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Toshiba adds Sandy Bridge to the Portege R800

One of last year's best laptops is about to get the full Sandy Bridge treatment.

Scott Stein Editor at Large
I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets. My background includes an MFA in theater which I apply to thinking about immersive experiences of the future.
Expertise VR and AR, gaming, metaverse technologies, wearable tech, tablets Credentials
  • Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
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Scott Stein

The 13-inch Toshiba Portege R830.
The 13-inch Toshiba Portege R830. Toshiba

Sandy Bridge processors in laptops still haven't been seen yet, but we can start putting together a wish list of laptops we'd most like to see with the updated Intel Core i-series CPUs. The Toshiba Portege R instantly rises to the top of that list. The Portege R705 was one of our top-rated laptops of 2010, and at MWC in Barcelona, Spain, Toshiba has unveiled the next generation of these laptops, the R800 series.

The Portege R830, as it's being called in Europe, corresponds directly with the 13-inch R700 line we loved so much. The big changes come under the hood: the Sandy Bridge CPUs should add greatly improved integrated graphics, a missing feature in the R700 line. In addition, a newly engineered air-flow cooling system detailed by Toshiba could help run operations with a little less heat.

New to the lineup will be 14- and 15.6-inch Portege R800s, offering fuller-size screens.

The case designs look similar but offer new materials: either a magnesium alloy casing in the 13-inch model, or a high-stiffness resin casing in the 14- and 15-inchers.

No word on price, official model names, or release dates in the U.S., but hopefully we'll hear more soon.