Skip to main content

Review: Toshiba Portégé R500

When the Portègè R500 hit in June 2007, it was an impossibly portable ultralight that stood out in a field of also-rans. But with only minimal upgrades since then, the R500 is now having its lunch resoundingly eaten. It’s still among the lightest full-featured laptops on the market, weighing in at just 2.4 pounds with […]
review image

All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Rating:

5/10

WIRED
Amazingly, almost suspiciously, light. Integrated optical drive.
TIRED
One of the dimmest screens on the market — hard to read if you're not viewing straight on. Pitiful performance running Vista. Scary lack of sturdiness.
  • Clock Rate: 1.2GHz
  • Hard Drive: 120GB
  • RAM: 1-2GB

When the Portègè R500 hit in June 2007, it was an impossibly portable ultralight that stood out in a field of also-rans. But with only minimal upgrades since then, the R500 is now having its lunch resoundingly eaten. It's still among the lightest full-featured laptops on the market, weighing in at just 2.4 pounds with an onboard DVD burner. But the flimsy case bends and sways at the faintest touch, which may be why the optical drive on one of our test machines didn't work. Performance is equally problematic — about 20 percent slower than the already lackluster Sony and Apple models here.