Asus U36 versus Toshiba Satellite R830

soddy5

Hi,

I am planning to buy a new laptop and the two best options I can find that meet my requirements are the following:

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ASUS_U36JC-RX197X_1066420.html

and

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004XARVOQ/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0SJ3P0S2BE08EHT82FFQ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294


My requirements are as follows: Small, light and portable, but still a fairly decent scree size (13.3inch is perfect), decent speed etc. Decent battery life is a bonus.

I will mainly use it for internet, word/excel, skype, and maybe some video editting.

As I see it they are both similar laptops, the trade off seems to be: the toshiba has an optical drive, but not a great graphics card, whereas the asus has no optical drive but has a better graphics card. Just wondering if anyone knows anything about how good/bad the graphics card in the toshiba would be? Also I've always had an optical drive, but I don't know if I would miss it if I didn't.

Any help/ tips / good or bad experiences with either would be great.

Cheers!

Dr.fox

Hey Soody5, i'm in the same place, confused, coz both are pretty good , for me i'm planing to buy it for a study use, internet word, and watching movies, generally both can do the work for me but if you are planing to do some video editing then go for the Asus, Remember there is a new ASUS now its called ASUS U36SD with the 2nd generation processor(Sandy Bridge). from what i read about both, the Asus has a better battery, lighter, better graphics. but the only bad thing about it is that you cant change the Hard drinve into SSD easity, i mean you need to open the whole device to change it and then you will lose the warranty by opening the device. Toshibe is easier to change the hard drive into SSD i believe.
for me i think im going for the Asus,
i hope this helps.
Regards.

dazzday

Actually the integrated GPU on the new sandy-bridge second generation I-Cores runs pretty much equivalent to the Nvidia 310m (actually a little better tbf). Therefore in terms of gaming performance the two machines will be quite close (better h/w on toshiba vs better gpu drivers on asus).

Remember though the 310m is a pretty weak graphics card, able to run old games at good settings but will struggle above low settings for any new releases. If you do plan to do any gaming above football manager, sims etc I would be looking for a HD 5650/6650 or Nvidia 520M as minimum for casual to mid gaming. These are available on a number of 13inch including the acer timelineX 3820/3830tg, asus US3D-A1 etc.

Between the two you mention at that price its a no brainer, the new cpu and usb 3.0 are the bigger plus points here on the Toshiba.Very similar to the R385 which got favorable reviews: http://forum.notebookreview.com/toshiba/571389-just-got-new-r835-p50x-16.html
for an owners lounge.

The asus you linked is the old version. A great machine from my experience, with alot of fans. The new refresh is out now which I think i would personally take over the toshiba if you can find it (i doubt at the same price though).

http://www.gentechpc.com/showpages.asp?pid=1072


Summary: Take the Toshiba out of those two!!!

Overheal

I'm torn, because ASUS is a fantastic brand, but in comparing these 2 models in particular, the toshiba wins out especially considering your penchant for battery life. and the USB 3.0 port clinches it. Bear in mind it won't be that good for gaming or 3d content.