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Toshiba Portege R500-S5007V Notebook

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At a Glance
Average installed memory
Ultraportable
Underpowered video chip set

$2,345.00 - $2,701.89
From 10 Merchants

We haven't had our hands on this product, but we know which features matter. Here's how the Toshiba Portege R500-S5007V Notebook measures up:

Multitask and Not Bog Down

The more memory a PC has, the faster your programs run and the more windows you can work in simultaneously. Equipped with memory between 1GB and 3GB, this laptop should be able to handle just about any task you can throw at it without bogging down too much. For instance, if you're a multitasker and you'd like to burn a music CD in one window while watching your favorite DVD movie (for the umpteenth time) in another--while flipping between your inbox and your browser to work on your blog during the movie's boring parts--this laptop can manage it all without a hiccup.

Good for Doing Work on the Run

The small screen and light weight of this laptop put it in the ultraportable category. Ultraportables lack many of the features of larger laptops; they also have fewer ports and connections and sport smaller keyboards. Though the screen might be bright, its compact size will frustrate people who need a lot of space to work on big documents such as spreadsheets or desktop publishing files. Also, the smaller a laptop, the slower it tends to be; fast processors usually generate more heat than an ultraportable's thin case can dissipate. But many ultraportables offer outstanding battery life, and you can't beat the convenience of a PC small enough to stow in a backpack. If all you need is a way to surf, whip out e-mail, and do mainstream work on the run, an ultraportable may be perfect for you.

Underpowered Video Hardware Not Suited for Serious Gamers

A video chip set (also called integrated video or Intel video) built into this laptop's motherboard handles the graphics. Relatively speaking, this video hardware is underpowered. Since the laptop lacks a dedicated graphics card, the integrated chip set has to borrow video memory (an arrangement known as dynamic memory or shared memory) from the main system memory to make images look good. If you play only online trailers or 2D games, integrated video is fine. As long as the laptop has a fairly fast processor, such as a dual-core Intel CPU, even movies should look good and play smoothly. But laptops with integrated video can't render 3D well and handle sophisticated effects properly. Games will skip, lose details, or stop altogether if the video hardware can't manage at least 30 frames per second. If gaming is important to you, ante up for a laptop with a dedicated card.

Supports DVD Burning

This laptop is equipped with a DVD burner, a slightly older type of optical drive. If you don't need the ultrahigh recording capacity of a new Blu-ray optical drive, and you don't care about watching high-definition movies on your laptop, a DVD burner should suit you fine. It can read and burn data, music, or video discs up to 8.5GB in capacity. A DVD burner is, of course, backward-compatible with CDs, but it cannot play the newer Blu-ray media because the two types of optical-disc technology use different lasers. In a couple of years, Blu-ray will completely replace the DVD disc format.

Supports SD Cards

Like most new laptops, this one has either a multiformat card reader or a dedicated slot that accepts an SD (Secure Digital) Card. More popular than Memory Stick, CompactFlash, and xD-Picture Card, SD is found in a large number of digital cameras, PDAs, printers, and other devices. SD Cards have built-in security functions to protect data, including music copyright protection. (The cards have a small write-protection switch on the side similar to that of a floppy disk.) The latest SD card, the microSDHC, is the tiniest flash memory card to date, measuring only 11mm across. It's also the fastest and roomiest, capable of holding up to 16GB of data.

Supports MultiMediaCards

Any laptop that can work with SD Cards can also take MultiMediaCards in its multiformat card reader. These small, thin cards look like their SD counterparts (and are often lumped into the same category), but the technology inside is different, as these cards lack SD's encryption and have only half the storage capacity. They're also slower. If security and speed are not critical issues for you, MultiMediaCard can be a cheaper alternative to the more popular SD; many devices that accept SD will also take the slightly thinner MultiMediaCard. Regardless, this laptop gives you the choice of using either format.

Connect Peripherals With Bluetooth Technology

This short-range wireless technology is everywhere. Whether you activate it on a laptop by way of an external on/off switch or through software, the small internal Bluetooth card automatically detects other Bluetooth-equipped devices within 30 feet and sends and receives radio signals over an ad-hoc "piconet," or personal wireless network. Bluetooth is an especially convenient way to add external peripherals or partner the laptop with other devices, such as a cell phone, printer, or digital camera. Bluetooth works only over short distances to connect devices around your home or office, sending small chunks of data at a leisurely 1 megabit per second.

Connect to the Net Via Ethernet Port

Even though Wi-Fi is all the rage, an ethernet connection for wired networking is still a nice thing to have. Ethernet jacks allow for instant connections to the Internet, e-mail, and applications over a fast, secure wired network. Ethernet comes in three speeds: the all-but-obsolete traditional ethernet, limited to 10 megabits per second; fast ethernet, which works at up to 100 megabits per second; and gigabit ethernet, which operates at up to a gigabit per second. If your laptop is equipped with the still-common fast ethernet, it won't be able to take full advantage of the performance that a gigabit-ethernet network has to offer. But more and more laptops now come with gigabit ethernet, in which case you're covered for access to the fastest type of wired network.

Windows Vista Installed

Microsoft's Windows Vista introduces more graphical and functional changes--big and small--than the OS has undergone in quite some time. Among the graphical changes, the splashiest is the glasslike transparency of overlapping windows. Flip 3D, which lets you view open windows in a cascading 3D stack on the desktop, is eye-catching too. And the Windows Sidebar displays small applets on the desktop designed for specialized purposes, such as weather reports or sports scores. On the practical side, the new systemwide integrated Instant Search lets you look for a needed file from practically anywhere and at any time. Keep in mind, however, that because Vista offers so much, it requires a speedy CPU, ample RAM, and a good graphics card. Check out the other components of this laptop to be sure that Vista can run smoothly on it.

Be Wary of Battery Life Specs

Take the battery life you see advertised for any laptop with a grain of salt. Why? A few vendors still use unrealistic testing parameters in order to report the longest battery life possible. For example, a "tested" laptop simply might be turned on, with the screen brightness lowered to the darkest level, and allowed to run down without anyone touching it. When the laptop undergoes typical, everyday use--say, with the screen brightness turned up to a readable level and with the user working in several applications or playing a CD or DVD movie--its battery life could be much shorter than a vendor's claims.

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