Toshiba Satellite Z930

Take the Satellite Z830 and whack new bits in — that's Toshiba's Satellite Z930. The processor gets a bump to third generation Core, we get 6GB instead of 4GB RAM, otherwise, everything else is pretty much the same.

That means a 128GB SSD, 2.4GHz 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.0 remain for the internal specs. Toshiba's strength as an ultrabook, though, comes from its ports: full sized Ethernet and HDMI, a VGA port, separate headphone and microphone jacks, an SD card reader, a single USB 3.0 port and two USB 2.0 ports.

At AU$1299, this will suit most people, although, if you want a bit more, AU$1899 will get you a Core i7 3667U and 256GB SSD.

It's quite light and, despite the screen bending a bit when pressure is applied, quite resilient. In fact, the only real annoyance in the entire package is the screen itself — a 1366x768 affair that's glossier than a nail varnish convention.

The backlit keyboard is excellent, as is the Synaptics touchpad: this is definitely a laptop that the hardened road warrior would appreciate.

Application performance

The Satellite did pick up a bit of fan whine when working hard, but nothing unreasonable. It otherwise performed about where it should, given the hardware involved.

Battery life

Once again proving that Windows 8 touch-based laptops aren't the best with battery life, the Windows 7-powered Satellite Z930 travels quite well.

Conclusion

Just like the Z830, the Z930 is a great laptop for portability and flexibility. We'd love it if it had a better quality screen, like Samsung's Series 9, but for port complement, it can't be beat.