Toshiba Tecra R10-S4401

by Cisco Cheng www.pcmag.com

Business professionals will agree that having ample screen real estate is vital to their productivity, but those who frequently take their laptops on the road often settle for smaller screens because portability is critical. To its credit, the Toshiba Tecra R10-S4401 ($1,549 direct) is one of the few lightweights that can pull off a 14-inch widescreen on a 4.2-pound frame and still give you features like a built-in optical drive and speedy parts. Unfortunately, it missed the mark in other areas, such as battery life. Other 14-inch business systems, like the Lenovo ThinkPad T400 and the HP EliteBook 6930p, weight well over 5 pounds yet are more road-ready than the R10-S4401 owing to their battery life.

The R10-S4401 may be counted among a small crew of big-screen featherweights. The Samsung X460-44P and the Panasonic Toughbook CF-Y7 weigh 4.2 and 3.5 pounds, respectively, making them two of the lightest laptops that house a 14-inch widescreen and a built-in optical drive. At 4.2 pounds, the R10-S4401 is the same weight as the X460-44P, and the two share other characteristics, such as elegant design. The R10-S4401 reminds me of a larger version of the super-thin and uber-luxurious Toshiba Portégé R600-S4202. The R10-S4401's dimensions (13.1 by 9.9 by 1.2 inches) are greater, and its frame is fortified with thicker magnesium metals than the R600-S4202. The way the lid wraps around the base of the system makes the R10-S4401 seem as thin as the inch-thick X460-44P. The HP 6930p and the Lenovo T400, on other hand, pride themselves on their ruggedish frames, with thicker metals that bring their weight into the 5-pound range. The R10-S4401 isn't as sturdy as the other two, but road warriors might turn a blind eye to that in favor of its lighter and more elegant frame.

The 14-inch LED widescreen is very similar to that of the Panasonic CF-Y7 in that they both have 1,280-by-800 resolutions and an antiglare finish. Although the screen of the more consumer-oriented Samsung X460-44P has a similar resolution, it has a glossy finish. Movies and photos pop on it, but glare could be an issue when working under a fluorescent light. Since both the Lenovo T400 and the HP 6930p are hard-core business machines, their screens eliminate any glare. As the tiny Toshiba R600-S4202 was able to incorporate a full-size keyboard, the R10-S4401 had little trouble following suit. The keys are as big and responsive as those of a desktop keyboard, and the mouse buttons are as finely tuned as those of the Lenovo T400.

Like the Samsung X460-44P and the Panasonic CF-Y7, the R10-S4401 is able to integrate a dual-layer DVD burner while keeping its frame feathery light. You'll find a modest assortment of connectivity ports, including three USBs (one of which doubles as an eSATA port), VGA-out, an SD slot, and an ExpressCard slot. It's not as full-featured as the Samsung X460-44P, though, which has an HDMI-out specialty port. And it trails systems like the Lenovo T400, the HP 6930p, and the Dell Latitude E6400, since it lacks features like a 3G modem, a FireWire port, and solid-state drive options. The good news is that many of these omitted features probably won't impact the average business user, but having these options available could only have helped this laptop's cause. Though it's not as cavernous as the Samsung X460-44P's 320GB hard drive, the 160GB one used in the R10-S4401, as well as those in the Lenovo T400 and the HP 6930p, spins at the highest speed (7,200 rpm). Its wireless connections include both Intel's current 802.11n WiFi chip and Bluetooth. The system comes with a three-year parts and labor warranty, while the battery gets a one-year warranty.

The combination of a 2.26-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SP9300 processor, 3GB of memory, and a 7,200-rpm hard drive is a sure sign that performance won't suffer. Because it uses a speedier drive than the Samsung X460-44P, the R10-S4401 had the upper hand on CineBench R10 tests, though their video-encoding results were dead even at 1 minute 8 seconds. Business systems like the Lenovo T400 and the Dell E6400 were better on these tests because they use faster processors. Though its raw scores weren't stellar, using a discrete graphics card makes the R10-S4401 a well-rounded performance system. Its Nvidia GeForce NVS 150M graphics helped it turn in 3DMark06 and Crysis scores that weren't too far behind those of the X460-44P and the T400. Scores like this mean that you can also run the latest 3D applications and games. In keeping with the R10-S4401's elegant theme, Toshiba decided not to offer a bulky extended battery—a mistake, in my opinion, as the standard 56-Wh battery managed only 3 hours 20 minutes. A slower hard drive could've prolonged battery life, but a 5,400-rpm option isn't offered, either. Its battery life, unfortunately, isn't strong enough for the R10-S4401 to compete with the HP 6930p, the Dell E6400, and the Lenovo T400, given their multiple battery offerings. HP and Dell are touting all-day battery life for these systems.

Only a few laptops have a 14-inch widescreen on a featherweight chassis. The Toshiba Tecra R10-S4401 does so without sacrificing the optical drive, joining the likes of the Samsung X460-44P and the Panasonic Toughbook CF-Y7. Because the business road warrior is the target audience, having neither a battery that can meet expectations nor extended battery options is a big problem for the Toshiba R10-S4401. The X460-44P is a better choice, and if you don't mind the extra weight, the HP 6930p, the Lenovo T400, and the Dell E6400 are sturdier and richer in features. And most important, these competitors offer multiple battery options.