Toshiba Portege R835-P56X

Pros: 1: Lightweight

2: Multi-Touch

3: 13.3", WITH an Opticle Drive

4: USB 3.0

5: 640GB Hard Drive

6: 4GB of RAM installed (expandable up to 8GB)

7: Mic and Webcam

8: 9 HOUR BATTERY LIFE!!!

Cons: 1: The rectangular keys take some getting used to

2: No back-lit keyboard

Summary: Well, it's been about a year and a half since I got my ASUS G72 Gaming Laptop from Best Buy, and about 3 months since I gave it to my girlfriend when her VIAO killed over. Since then I've been using a Compaq r4000 that was giving to me by one of my clients, it's not the quickest thing it has gotten the job done. Unfortunately it died last week, and I was forced to start reading online reviews in the search for a new laptop.

I was blown away by how many different slates, tablets, pads, net books, laptops, and net tops there are! I've been through enough laptops to know I wanted to try a different screen size, and I was looking to the 11"-13" range. After a few days of searching I started noticing a Toshiba that kept popping up on most of the review sites I'd gone to. The Toshiba r835 was its name, and kicking butt was its game! Its super fast Intel Core i5-2620M Processor was a perfect match for an Ultra-Portable laptop with 8GB DDR3 RAM capacity, a 640GB hard drive, USB 3.0, a dual layer DVD burner, a 13.3" LED backlit HD screen, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, webcam and microphone, and all of this weighing in at just under 3.2lbs.

I've had my new r835 for about four days now, and I couldn't be happier with my decision! The ASUS I had weighed about 10lbs, so going to this 3.2lb machine has been a dream. Intel's Core i5 Processor is unbelievably fast, and when paired with the 802.11n Wi-Fi and 4GB installed RAM this thing is unstoppable! With its 640GB hard drive, storage won't be an issue anytime soon either. Last but not least when considering the Toshiba r835, you MUST keep a few things in mind? this is a 13.3" laptop, WITH a disk drive, and 9 hours of battery life!!! What else could you want?