a SATA-III capable Runcore T50 in his Z830 and he did get 370MB/s sequential reads which would imply SATA-III interface speeds. In which case I'm sure the SATA-II capped R83*/R84* folks would like to have a look at the Z83* bios and backlit keyboards to retrofit to their systems.

[elgordo]

So when can we expect 256GB+ SSDs in these?

[alexUW]

Originally Posted by elgordo

So when can we expect 256GB+ SSDs in these?

This has been brought up before, but I'll go ahead and reiterate.
z830 uses mSATA drives. I think the max capacity right now is 128 GB. Maybe in upcoming months we'll see higher.

typical SSD drives are 2.5", mSATA is much smaller. Physically, there's no way of getting a 2.5" SSD to fit.


Here's a photo comparing a mSATA, 1.8" flash, 2.5" SSD, and 3.5" HDD
For reference: the 1st drive on the left is a mSATA, the 3rd drive from the left [white] is a 2.5" SSD

[Pseudorandom]

Originally Posted by elgordo

So when can we expect 256GB+ SSDs in these?

Next year. 256 gigabyte mSATA SSD's are coming really soon.

[makryger]

Sorry I haven't been able to get a more full review of the my Z835- I've been travelling a lot recently and haven't been able to sit down and collect my thoughts. But in short, I love this machine- with normal use (web browsing, office applications, occasional youtube/netflix movies, I get a good 4-5 hrs. When I'm sitting on an airplane sifting through outlook emails with the brightness all the way down, and the wifi off, I ended up going through a little over 10% in 1.5 hrs!! Everything seems very snappy and instant, even with the i3. Of course, I didn't really have a big issue with my four year old laptop... so maybe I'm not one to judge.

My next step is to replace the RAM and the wifi card. But I need that special screw driver first... I've ordered it from amazon. FYI, the wifi card in the best buy unit is an intel Wifi Link 1000 BGN, which does not do 5 GHz and does not do bluetooth. Someone else will have to comment on what is in the toshibadirect z830 model. I'll be replacing it with an Intel 6230 chip, which should to both of those... that is, if I can figure out where that 1000 chip is installed... I imagine its under the keyboard, as is often the case with these units.

The last comment is that after spending some time with Toshiba support, I can confirm that despite toshiba promotional material to the contrary, there is no HDMI-CEC (aka Regza-link) in this laptop. I'm kind of disappointed, but I suppose I'll live. I kept on trying to explain to my Indian friend that plugging in hdmi and having it appear on a screen is not hdmi-cec, its just a regular function of anything that uses an external monitor, but he finally got in touch with the level three engineers, and got everything clarified.

[elgordo]

So can we assume Toshiba is the only mfg using mSATA? Ultrabooks by ASUS, Lenovo, Samsung, etc all offer 256gb SSDs.

The complete Portege package is just so much more appealing, feature-wise it really is more appealing to me. But 256gb is a requirement

[brian5]

Originally Posted by elgordo

So can we assume Toshiba is the only mfg using mSATA? Ultrabooks by ASUS, Lenovo, Samsung, etc all offer 256gb SSDs.

The complete Portege package is just so much more appealing, feature-wise it really is more appealing to me. But 256gb is a requirement

No, other brands are normally using mSATA drives but only up to 128GB. The SSDs that are larger than that are not mSATA.

For example, Samsung uses a small mSATA for 128GB models but, if you look at the picture posted about 4 posts in front of this by alexmuw, the 256GB model uses the 3rd one. Note that the Samsung Series 9 was designed to take the larger SSD. Some other brands (e.g. Toshiba Z830/835) only have space for a mSATA.

[SoundsGood]

Originally Posted by alexmuw

Only thing we know is the Truebrite = Glossy. Some on here say their z830 has matte, so we are assuming the non-trubrite is a matte screen.

Remember, the z835 is the lower tier model; that ONLY HAS the trubrite glossy screen. z830 is higher tier and has truebite and non-truebrite

It sure seems odd that Toshiba would have a special name (TruBrite) for their inferior screen. It would make more sense if they gave a special name to the better screen. Right?

[Apparition]

Originally Posted by alexmuw

Actually a member on here "Series 9 Guy" has reported he attained SATA-III speeds on his z830 [with a different brand SSD]. However, he is the only one as of yet that has reported this.
His review: Toshiba Portege Z830 13.3" Ultrabook Laptop Review - Toshiba Creates One Amazing SSD Ultrabook! - The SSD Review
New Portege Z830

That is correct... Actually, if you look at the Anvil testing, you will see it recognizes both the system and SSD configuration for proof and then spits out the SATA 3 speeds.

Also.... the 240GB mSATA in the Zenbook is a AData mSATA SandForce drive and Acer just announced same drive for the S3, however, since they are trading out the hard drive, the S3 may be a 2.5" slim form factor. IN addition, Samsung just announced release of their mSATA PM800 in 256GB capacity....

However....new Zenbook specs state 128/256GB which means they may have switched from the AData to the Samsung

I have yet to get anything above 128GB and I have the original 7...