Laptop Thoughts: Toshiba Portege R835-P56X: Update to the R700 Series

"The premium ultraportable notebook category has never been more competitive. Between the long-lasting ThinkPad X220, the gorgeous Samsung Series 9, and the instant-on 13-inch MacBook Air, consumers have a wide range of compelling options. But what if you don't have well over a grand to spend? Enter the Toshiba Portege R835-P56X, an update to the company's popular R700 series that costs a very reasonable $929 (and starts at $829). This 3.2-pound speedster includes a second-gen Core i5 processor, USB 3.0 support, and Intel's nifty WiDi 2.0 technology for streaming video wirelessly to a TV."

A nice incremental upgrade to the ultralight R700 series, the R835's direct competitors are the new Samsung Series 9 and the MacBook Air. While still not a gaming system, the graphics do a good job with videos and "light" gaming, battery life has been improved, WiDi is built-in, to stream HD video to a larger screen device (but you still need a additional receiver), the touchpad has been improved, the processor runs cooler than its predecessor, and there is a USB3 port. Negatives reported include smallish keys, disappointing WiFi performance, and lots of Toshiba-installed crapware. I've actually used the old R705, and was suitably impressed, so it'll be interesting to see Toshiba's improvements.