The Z830 was my favourite Ultrabook of ‘phase 1’ in 2011 and I got very close to buying one. The problem was fan noise. A recent BIOS update may have fixed the issue.

Update: I tested the BIOS update. It works. Info here.

In common environments like offices and silent environments (library, home office) the noise, a mechanical buzz rather than air noise, was unnoticeable. In a quiet environment, it’s another story. Here’s what we said in the Z830 review

 If you’ve been looking at getting the best specifications into your Ultrabook choice you are likely to have the Toshiba Z830 at the top of your list. With a backlit keyboard, SSD, Intel WiFi module with Wi-Di and My-Wifi support, full size set of ports including VGA, HDMI and SDXC, all in the lightest weight possible, the Toshiba Z830 with Core i5 promises a lot. But that’s just specifications and real-world is sometimes very different. Fortunately the Z830 delivers, although it  has one possible showstopper hidden away beyond the specs and a few little niggles that might put you off. You can read about them in the full Toshiba Z830 review below. Thanks to Toshiba Europe for sending the Z830-10J over for review.

This could be the information that many of you were looking for. The SSD Review has given the Toshiba Z830 Ultrabook the editors choice award and retrofitted a 6 Gbps mSATA Runcore T50 SSD to the Ultrabook resulting in huge disk speed increases.

There’s obviously a cost in terms of warranty and parts here but for those that are looking for the ultimate Ultrabook spec, the Z830 looks like the winner.

The review is good too. Check it out.

I’ve been watching GBM like a hawk today because I knew they were getting in a Toshiba Z830 for testing. At last we’ve got a final, retail version in the hands of someone that knows what they’re doing. Josh Smith is the man and his First Impressions are here.

The model being reviewed is the Toshiba Portege z830-P330 with  1.4GHz Intel Core i3 (2nd gen), 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD.

The SSD is confirmed as the Toshiba THNSNB128GMCJ and it’s bad news.

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I’ve just pushed the button on a Toshiba Z830 Ultrabook which might be here next week (although I suspect the 7th Nov delivery date is not going to be honoured.) I went for the Toshiba Z830 because I think it’s going to be the best for me. It’s very light, has the full size SD card slot I require for my photo and video work, a promising battery life and upgradeable SSD and memory. I’ve ordered a 4GB Core i5 model, the Z830-10J, for €999 in Germany.

Continued below. . .

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While I was researching for the last article, a warning about battery life figures, I came across some very useful information on the Toshiba Z830. They’ve officially submitted BAPCO MobileMark 2007 scores to BAPCO, for Core i3 and Core i7 versions of the Ultrabook, along with some other useful information.

First, lets take a look at the SSD they’re using. It’s a critical part of an Ultrabook. Toshiba have obviously dropped their own part in and it’s a TOSHIBA THNSNB128GMCJ , 128GB, SSD, SATA on the Core i7 model tested and a TOSHIBA THNSNB064GMCJ , 64GB, SSD, SATA on the Core i3 model tested.

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Designing an Ultrabook isn’t easy. Tight measurements, strength and heat issues make the designers job tougher than ever but despite that Toshiba have managed to build a 13” laptop with a weight of only 1.1KG, the lightest of all the Ultrabooks.

We talked about some of the design features following a recent meeting with Toshiba but the extra information given in a review with some of the design team reveals even more and gives us the first images of the internals of the Z830. Don’t miss the memory expansion slot!

Evolving from the Dynabook SS series, the Z830 (or Dynabook R631 as it is called locally in Japan) uses a similar low-profile magnesium alloy chassis where a honeycomb structure is added for rigidity.

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Toshiba UK, operating independently from West Europe, North America and other regions have had specs, pricing and availability for the Toshiba Z830 available for a few weeks now but, for good measure, (or we suspect, a bit of timely fact regurgitation from The Register) the story is doing the rounds again today.

Toshiba UK already have model names, price and details available (details here) so all you’ll need to do is to wait for the first hands-on and then you can finally make your decision between the 4 Ultrabooks and the Ultrabook alternatives.

Interestingly, one large electronics retailer in Germany is convinced that the Z830 with be available on the 7th November [Conrad]. We’re trying to confirm this and are also looking forward to the Z830 as the first review device here on Ultrabooknews. More details on that in due course.

Via Pocket Lint