Toshiba Satellite Z830-10J Pro Reviews

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. 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). 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.