The good: Competitively priced; strong security features; spill-proof keyboard; plays music and video discs without booting into Windows; good battery life.

The bad: Non-swappable optical drive bay; missing S-video port; ExpressCard slot not available; no Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.

The bottom line: Despite a few flaws, the Toshiba Portege M500 is a competent performer with strong security features. The competitive pricing is also a major draw for the corporate user with tight purse strings.

Read full review of the Toshiba Portege M500 »

By Darius Chang, CNET Asia
Aug 21, 2006

Previously the domain of the ultraportable class, 12.1-inch notebooks have increasingly gone the thin-and-light way by incorporating an integrated optical drive. The Portege series is Toshiba's line of portables for the SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) consumer, though it also thoughtfully included some entertainment features like dedicated multimedia controls. Despite missing a few features, the M500's attractive price tag makes it a serious contender for those who place a premium on data security.

	Though not the slimmest notebook around, the presence of an integrated optical drive makes up for the added girth. (Click for larger image)

Design
Departing from the traditional silver or black corporate hues, the Portege M500 sports a dark blue chassis that is both unique yet understated. Like the Lenovo 3000 V100 and Dell XPS M1210, this Toshiba portable features an integrated optical drive under its 12.1-inch display.

This 1.86kg system occupies 299 x 225mm of desk space with a height of about 35mm, which is on par with similar models from other brands. Cronstructed from strong but light magnesium alloy, the Portege series is the Japanese vendor's business-class lineup and incorporates physical protection such as spill-proof keyboard and harddisk mounted on shock absorbers.

Features
The Portege M500 is competitively priced for a corporate machine with strong biometric features. With a list price of S$2,299 (US$1,633.28) for the Core Solo model and S$2,599 (US$1,846.41) for the Core Duo configuration, the M500 also incorporates basic entertainment features like high-definition audio, multimedia controls and pre-boot multimedia playback.

For an office system, the information within its data banks is infinitely more valuable than the hardware which contains it. A recent case of a laptop containing private information of US veterans which had been stolen punctuates the importance of strong security features. The M500, using a combination of fingerprint biometric scanner and Trusted Platform Module security chip (which stores passwords in a hardware component that is said to make it harder to crack), ensures that your valuable data doesn't get into the wrong hands even if the machine is compromised. The proprietary Toshiba EasyGuard application further improves data integrity by offering a user-friendly interface for backups and troubleshooting.

This Portege misses a few swings when it comes to connectivity and networking. Using the older Type II PC card slot instead of the newer ExpressCard standard, not having a faster Gigabit Ethernet connection and foregoing the S-video output may prove to be deal-breakers for some. Three USB 2.0 and mini-Firewire port are available for hooking with external peripherals, while networking is handled through the 10/100Mbps Ethernet and modem components. Wireless radios allow linking to 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth devices. A five-in-one memory card reader is compatible with SD, MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro and xD-Picture Card formats.

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