Review Toshiba Satellite Z830-10J Ultrabook

Toshiba starts off into the era of high performance subnotebooks with the Satellite Z830. As an ultrabook, the 13.3 inch device promises a battery runtime of five hours and a system boot in less than seven seconds. ACER TravelMate 8473G battery The device places itself seamlessly in the list of comprehensively reviewed ultrabooks, which are almost all available on the German market.

Our review Acer Aspire S3-951 (13.3 inch)
Our review Asus Zenbook UX31 (13.3 inch)
Our review Asus Zenbook UX21 (11.6 inch)
Our review Lenovo IdeaPad U300s (13.3 inch)

Toshiba sticks to its line and transfers the look & feel (materials) of its Portégé and Satellite R models to the new device category. Although the silver looks and the partly brushed surface (wrist rest, lid) suggest aluminum, the case is made of a light magnesium aluminum alloy with a honeycomb structure (inside). The latter give the perceptibly thin surfaces a good stiffness. ACER TravelMate 8473T battery

The manufacturer's aim is clear: The ultrabook should be as light-weight as possible and as stable as necessary. The attempt is successful because the 1110 gram, 13.3 inch Z830 weighs less than the 11.6 inch Asus Zenbook UX21 (1147 grams). The 13.3 inch Toshiba Z830 even has a longer battery life. In contrast, the other ultrabooks are real heavy-weights: Aspire S3 (1400 grams), Asus Zenbook UX31 (1300 grams), Lenovo IdeaPad U300s (1300 grams). ACER TravelMate 8473TG battery

The wrist rest, single areas on the bottom and the display lid can be dented with little force. This does not diminish the quality because Toshiba ensures a very good torsional stiffness of the base unit due to an inner reinforcement. The case is even supposed to survive a drop test from a height of 76 cm on a steel plate (on its sides). The manufacturer let the Technical Control Board execute this test in addition to a pressure test (100 kg surface), which the Z830 passed. In an analogy to the plastic apron for cars, it can be said: It's probably just the slightly yielding chassis that makes the Z830 resistant. ACER TravelMate TimelineX 8473G battery

The almost wafer-thin lid warps very easily and looks more like a piece of cardboard. The hinges fit tight on the case and let the lid stop softly at about 135 degrees. The hinges could use a bit more traction, though. The lid closes on its own when the device is shaken.

ACER TravelMate TimelineX 8473T battery The lid has a narrow rubber lip at its upper edge that lies on the case when it's closed. The small gap that needs a fingernail to be opened is impractical in hectic situations. The device's bottom is absolutely even and there is no maintenance opening. The RAM (2 GB built-in, 2 GB inserted) can be upgraded. The entire bottom can be removed for this.

Performance

The Intel Core i5 2467M (default: 1.60 GHz, Turbo up to 2.30 GHz) is an energy efficient, ultra low voltage dual core processor from the 2011 Intel Core generation (Sandy Bridge). It is currently the only available CPU alternative for the Z830 in Germany. The identical Portégé Z830 is sold with an i7 2677M or even i3 2367M processor in the USA. The former is installed in the Asus Zenbook UX21E, an 11.6 inch device. ACER TravelMate TimelineX 8473TG battery

The RAM has the usual capacity of 4 GB (DDR3). Two gigabytes are soldered to the mainboard (on board), and two are inserted. The Intel HD Graphics 3000 is integrated on the CPU (shared memory). The Z830's actual acceleration during work is provided by its 128 GB mSATA 300 SSD from Toshiba (Toshiba SG2 Series, 32 nm, THNSNB128GMCJ). The price in (very rare) retail: 260€. The slim case doesn't accommodate a 2.5 or 1.8 inch disk, but a module with a size of 3x6 centimeters instead. Acer Aspire One D250 battery

Processor

The (1.6 GHz) Core i5 2467M's TDP is 17 watts (35 and 45 watts are usual for laptops). In contrast to the Intel Core i7 2620M (dual core, 35 watts) frequently used in 13 inch devices lately, the TDP is a lot lower. However, the standard clock is also comparatively low. But just how much slower does the low voltage i5 calculate in comparison to a 2620M, as it's for example built into a Vaio SA2Z9E (13.3 inch)? Acer Aspire One D250-1Bb battery

The processor test, Cinebench R11.5 (64 bit, multi core processing) rewards the Z830 with 1.91 points. This result is duplicated in all repetitions as well as on battery power (3 runs each). The 2620M manages 3.03 points and the i7 2677M, in the UX21E, 2.13 points. Our ultrabook with a Core i5 CPU is thus only a bit below the processing speed of a Core i7 ULV processor. However, it can only just keep up with the Core i3 2330M (2.1 points) among normal laptop processors. Acer Aspire One D250-1Br battery

Turbo 2.0 does its job without complaint. That isn't a matter of course in a slim case. The clock during the Cinebench multi core test was 2.1 GHz. The clock drops to (stable) 2.0 GHz at most when Prime95 simulates high load on all cores. This is within the Turbo range and is well above the standard clock of 1.6 GHz. Short: Turbo 2.0 works perfectly in our CPU benchmarks. Acer Aspire One 10.1 inch battery

System Performance

PCMark Vantage and PCMark 7 both assess the application performance as a whole. The results of the Z830 is 8731, respectively 2951 points. This seems little when compared with the Asus UX21E (11054 and 3612 points) or the Samsung Series 9 900X3A (10833 and 3448 points). Normal i7 dual core notebooks without an SSD only achieve about 2000 points (Vostro 3350). The subjective speed is agreeably fast. Installations are finished in no time and programs are loaded within fractions of a second. Acer Aspire One 8.9 inch battery

Battery Life

Power Consumption

The consumption measurements from the outlet (battery charge: 100%) show a modest ultrabook. We only measured five watts in idle (minimum). The TFT screen can increase this up to 10 watts with maximum brightness, keyboard backlight and operating mode "High Performance" (CPU/GPU-idle). The Z830 fares well here; even the 11.6 inch Asus UX21E has a power consumption of 6.6 to 11.1 watts. Acer Aspire One A110 battery

The power consumption triples in maximum load (36 watts). When the i5 2537M is busy with only the processor stress test, the Z830 consumes 31 watts (stable @ 2.0 GHz). The power consumption increases to 32 watts when the 3D benchmark, Furmark, is added.

Battery Life

Acer Aspire One A150 battery The Z830 can only meet Intel's demand for an ultrabook battery life of at least five, better seven, hours when the user limits his activities to reading or typing with dimmed light. The Z830 achieves a runtime of 4:27 hours in the WLAN test. The brightness was set to 100 cd/m2 for the test.

The Z830 needs three hours to recharge the built-in battery. When power-use can't be avoided, the battery is empty after 120 minutes. A look at the other ultrabooks shows that their battery life isn't much better: A Lenovo U300s manages five hours, an Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook (HDD version, Core i5) only 3:30 hours (both WLAN test) and an Asus UX31 also only manages five hours. Acer Aspire One D150 battery

Verdict

The Toshiba Satellite Z830 10J changes hands for a grand. The user benefits from the lightest 13.3 inch ultrabook (1110 grams) of all times. Even the MacBook Air 13 is heavier with 1330 grams. The magnesium aluminum lightweight construction is very similar to the Satellite or Portégé R series (see R830). However the weak points, such as the wobbly screen, have been eliminated.

ACER Aspire One P531h-1766 battery Compared to other ultrabooks, the Z830 has many interfaces, and the majority is even handily located at the rear. The backlit keyboard unfortunately doesn't grant a business-style typing comfort due to its short key drop. However, the layout is very good. The battery life of 4:27 hours in practical use (WLAN test) regrettably fails Intel's 6 hour demand. Since 9:30 hours are possible in idle, users very well have optimization options when reading or typing emails. The matt and fairly bright screen displays pallid colors, but we can still recognize the content acceptably (doesn't dim on battery power). ACER Aspire One P531h-1791 battery

We quite liked the performance with Toshiba's 128 GB SSD and Intel's Core i5 2467M (1.6 GHz), especially because the performance is never throttled (thermal throttling) and is even available on battery power (not GPU performance).

Unfortunately, the biggest drawback comes from the base plate: The fan permanently rotates audibly even though the measured level of 31.4 dB (A) is low. The buzzing quality will be annoying for the silent-PC fan. Toshiba should make improvements via fan management or constructive modifications. Until then, the fan will remain to be the only real fault of the otherwise overall well-designed Toshiba ultrabook. ACER Aspire One P531h-1Bk battery

Review Toshiba Satellite L750-16W Notebook

Toshiba's Satellite L750 range clearly targets private customers. Toshiba advertises it as a stylish design piece for little money. However, the buyer's wallet shouldn't be too small either. The L750-16W costs €700 and if the Satellite will be seen as a design piece lies in the eye of the beholder.

The specifications give hope for good performance: A new Intel Core i5 and the Nvidia GeForce GT 525M are built in as key components. The Satellite L755 is identical to the Satellite L750 range, but the latter has a superior configuration and also a higher price. ACER Aspire One P531h battery

The Toshiba L750-16W will be available in a gray-black design in stores. The display lid and the wrist rest are made of light gray, glossy plastic. There are different sized, bright dots on it, which merge to a diamond pattern when looking at it from a distance.

The Satellite L750/L755 series is also available in black, white, red and chestnut brown. We have a Satellite L750 in zinc gray in review.

The display lid is made of glossy, black plastic just like the loudspeaker bar, and the gray dots are also found here. The bottom is made of black plastic and has two maintenance covers. ACER Aspire One Pro 531f-2G64Bk battery

All corners and edges of the laptop are rounded. Users who want to maintain the surface shine will have to polish the many glossy surfaces often. Greasy stains and fingerprints also become quickly visible on the plastic.

The Satellite is remarkably rigid. The display lid can be dent clearly, but no color distortions are passed on to the screen. The hinges are strong and have a good grip on the screen. But the base unit has to be held down to open the laptop because it would otherwise lift up along. ACER Aspire One Pro 531h-1G16Bk battery

The area of the optical drive can be dented a bit on the bottom. The rest of the notebook hardly yields. The area between the keyboard and display seem particularly stable. The base unit can't be warped and doesn't emit any creaking noises.

Performance

The Toshiba Satellite L750/755 is available in many various configurations. Processor options range from the entry level Intel Core i3 2330M, the midrange processors Core i5 2410M and 2430M, up to the high performance Intel Core i7 2670QM. Intel's integrated HD Graphics 3000 or Nvidia's entry level graphics cards, GeForce GT 520M or the GeForce GT 525M can be selected as the graphics solution. ACER Aspire One Pro 531h-1G25Bk battery

Moreover, Toshiba advertises a Blu-Ray drive on its homepage that isn't available in any model of the range until now.

An Intel Core i5 2430M and an Nvidia GeForce GT 525M is installed in our Satellite L750-16W. Regrettably, Toshiba doesn't implement Nvidia's Optimus Technology, which activates the Intel HD Graphics 3000 integrated in the processor during undemanding graphic tasks and thus saves energy. Therefore, the HD Graphics is permanently disabled while the GeForce GT 525M has to calculate even the most basic tasks and unfortunately increases the power consumption a bit. More about that in Battery Life. ACER Aspire One Pro 531h-2G25Bk battery

The memory solutions are designed generously. The hard disk has an unformatted memory capacity of 750 GB and rotates with a faster 7200 revolutions per minute. The main memory is a fast 8 GB DDR3 RAM which clocks with fast 1333 MHz in Dual Channel Mode.

Power Consumption

Acer AP12A3i The power consumption isn't the notebook's biggest strength. Since the Optimus Technology hasn't been enabled by the manufacturer, the Nvidia graphics card also works in idle. As a result the idle rate of 12 watts is rather high despite an energy efficient processor. Notebooks with Optimus manage a power consumption of less than 8 watts in idle. The notebook even consumes power like "a big one" during load. The Satellite L750 could be mistaken for a basic gaming notebook in view of 78 watts. This energy hunger is inappropriate in relation to the available performance. Acer 3IDF5/65/BT

Battery Life

A 48 Wh lithium ion battery is used in the Satellite L750. The laptop manages a runtime of good four and a half hours with that. This battery life can only be achieved with disabled network adapters, the lowest screen brightness level and a basic text, such as displaying a text document.

Our WLAN surf test, where we simulate surfing on websites in medium brightness, is a lot more realistic. The notebook lasts for 220 minutes, which should be enough for most users. Acer 3IDF5/67/93

The Satellite only lasts for 127 minutes when playing a DVD in maximum display brightness. This is enough for a 90 minute children's movie, but it gets quite tight when watching a longer movie, such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, with a runtime of only 125 minutes.

The minimum battery life under load is determined with BatteryEater's Classic test. It loads the CPU and GPU by rendering a moving 3D object. The Satellite only lasts for not quite 80 minutes - an acceptable rate. Acer AP13D6F

The battery needs 137 minutes to recharge.

Verdict

The Toshiba Satellite L750 can't excel in our test. The design is contemporary and the base unit is stable so that the case is well suited for private customers. The connectivity is up to date, but not outstanding. All state of the art interfaces are available with HDMI and USB 3.0 and users shouldn't be missing any interfaces.

The keyboard is good, but the gaps between the keys could have been a bit wider. The numpad will delight users who have to enter long number columns. On the other hand, the touchpad is a bit imprecise and not palpably separated. Thus, the fingers tend to quickly slide off the touchpad. Acer AP13D7F

The screen is reflective and not very bright. Consequently, it isn't very convincing in bright surroundings. As more often than not, the contrasts and viewing angles are also limited. The processor is strong enough for most applications. Throttling occurs when the processor and graphics card are loaded by demanding games or programs. It lets the processor clock drop to only 800 MHz. Acer 3ICP5/65/BB

The hard disk is very fast and stores enough data. The Satellite is only suitable for games to an extent. For one thing, the performance is slowed down considerably during load peaks. The laptop remains agreeably cool and fairly quiet during routine tasks. In return, the power consumption is quite high for a notebook of this performance category.

Acer 3ICP5/65/88 Overall, the Satellite L750-16W is aimed at users who need a solid notebook, but don't want to squeeze out the last MHz of performance. The processor's performance is easily sufficient for editing pictures or videos.

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