Toshiba Portege Z10t – Toshiba finally enters the hybrid Ultrabook Detachable niche

Toshiba was one of the first companies to jump on the Ultrabook bandwagon, and their Portege Z830 still is one of the best models you can get if you don’t mind the design (some people seem to hate it). So it was pretty strange that the company would be absent from the newly announced Ultrabook Detachable niche, although maybe they hand to think twice after their failure with ARM tablets.

But Toshiba did eventually get around to creating a hybrid tablet/Ultrabook, and today we can finally see it on sale – although not the most attractive piece of tech, the Portege Z10t does have a lot to offer to professionals and consumers alike.

Design

The tablet itself has a pretty standard, if a bit bland, design. However, when paired with the dock, the thing looks downright hideous. It’s like Toshiba just said “Oh well, it’s for business users, they don’t care” and saved the money by letting their engineers design the whole thing. They did get one thing right, though – the sturdiness of the dock clamp looks pretty uncompromising, unlike most of the competing detachables, and the Z10t will need that because the tablet itself is quite heavy (and heavier than the dock, as well).

The dock itself has a relatively good (for an Ultrabook) backlit keyboard and touchpad, and houses the VGA port, a full size HDMI out port, a USB 2.0 port and an Ethernet jack. There is no secondary battery here.

The tablet however, is great if you look at it as a business device meant for work. The Full HD IPS display has a matte finish – a first on tablets as far as I know, which is a welcome feature for anyone who wants to use the device while moving or simply outdoors – it is actually possible to do it without cranking the brightness to 100%.

All the important ports and buttons are on the overcrowded right side – there’s the power and volume buttons, the 3.5mm audio jack, a USB 3.0 port, a micro HDMI out port and a full size SD card slot – this practically means that you can use the keyboard dock as a desk-bound dock connected to a display and keyboard/mouse, using the portable tablet as a main work device everywhere.

Hardware features and performance

The hardware is on par with the competition – the Portege Z10t comes with a dual core Intel Core i5 or i7 ULV processor (Ivy Bridge, with the integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics adapter), 4 GB of RAM, 64 or 128GB of onboard storage space (which can be extended using SDXC or high speed UHS-1 SD cards), Wifi N, Bluetooth 4.0, an optional 4G LTE or 3G modem (depending on the market), the usual slew of sensors and two cameras (5.0 Megapixels on the back and 1.3 Megapixels on the front). A unique feature is the integrated TPM module, which is of course aimed at corporate users.

The most important part is the screen, though – and the 11.6 inch, 1920×1080 pixels IPS LCD unit does not disappoint – it’s got great colors, brightness and contrast and the unique matte finish not only makes it better for outdoors or on-the-move use, but also makes the screen feel better to the touch (especially if you have sweaty fingers) and reduces the amount of visible fingerprints and smudges. I really hope other manufacturers will start using matte coatings, as well, and kudos to Toshiba for being the first to do so.

Technical specifications

Specifications	Toshiba Portege Z10t
Display	11.6 inches, 1920×1080 pixels, IPS LCD, 190 PPI pixel density, matte finish
Processor	Intel Core i5 or i7 (Ivy Bridge) processor with vPro, dual core
RAM	4 GB
Graphics Adapter	Intel HD Graphics 4000
Storage Space	64/128 GB onboard storage space, SD card slot
Camera(s)	Back – 5.0 MP with support for 1080p video recording; Front – 1.3 Megapixels with support for 720p video recording
Connectivity Options	Wifi N, Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI, USB, Gigabit Ethernet, VGA out, TPM, HSPA+ or 4G LTE (via optional modem)
Sensors	Accelerometer, light, gyroscope, magnetometer sensors
Battery	Up to 7 hours of use
Dimensions and weight	299 x 221 x 20 mm, 1.2 kg
Operating System and Software	Windows 8 Professional

 

Software

The Toshiba Portege Z10t runs Windows 8 Professional, with very few additions from the manufacturer – I guess it should come as no surprise on a business device, but it’s still pleasant. You can install any legacy Windows programs, as well as the new Metro UI apps – all of which should run very well with the Core i processors. Even older PC games can be run relatively comfortably, as well.

Price and Availability

The Toshiba Portege Z10t has already started launching (it can already be ordered in the US, and Europe since June), and the base price is $1499 – a steep price for such a device, that’s for sure. Toshiba seems to think it’s worth it and seeing as it’s aimed at professionals and corporate users and offers a few unique points that the competition doesn’t have, it may claim some sales.