Toshiba Satellite U925t review: A clever convertible with a slide-out keyboard

At the moment, Toshiba appears to be offering only one configuration of the U925t, with an Intel Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB solid-state drive (SSD) for $1,149. Sony's similar Duo 11 offers a similar loadout (with 6GB of RAM instead) for $1,199, and the Dell XPS 12 convertible is also in the Core i5/4GB RAM/128GB SSD camp at $1,199 -- so it seems like we have a pretty set price range for this basic convertible laptop/tablet set of components (with more expensive upgrades available in some cases).

Not surprisingly, these systems perform as well as any low-voltage Core i5 or Core i7 ultrabook, as they're essentially laptops with acrobatic screens. Any of the current crop of Core i-series Windows 8 convertibles or hybrids is more than powerful enough for everyday tasks, such as Web surfing, HD video playback, or office productivity. But watch out for some of the less expensive models that use the newest version of Intel's Atom processor, instead of a Core i5 or Core i7. Those (such as the Acer Iconia W510) can still handle basic Web tasks, but they're not nearly as satisfyingly lag-free.

One area where the Toshiba Satellite U925t really bested the competition was in battery life. This system ran for 5 hours and 26 minutes in our video playback battery drain test, lasting longer by about 45 minutes than either the Sony Duo 11 or the Dell XPS 12. That said, you need to take care to either adjust the power settings carefully or manually put the machine to sleep to get the most out of it -- it's not a clamshell, so you can't just slam the lid shut and expect it to turn off.

Conclusion
To say that the Toshiba Satellite U925t is my favorite of the current crop of Windows 8 slider-style convertibles may not be saying much, as the Sony Vaio Duo 11 is held back by some serious design quirks. That said, I liked the U925t's sturdy design, the reasonably good keyboard and touch pad, and the very adjustable screen. At just north of $1,000, though, any of these first-generation Windows 8 touch-screen systems are a bit expensive considering that no one has really nailed the perfect Windows 8 tablet experience yet.

Find out more about how we test laptops.

System configurations

Toshiba Satellite U925t
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz; 32MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 128GB Samsung SSD

Asus Zenbook Prime UX32VD
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 620M / 64MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 500GB Hitachi 5,400rpm

Vizio Thin and Light CT14-A2
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 64MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 256GB Toshiba SSD

Dell XPS 12
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 32MB (Shared) Intel HD 4000; 256GB Lite-On IT SSD

Sony Vaio Duo 11
Windows 8 (64-bit); 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U; 6GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz; 32MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 128GB Toshiba SSD