The Toshiba Portégé R380-10R – the beast within

The Toshiba Portégé R380-10R is the first “Ultrabook” (I use inverted commas because the term sickens me) I’ve managed to lay my hands on. It’s thin, dangerously fast and exceedingly powerful. The benchmarks, which I’ll discuss later, paint the picture of laptop ahead of the curve. Let’s find out how I fell in love with the Portégé R380-10R.

Overall design

For a GPB£1 599 (approximately R19 200) laptop, the crazy price seems unjustified by the flimsy design. The screen, and the hinges attached to the screen, especially worry me. The lid is too flexible for my liking. Slightly bending it, which happens often when the laptop is closed, can cause the screen to accidently distort with even the slightest nudge. I’m hardly being dramatic when I say that the default carry case which comes with the Toshiba is barely able to protect it from the wind, let alone the bumps and bruises of everyday life. The little chrome hinges on the side of the lid simply add to the overall tackiness of the laptop.