Toshiba Portege Z10t Review
About.com Rating
The Ugly
My biggest issues with the Portege Z10t aren't with the middling battery life and screen angle flexibility, which plague other similar Windows 8 tablet PCs. The biggest problem is the keyboard itself.
I really appreciated the backlit keyboard, since few ultrabooks in this price range (much less tablet ultrabooks with active digitizers) offer backlighting. But it's no use lighting up the keys if they're too hard to type on.
The Z10t uses the same chiclet-style (or island style) keys found on other modern laptops today, but the keys are shallower, which gives them less tactile feedback. I typed about 50 words per minute (wpm) on the Z10t keyboard, compared to 70 wpm or so on other keyboards because of the key design.
The trackpad, on the other hand, worked well and there's a ThinkPad-like nub/pointer for alternative navigation.
The biggest problem I had with the keyboard, however, is intermittent issues with the keyboard disconnecting with the tablet. Every so often, it would disconnect and key or trackpad taps no longer registered, so I had to reconnect the tablet (using the slider button on the hinge holding both together. As side note, the huge hinge looks like an eyesore, but it makes the tablet PC less top-heavy and you get used to it after a while.)
Conclusion
Many of the Toshiba Portege Z10t's unique features--the matte screen, backlit keyboard, full ports, business-oriented security, and active Wacom digitizer with stylus--make this a sure bet if you need or want all of those features.
If you plan to use the Z10t mostly docked in laptop mode as an Ultrabook, however, or need the battery to last longer than four hours, you're better off waiting for a different Haswell laptop/tablet.
The Ugly
My biggest issues with the Portege Z10t aren't with the middling battery life and screen angle flexibility, which plague other similar Windows 8 tablet PCs. The biggest problem is the keyboard itself.
I really appreciated the backlit keyboard, since few ultrabooks in this price range (much less tablet ultrabooks with active digitizers) offer backlighting. But it's no use lighting up the keys if they're too hard to type on.
The Z10t uses the same chiclet-style (or island style) keys found on other modern laptops today, but the keys are shallower, which gives them less tactile feedback. I typed about 50 words per minute (wpm) on the Z10t keyboard, compared to 70 wpm or so on other keyboards because of the key design.
The trackpad, on the other hand, worked well and there's a ThinkPad-like nub/pointer for alternative navigation.
The biggest problem I had with the keyboard, however, is intermittent issues with the keyboard disconnecting with the tablet. Every so often, it would disconnect and key or trackpad taps no longer registered, so I had to reconnect the tablet (using the slider button on the hinge holding both together. As side note, the huge hinge looks like an eyesore, but it makes the tablet PC less top-heavy and you get used to it after a while.)
Conclusion
Many of the Toshiba Portege Z10t's unique features--the matte screen, backlit keyboard, full ports, business-oriented security, and active Wacom digitizer with stylus--make this a sure bet if you need or want all of those features.
If you plan to use the Z10t mostly docked in laptop mode as an Ultrabook, however, or need the battery to last longer than four hours, you're better off waiting for a different Haswell laptop/tablet.
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