Editors' Rating
| Service & support |  |
8.0 |
| Design | |
7.5 |
| Features |  |
7.0 |
| Battery life | |
7.0 |
| Performance | |
7.0 |
Published: 31 Mar 2009
Toshiba describes the 14in., sub-2kg Tecra R10 as having a 'sleek design, extensive features and lightweight portability'. There are three models available, our review sample being the entry-level £899 (ex. VAT) R10-122; the mid-range R10-11B (faster CPU, bigger hard disk) costs £1,049, while the top-end R10-114 (solid-state drive, integrated mobile broadband) costs £1,499.
Design
The Tecra R10 has a predominantly silver livery inside and out, except for the black frame around the screen. The system measures 33.7cm wide by 25.2cm deep by 2.87-3.06cm thick and weighs 1.97kg, keeping it just inside the sub-2kg 'ultraportable' class.
Build quality is generally robust, although there's a fair amount of flex in the lid section. We like the way the system tapers towards the front of the notebook and the fact that the lid section is slightly shorter than the base. With the status LEDs on a frame surrounding the mouse buttons, this means they're visible when the notebook is closed.
There's no clasp to hold the lid and base together when the notebook is closed, so you'll need a separate compartment in your travel bag to house the Tecra R10 securely in transit.
The screen is a 14.1in., high-brightness LED-backlit display. It has a matte finish, which will please those who find reflective screens distracting. Viewing angles are excellent, and the native resolution of 1,280 by 800 pixels is adequate if not remarkable.
The spill-resistant 86-key keyboard is not entirely to our liking. There's plenty of space for it, yet the keys feel a little small. Worse, the keyboard has a good deal of flex: this was noticeable even with a relatively light touch, so heavy-handed typists may find it off-putting.
To the left of the keyboard is a bank of three buttons on a vertical bar (there is a little flex in this bar, too). One button is the on/off switch; the second opens the Toshiba Assist window, which accesses various system settings; the third button opens the Windows Mobility Centre, which offers further customisations.
Beneath the keyboard, the touchpad has vertical and horizontal scrolling built into its right and bottom edges. The large mouse buttons sit on a separate panel made from shiny plastic, which contrasts well with the matte finish throughout the rest of the notebook. They barely depress at all, but do deliver a satisfying click. Between the two buttons is a fingerprint sensor.
A VGA-resolution webcam sits above the screen, with a status indicator to its left that illuminates when the camera is running. Toshiba provides some software for adding effects to any video or photos you shoot using it. The webcam can also be used for logging on using face recognition.
Features
The Tecra R10-112 uses a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SP9300 processor, which has 6MB of Level 2 cache and a 1,066MHz frontside bus. This is a relatively new chip, which launched in the fourth quarter of last year. The other two Tecra R10 models use the faster 2.4GHz SP9400 chip. Our review sample had 2GB of 800MHz DDR2 RAM, expandable to 8GB; the mid-range model comes with 3GB, while the top-end variant has 4GB.
Windows Vista Business was preinstalled, with a downgrade option to Windows XP Professional on a supplied recovery CD.
For storage, our review sample had a 160GB hard drive, while the R10-11B has a 200GB drive and the R10-114 splashes out on a 128GB solid-state drive. The mechanical drives benefit from a shock protection system. There's an integrated optical drive, a DVD Super Multi (double layer) unit, which sits on the right-hand side of the system.
Graphics are handled by Intel's integrated GMA 4500MHD chipset, which uses shared system memory and so isn't suitable for graphics-heavy work.
Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g, Draft-N) and Bluetooth are both integrated, along with Gigabit Ethernet for wired connectivity. If you want mobile broadband as well, you'll have to add it via a USB dongle or opt for the top-end £1,499 R10-114 model.
This notebook doesn't offer as many ports and connectors we'd like. There are only two dedicated USB 2.0 ports, for example — but at least they are physically separated, with one on the left and one on the right. Next to the left-hand USB port is a combined eSATA/USB connector, which unfortunately is a little too close to guarantee simultaneous use of both ports (this will depend on the connector size of your peripherals).
On the right side of the casing is a SmartCard reader, above the optical drive. Behind these is an on/off slider for the wireless radios and behind that the USB port. Tight to the bottom of the casing is an ExpressCard slot, which is difficult to access without lifting the notebook off the desk. Finally, at the back of this side are the Ethernet (RJ-45) port and the power connector.
The left-hand side carries a volume wheel and the audio jacks, then the USB and eSATA/USB ports. Behind these is an air vent and finally an VGA connector for an external monitor.
The back edge is covered by the bottom of the screen section when the notebook is in use and so is free of connectors. The sloping front section houses an SD card slot. This is located well beneath the curve of the casing and is not visible when the notebook is on a desk. It is slightly to the left of the fingerprint sensor. If Toshiba had built it in line with the sensor it would have been a lot easier to find. As it is you may need to use touch or slightly lift the notebook from the table to place a card in the slot.
Performance
Vista's Windows Experience Index (WEI) scores were slightly disappointing, although the overall score was brought low by the integrated graphics. The overall rating of 3.5 (out of 5.9) corresponds to the lowest subsystem score, which was for Graphics (desktop performance for Windows Aero). Gaming Graphics (3D business and gaming graphics performance) was the next lowest component score, at 3.7.
The remaining WEI scores were all healthily over 5: RAM (Memory operations per second) scored 5.1, Processor (calculations per second) scored 5.2 and Primary hard disk (Disk data transfer rate) scored 5.3.
All this adds up to a system well capable of handling mainstream business tasks. However, you'd be wise to avoid graphically demanding workloads unless you're prepared to put up with sub-par performance.
Toshiba quotes a battery life of up to 5.5 hours (using MobileMark 2007). In our tests, we charged the battery, chose the Balanced power management scheme and then set the notebook to play a DVD, which it did for 2 hours and 18 minutes. Clearly in real-world usage you're likely to need to recharge the system during an 8-hour working day, or carry a spare battery if you need a full day's mains-free operation. A 6-cell 5,100mAh battery will cost you another £85 (ex. VAT).
Conclusion
This is a good-looking 14in. ultraportable notebook with a particularly nice display. However, the design leaves it short of space for ports and connectors, while the keyboard has too much flex for comfort.
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