Potege vs Latitude

Hi all, I'm thinking of buying a Toshiba Portege R835 to replace my Dell Latitude E6400. Has anyone here previously owned a Portege R700 (current model) and how does it compare with the E6410 in terms of build quality, screen and keyboard?



Fit & finish are top of my wish list. I can not tolerate squeaky panels, flimsy plastics or finger print magnets.



Am also looking at HP Probook 4330, Vaio S13 and V130 (although I've almost ruled that out now, as it has a stupid CULV processor).



Thoughts please?

Reply 1 : Potege vs Latitude

Quote:

Originally Posted by CowboyCoder Hi all, I'm thinking of buying a Toshiba Portege R835 to replace my Dell Latitude E6400. Has anyone here previously owned a Portege R700 (current model) and how does it compare with the E6410 in terms of build quality, screen and keyboard? Fit & finish are top of my wish list. I can not tolerate squeaky panels, flimsy plastics or finger print magnets. Am also looking at HP Probook 4330, Vaio S13 and V130 (although I've almost ruled that out now, as it has a stupid CULV processor). Thoughts please?

I haven't had a chance to play with a Portege yet, but have you considered the E6410? If you liked your E6400, it's pretty much the same machine in terms of appearance/materials, just with updated internals.

Reply 2 : Potege vs Latitude

No, because I want my next laptop to be Sandy Bridge, 13.3" and to look a little more stylish. Not keen on the new Latitudes nor Lenovo. I like the new ProBook styling but the Tosh caught my eye recently but I don't want to buy it if it's inferior to the E6400, no point taking a backwards step.

Reply 3 : Potege vs Latitude

The R835 looks like a nice system if you can live with the low-res display.



I suggest also looking at the new Vaio SB (I haven't seen the S13 with Sandy Bridge) or, if you want higher resolution, wait a few weeks for the SA.



As an E6400 owner also we may share a sense of style (I find the E6420 unappealing) and the Vaios look quite nice. You'll probably pay a little more for a Vaio with similar specs to the R835, but you may like the extras such as the backlit keyboard.

Reply 4 : Potege vs Latitude

Thanks for the reply. I must say, I do like the look of the new HP ProBook 4330s - quality, style and affordability. My Latitude is 1400x900 res, the 13.3" notebooks are 1366 x768 - we have them at work and I don't find the resolution any worse to be honest - but I may have reservations about the slightly smaller diagonal and the aspect ratio.

Reply 5 : Potege vs Latitude

Today I received a refurbished R700 to add to my collection. The first thing I noticed is the much lighter weight compared to the E6400 / E6410 (my R700 weighed in at 1.44kg including the optical drive). It seems to be well put together although it is not as solid as the E series. For example, pressure on the back of the display can cause image distortions (but I read somewhere that deflections won't be so much as to cause the display to crack).



The keyboard isn't as nice as the E series - the thinness of the computer doesn't provide much space for generous key movement - and there's no backlighting. The touchpad, on the other hand, is generously sized (almost 100mm / 4" diagonal).



The other noticeable feature of the R700 is that the fan can get noisy when the CPU is under load. It's not quite as noisy as the R500 but is intrusive compared to the E series fans.



The display is bright and looks OK (but I used Windows 7's calibrate function to adjust the gamma).



The Toshiba is well worth a look if you are willing to compromise on the display real estate. The Lenovo T420s may also be worth a look.



John