Toshiba Portege M700 Review - Solid Tablet Performance and Durability but not a Cheap Tablet PC
This is part 5 of a 7 part article series. To start from the beginning, read “Emerging trends – Enhanced technologies make the tablet PC an excellent business companion".
The Toshiba Portege range of tablet PC’s have for many years now provided users with excellent entry level mobile computing solutions. With the M700-110, Toshiba has again delivered a clean looking tablet PC this time concentrating on enhanced security and durability. [See image 1]
The screen is excellent in either passive or active mode, making navigation and application delivery extremely user friendly. The display is excellent indoors and out and such is the backlit quality that there is little battery power loss due to visual drainage. However the overall battery life of the device is disappointing. While 4hrs of use can be squeezed from the tablet during normal activity, in full multi-tasking mode you’ll be lucky to get much over 1½ hrs from the device. This is poor for a tablet PC. [See image 2]
The Toshiba M700 weighs in at 4.4lb which is considerably heavier than many competitor devices. This makes the tablet uncomfortable to position in the arm and even more uncomfortable to operate when stood up for a considerable period of time. It certainly doesn’t stand up well to comparison testing alongside the Motion F5 or HP 2710p.
Built around a Core 2 Duo processor with 2GB RAM the Toshiba Portege M700 has similar processing power to it’s competitors, which is nothing special. However 120GB of hard drive space is excellent for such a portable PC. The inbuilt keyboard and stylus are comfortable, and when using the stylus, the tablet automatically changes mode to only accept pointer driven actions. This is an excellent feature which further benefits the user because Vista Business (as supplied on the M700-110) has such excellent handwriting recognition software. All in all, delivery of stylus driven functionality is outstanding, certainly on a par with the Dell Latitude XT. [See image 3]
The M700-110 is a solid entry level tablet PC which functions equally well in notebook or slate mode. However with few qualities over and above the competition, potential buyers would be better served looking at lighter tablets for ultra portability needs or more durable tablets for use in hostile environments. The M700-110 is just too heavy and cumbersome to deliver a truly mobile user experience, certainly for extended periods of use. What is more at $1800 the Toshiba Portege M700 is a reasonably priced tablet PC but with few whistles and bells I would suggest opting for the HP 2710p. For those with a larger budget the Dell Latitude XT or Motion F5 are considerably better mobile computing solutions. [See image 4]
To go to the next article read “Panasonic Toughbook CF-T7: Another robust tablet PC from Panasonic that doesn’t disappoint”.
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