Toshiba's Convertible Portégé M750

The Portégé M750, Toshiba's fifth-generation tablet PC, shipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor, 2 gigabytes of RAM, and a 160GB (7200 RPM) Serial ATA hard drive. The machine runs the 32-bit version of Windows Vista Business. I used it for everyday work and found that it runs cool, quiet and fast. 

End-User Advantages

The Portégé M750 is a convertible tablet PC with touchscreen capability that lets users interact with the display (in both notebook and tablet mode) as if it were a digital piece of paper.

When using the M750 in standard notebook mode, users will appreciate the full-size keyboard and the 12.1-inch WXGA (1280x800) widescreen monitor. The built-in microphone and webcam work very well when used for video conferencing and voice recording. Users will also appreciate the sleep and charge feature of the USB ports, which will charge a device while the computer is on standby.

This 4.6-pound dynamo really stands out when it swivels to tablet mode. The unit is very light and balanced, and with stylus in hand users can take advantage of digital content. In addition to all the functionality of a standard notebook, the M750's touchscreen and active digitizer allow users to interact directly on the screen and incorporate digital ink when desired.

Why It Works for IT

We operate under a four-year refresh cycle, so our systems must be powerful enough to accommodate four years of operating system and software updates. The M750 is an enterprise-level machine and satisfies all of these requirements. Screen breakage is a major concern for us, but the improved hinge design that removed the lid latch eliminates a major contributor to screen damage. The M750 has a magnesium alloy case, and Toshiba has continued to enhance its EasyGuard suite of tools that allow it to stand up to the rigors of heavy mobile use.

One key component is a shock protection design that guards the LCD, hard drive and the inverter. Using its built-in 3D accelerometer, the M750 is able to sense movement that might damage the hard drive and then lock the head to prevent data loss. A new addition to the EasyGuard suite is PC Health Monitor, which provides a dashboard system of alerts that monitors the status of critical components such as battery health, CPU temperature and system cooling.

Disadvantages

There are a few things we would like to see improved on the M750. The stylus does not always lock into its slot; when it does, it sometimes becomes stuck. As you can imagine, keeping track of a stylus is a challenge for some of our students. For that reason, we provide tethers when we hand out the tablets. However, Toshiba's poor tether design has forced us to assemble our own version. The stylus also has a pocket clip, similar to that of a standard ink pen, that is easily broken. 

The software-dependent volume wheel is another area we would like to see changed. In the past our users were able to guarantee that their volume was turned all the way down before booting up. We would love to see Toshiba reinstall that feature.