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Excellent body with a clunky soul [National, The (United Arab Emirates)](National, The (United Arab Emirates) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Toshiba Portege Z30 is likely to fill a gaping hole in the market for a lightweight laptop that is also rugged and has a long-lasting battery. Its main fault is that it runs Windows 8, a fidgety, non-intuitive software (Where is the power button? How do I lower the volume?) that will have you begging for a reinstatement of earlier versions. The machine itself, however, is visually pleasing, even sexy. It has a matt finish, a non-reflective screen, and the review sample that I was given to tinker with was a grainy grey. Having pushed it off my desk violently on to the floor a number of times, I can attest to its maker's claim of shock absorption. I resisted pouring piping-hot coffee on it to test its spill-resistant keyboard but did water it in measured doses a number of times. In that regard, I can also vouch for the ease of wiping off the keyboard without leaving any obvious signs of permanent damage. An amateur chess player, I have for a while been looking for a laptop that will not quickly metamorphose into a pile of hot coals (chess programmes use an inordinate amount of processing power, which can often lead to overheating if the ventilation is poor). My own Apple MacBook Air was almost reduced to cinders while using a chess programme in Windows mode, but with the Toshiba Portege Z30, which runs with the latest Intel technology, the bottom of the laptop only became mildly warm (the programme, Deep Fritz, used more than 50 per cent of the laptop's CPU). Serious gamers may not be attracted by this laptop, though, because it has an integrated graphics card and not a separate one that is typically needed for high intensity graphics and rendering. Or so my gaming enthusiast colleague informs me. The Portege, which weighs 1.2 kilogrammes and has a 13.3-inch screen, will still meet the needs of most business and leisure users who do not want to be lumbered with too much baggage and can put up with Windows 8, which as well as being cumbersome, seems to require you to spend half your computer time updating something or another. [email protected] (c) 2014 s Abu Dhabi Media Company, All rights reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |