Toshiba Portégé M800-11J review

Put the Portégé M800-11J and the MacBook side by side, and it's clear what Toshiba was aiming at. The virginal white paint job stretches around the lid and keyboard, interrupted only by a faint silvery-grey pinstripe.

It isn't bad looking, but compared to Apple's attempts, the M800 looks a little half-hearted. Quite literally in fact, as the laptop's underside has been finished in the usual dull, black plastic.

Compare it with its business-focused stablemate, the Tecra, and the Portégé does exude a little style though. And there's nothing physically wrong with it: the build is sturdy and the chassis resolute under duress. The trouble is, it's altogether lacking in star quality.

The all-white keyboard, for instance, doesn't impress. The keys feel light and unresponsive, and there's a hollow, disconnected sensation when typing. Such ergonomic weaknesses are swiftly followed by other disappointments too.

The glossy 13.3in display turns in a reasonable performance, but doesn't really excel. Highlights are a mite overblown and while colour reproduction is reasonably natural, there are plenty of better examples in the group.

As the second most expensive laptop here, the Portégé M800-11J doesn't deliver when it comes to hardware either. A 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo lies alongside 4GB of DDR2 memory and an Intel integrated graphics chipset. It's a strong combination for everyday tasks, racking up 1.02 in our benchmarks, but the Portégé stuttered to just 5fps in our least taxing Crysis test.

What's more, the 3,700mAh battery lasted just 3hrs 18mins under light use. If anything, heavy usage saw the Toshiba fare a little better, as it racked up a respectable 1hr 22mins.

There isn't a great deal to set the Toshiba apart from the pack. A fingerprint reader is a welcome - if non-essential - addition to a consumer laptop, and only the presence of a 400GB hard drive is worthy of praise.

Were it cheaper, the Toshiba's 2kg weight and modest abilities might earn it a more positive response. As it stands, however, we can't recommend it.

Author: Sasha Muller