The flatbed PC Toshiba Portege M400 testing was published comparatively recently. Among it's main disadvantages are called anything but the best mass-size characteristics, excessively demure design and small faults in equipment. Such a niche model hardly has a base to pretend on an observable place on the market and in company this, to all appearances, is well understood. Otherwise we wouldn't have a possibility today to get acquainted with a new device of 400 series, which list of values impresses.

Toshiba Portégé R400

Processor Intel U2500 (1,2 GHz)

Operative memory 1024 MB

Chipset Intel 945GM Express

Screen 12,1" WXGA(1280×800)

Screen brightness, max/min
125–0 cd/m²

Hard drive 80 GB

Graphic adapter
Intel GMA 950

External connectors USB 2.0 (2), D-sub, RJ-45, PCMCIA

Network possibilities 1 Gb LAN, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

Battery lithium-ion, 4000 ìÀ·h (10,8 V)

Time of work with batteries, the mode of reading/maximum loading ~ 1,3/4,1 h

Mass 1,7 êã (with battery)

Size (W×D×H)
304×240×29,5 mm

Pre-installed OS
Windows Vista Ultimate

Retail price 18 033 ukr

Warranty 36 months

Design; good display and ergonomics

Completing could be more rich

Excellent notebook-transformer with highly dignified equipment and stylish, remembering decor

Toshiba model row has been lacking a light notebook-transformer long ago. Meantime, the company is able to make compact devices with prominent mass-size characteristics. Therefore the fact that a model, with which is possible to work, holding it in a hand, finally appeared, certainly, will please the adherents of the mark.

Strictly speaking, the rest representatives of 400 series are not traditional flatbed PC - these are exactly the notebooks with a turning screen, by weight and size comparable with usual 14-inch models that noticeably narrows the area of their using. While R400 development the Toshiba engineers have used the traditional methods of mass and size reduction - they declare off an optical drive and used instead of usual set of completing the analogues with small energy consumption.

The first, what will pay attention a potential buyer to, is a highly outstanding design. This is one of the best realization of the decorating in traditional monochrome tones. Milk-white lid and keyboard panel match ideally with a black base and display edging, forming an image of expensive, stylish, and at the same time deprived excessive rigidity thing. The only disadvantage is varnished white panels: the fingerprints and scratches are very observable on them there isn't a special case for notebook carrying in a kit.

Ergonomics is optimized to the use in Tablet PC mode - there aren't the most claiming connectors on the lateral panels in zone of seizure. On the right took place the PCMCIA slot, output for earphone and mike connection and suitable loudness regulator, moreover they are located in such a way that in a portrait orientation are not blocked by the hands of user. There is only D-sub on the left but USB-ports, wall-plug and slot for BP connection are taken out on a backboard. The set of interface connectors can hardly be called rich, but considering the device purpose, they are more than enough - it's possible to bemoan only on FireWire and cardreader absence. For those, who need more ports, there is also a dock-station in accessory list, which is connected with USB. Theoretically, there is also one more - Toshiba Wireless Port Replicator, working with UWB in a radius of 1 m, but it's problematic to gain it now - although it was presented on CES, but still hasn't been set to retail sales.

One of Portege R400 interesting particularities is a small information display on a front panel: even with a locked lid there is shown service information and ingoing email notifications and planned events, etc. For navigation process facilitation in the tablet mode there is a suitable joystick on frame of the screen and a row of often used software keys. Next there's a fingerprint identification scaner, and besides when you take a notebook, it appears directly ready at hand for operative identification.

There aren't any especial claims to input devices - a classical keyboard of normal size, without keys compacted on width so there won't be any problems with text typing. Touchpad is not so good - many won't like an average positioning exactness and a very small field of cursor management. However, it is partly compensated with an excellent realization of sensory display - it's a pleasure to work with it. You can seldom meet such clear and forecasted reactions to operations with a stilus while using active (the inductive sensor) digitizer.

Display itself (with LED-highlight) completely corresponds to the cost of device: good range of brightness regulation, not bad corners of review, color transmitting, speed - practically nothing to cavil to. The palish colours can hardly be called a device's disadvantage. One more interesting moment - Toshiba has used glossy anti-highlight screen covering. This is a bit unexpected step - usually for such a type of digitizers matted covering was used, more steadfast to different mechanical influence.

On the information display is shown service information and ingoing email notifications and planned events, etc.

The equipment is highly dignified - Intel U2500 (1,2 GHz) CPU with low energy consumption, RAM 1 GB, hard drive 80 GB, full set of network interfaces and not bad software set. In spite of comparatively not powerful processor, we haven't found out any problems with speed - with all spectrum of the office tasks Portege R400 manages without problems. Due to practically of full value battery notebook can work from 1,3 h in mode of full loading to 4 h in mode of reading. During usual office model use this allows to reckon for 3 h that is a wholly decent result. You can connect the second battery for increasing time of the autonomous work - it's simply fixed on the bottom of a body but, unfortunately, there's not in a set.

Strictly speaking, just a completing would be a main defect here - except the notebook itself, supply power unit and disks with software, there's nothing else: neither a case for protection of the varnished surfaces from scratches, nor external optical drive, nor bags for carrying - all this you'll have to buy apart. For notebooks of such a class the situation is atypical - usually producers equip their own top-class products with all that is necessary, after all it influences insignificantly on cost. But, to all appearances, Toshiba supposes the user to decide exactly what it is necessary to him. Unfortunately, such a policy brings to a row of complications in our reality - to book unique for given device branded accessories can be enough problematic. For the rest there aren't claims - this is one of best 12-inch notebook-transformer on the native market...