Toshiba Portégé M800

First announced in May of 2008, the Toshiba Portégé M800 is a consumer-focused laptop that emphasizes mobility and aesthetics over power and performance. This model stands out compared to the others in the Portégé lineup as it is significantly less expensive. While the rest of the Portégés are heavily focused on the business-minded consumer with their emphasis on thin designs, light weight and long battery life, the M800 attempts to appeal to both business-folk and regular people with its more attractive styling. With a 13.3" screen the laptop comes in at the smaller size of laptops available, and for this price range and size offers mid-range specifications for the price. On the aesthetic side of things Toshiba has incorporated a generous amount of LED lights to emit soft glow underneath and around the various keys and buttons on the keyboard. Inside the laptop you'll find the usual assortment of chips including an integrated graphics chip (Intel GMA 4500M), and Pentium Dual-Core T3200 processor.

Toshiba Portégé M800
MSRP$850.00
Release date May, 2008
BrandToshiba
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Pros & Cons29
Reviews5
Details
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Competitors2
Comments1
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Pros & Cons

ProSCORE
5 reviews
55
negative
mixed
positive
2 positive
1 mixed
2 negative

[i] How is the ProSCORE calculated?

show me!

Pros:
Do you agree?
13.3" screen for good portability without sacrificing too much size
+4agreedisagree

fairly light compared to most 13.3" laptops (4.3 pounds) - good for transportability and mobile computing
+3agreedisagree

more than powerful enough for regular day-to-day computing tasks
+3agreedisagree

white led bar helps to illuminate touchpad
+2agreedisagree

touch sensitive media controls
+2agreedisagree

good quality speakers compared to other laptops
+2agreedisagree

very attractive styling
+2agreedisagree

trackpad has a nice texture to it
+2agreedisagree

clear and vibrant screen
+1agreedisagree

LED lights really add a nice atmosphere to the look
+1agreedisagree

integrated webcam is pretty good quality
+1agreedisagree

good selection of ports
+1agreedisagree

fast wireless "208.11n"
+1agreedisagree

multi-lingual keyboard
0agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?
large amount of keyboard flex
+3agreedisagree

tons of bloated Toshiba crap-ware
+3agreedisagree

keyboard can be annoying for English-only users
+2agreedisagree

keyboard fails to register key hit e.g. "
+2agreedisagree

speakers look cheap
+1agreedisagree

the shortcut keys at the top are non-customizable. Touching them boots the laptop up when off.
+1agreedisagree

the laptop mouse pad buttons start falling out of place/wobbling after a year
+1agreedisagree

the bottom is curved due to protruding hardware
+1agreedisagree

starts slowing down soon after some use. Sometimes it can't even play fullscreen video without lag.
+1agreedisagree

prone to fingerprints everywhere.
+1agreedisagree

the lit up features on the laptop can not be turned off. This causes glare on the screen and is just plain annoying.
+1agreedisagree

somewhat underpowered - T3200 and GMA 4500M
0agreedisagree

better off with a a netbook, significantly cheaper model, or spending a bit more for a high end Toshiba, Lenovo or Apple
0agreedisagree

wide variety of M800 models may confuse consumers
0agreedisagree

Home and End Keys difficult to find.
0agreedisagree


5 people added to this review by submitting or voting on pros and cons. Add your say!

Details

Features

  • 13.3" screen with 1280x800 resolution
  • Intel processor with integrated 4500GMA graphics
  • Integrated 1.3MP webcam and microphone
  • Built-in DVD burner
  • Bluetooth v2.1
  • Wifi A/B/G/N
  • Media playback buttons on the keyboard
  • 2 SD Card slots, 1 express card slot, 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter
  • 3 USB ports, 1 x e-SATA, S/P DIF audio port, VGA out
  • 6-cell battery that gets about 3 hours of life
  • Windows Vista Home Premium

 Models

  • Portégé M800-05P (MSRP: $799)
    • Best Buy exclusive Pink version. $40 of purchase goes to Breast Cancer research
    • Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3200 at 2.0GHz
    • Pink color
    • 2GB Memory
  • Portégé M800-056 (MSRP: $849)
    • Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3200 Processor at 2.0GHz
    • 3GB memory
    • 250GB HDD
  • Portégé M800-05Y (MSRP: $949)
    • Intel Core 2 Duo T5800
    • 3GB memory
    • 320GB HDD

 

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This report was started December 9, 2008 at 12:43 pm by Omar
with the last edit occurring February 7, 2010 at 9:38 am by bloppyblue
This page has been viewed 2340 times, with 73 edits by 5 contributors.
See the full report history »

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Competitors

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Comments

1.  avatar Omar said:

I helped my very good friend buy this computer, and at the time information on it was very difficult to come by. However, she made the purchase and after spending some time with the computer myself I have to admit it's a very nice machine. It's definitely on the form over function in some ways, but it's nice being able to use something that doesn't constantly remind you that you're WORKING and not just enjoying yourself.

I should also make special mention of the screen and touch pad. I think the screen is very nice, it's glossy but not overly-so that it becomes too obstructive. If you get hit with the wrong lighting it can get in the way, but most of the time it's fine and adds enough quality to the resulting picture that it's a worthy trade-off. The touchpad is great because it has a nice texture to it that integrates well with the case of the laptop, but still provides a nice amount of responsiveness to it.

In this price range there actually aren't many laptops at the 13" size, so there's not much options. If you go less than 13" you're looking at really expensive 11 and 12" laptops, or you're looking at undersized/underpowered netbooks. I find that 13" is actually a nice sweet spot in regards to a full laptop that provides a good amount of mobility. And for this size the M800 provides a very good price/performance ratio.
Dec 09, 2008 3:37pm
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Reviews

Sort by: Most helpful  •  Newest  •  Most positive

Omar

avatar
December 9, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
75
negative
mixed
positive
12 pros
4 cons
love itlove it
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • 13.3" screen for good portability without sacrificing too much size
  • fairly light compared to most 13.3" laptops (4.3 pounds) - good for transportability and mobile computing
  • more than powerful enough for regular day-to-day computing tasks
  • touch sensitive media controls
  • good quality speakers compared to other laptops
  • very attractive styling
  • trackpad has a nice texture to it
  • clear and vibrant screen
  • LED lights really add a nice atmosphere to the look
  • integrated webcam is pretty good quality
  • good selection of ports
  • multi-lingual keyboard

Cons

  • large amount of keyboard flex
  • tons of bloated Toshiba crap-ware
  • keyboard can be annoying for English-only users
  • speakers look cheap

Comments

"I helped my very good friend buy this computer, and at the time information on it was very difficult to come by. However, she made the purchase and after spending some time with the computer myself I have to admit it's a very nice machine. It's definitely on the form over function in some ways, but it's nice being able to use something that doesn't constantly remind you that you're WORKING and not just enjoying yourself.

I should also make special mention of the screen and touch pad. I think the screen is very nice, it's glossy but not overly-so that it becomes too obstructive. If you get hit with the wrong lighting it can get in the way, but most of the time it's fine and adds enough quality to the resulting picture that it's a worthy trade-off. The touchpad is great because it has a nice texture to it that integrates well with the case of the laptop, but still provides a nice amount of responsiveness to it.

In this price range there actually aren't many laptops at the 13" size, so there's not much options. If you go less than 13" you're looking at really expensive 11 and 12" laptops, or you're looking at undersized/underpowered netbooks. I find that 13" is actually a nice sweet spot in regards to a full laptop that provides a good amount of mobility. And for this size the M800 provides a very good price/performance ratio."

Competitors

Omar prefers Toshiba Port?g? M800 over Lenovo ThinkPad SL300, Dell Vostro 1310
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

bloppyblue

avatar
February 7, 2010
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
22
negative
mixed
positive
2 pros
7 cons
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • 13.3" screen for good portability without sacrificing too much size
  • very attractive styling

Cons

  • tons of bloated Toshiba crap-ware
  • the shortcut keys at the top are non-customizable. Touching them boots the laptop up when off.
  • the laptop mouse pad buttons start falling out of place/wobbling after a year
  • the bottom is curved due to protruding hardware
  • starts slowing down soon after some use. Sometimes it can't even play fullscreen video without lag.
  • prone to fingerprints everywhere.
  • the lit up features on the laptop can not be turned off. This causes glare on the screen and is just plain annoying.

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Yale

avatar
December 9, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
56
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
4 cons
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • 13.3" screen for good portability without sacrificing too much size
  • fairly light compared to most 13.3" laptops (4.3 pounds) - good for transportability and mobile computing
  • more than powerful enough for regular day-to-day computing tasks
  • white led bar helps to illuminate touchpad
  • touch sensitive media controls

Cons

  • large amount of keyboard flex
  • somewhat underpowered - T3200 and GMA 4500M
  • better off with a a netbook, significantly cheaper model, or spending a bit more for a high end Toshiba, Lenovo or Apple
  • wide variety of M800 models may confuse consumers

Competitors

Yale prefers Lenovo ThinkPad SL300 over Toshiba Port?g? M800
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Run Crafty

avatar
January 27, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
64
negative
mixed
positive
7 pros
4 cons

Pros

  • 13.3" screen for good portability without sacrificing too much size
  • fairly light compared to most 13.3" laptops (4.3 pounds) - good for transportability and mobile computing
  • more than powerful enough for regular day-to-day computing tasks
  • white led bar helps to illuminate touchpad
  • good quality speakers compared to other laptops
  • trackpad has a nice texture to it
  • fast wireless "208.11n"

Cons

  • tons of bloated Toshiba crap-ware
  • keyboard can be annoying for English-only users
  • keyboard fails to register key hit e.g. "
  • Home and End Keys difficult to find.

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

kslkguard

avatar
September 12, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
0
negative
mixed
positive
0 pros
2 cons

Pros

Did not agree with any pros

Cons

  • large amount of keyboard flex
  • keyboard fails to register key hit e.g. "

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

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This product is also known as:

M, 800, M800