Following the trend of Windows 8 hybrid devices, the Portege Z10t is Toshiba’s latest into the market, consisting of a modular tablet-keyboard setup, letting you switch between Windows 8 slate and Ultrabook with ease. The design is simple yet elegant, with a gunmetal gray shell for both tablet and keyboard, with a textured surface on the tablet’s back for extra grip. The spill-proof keyboard is backlit, which is a rarity for detachable keyboards, but a welcome addition for the night owls in the office. A stylus can also be found in the left corner, so you can start scribbling away. The combined form is top-heavy, culminating in the limited angles of the hinge.
Tucked within the Portege is an ultra low-voltage Intel Core i5 chip paired with 4GB of DDR3 RAM – a speedy combination that is more than sufficient for daily productivity. The limited storage on the 128GB SSD does mean that you will need to prioritize work over pleasure, but the Z10t offers ample opportunities for storage expansion via USB ports.
In terms of performance, the Portege Z10t is so-so, achieving only average scores in PCMark05, barring Storage, no doubt due to the SSD. Still, you are more than able to get work done on the Ultrabook without suffering from any slowdown.
PCMark7 also reflected that same sentiment, with performance that’s nothing to shout about. Computation, Creativity and System Storage scores were very close, within the 5000 to 6000 range – on par with a lot of offering found in the market.
With a low-voltage processor, the Portege Z10t managed to survive a little over 4 hours when untethered from a power source. Of course, this benchmark was configured to run a balanced work-play preset, and I’m pretty sure you can squeeze an extra hour by just crunching paperwork.
The Portege Z10t has abundant connectivity options, with USB 3.0, microHDMI and an SD card reader on the tablet proper, and an additional VGA, HDMI and USB 2.0 connector on the keyboard dock. All in all, the Toshiba Portege Z10t is a hybrid that gets things done.
