Toshiba, theUS$70bn-revenue Japanese electronics giant, has always built robust Windows laptops. Its new ultra-portable, the Portégé R700-15X (an uninspired name if there ever was one), continues this tradition.

The 1,3kg computer is notable for two things. The first is the fact that it packs a 2,4GHz Intel Core i5 (M520) into its thin chassis. The second is its remarkable battery life — Toshiba claims eight hours, but in reality you’ll get a still very respectable six-plus hours on a full charge.

The R700, which has a recommended retail price of R9 999, ships in its standard configuration with Windows 7 Professional (oddly, the 32-bit version) and has 4GB of RAM (who would dream of using less?), a too-small 160GB hard drive and, impressively for an ultra-portable notebook, a DVD burner.

There’s an eSata port and two USB ports, plus an HDMI port for hooking up a high-definition monitor and a VGA adaptor for legacy devices. There’s also gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi support, including the speedy “n” standard.

The machine, which is encased in not-unattractive black plastic, has a 13,3-inch matt screen with a resolution of 1366×768. Though the screen is viewable at most angles and in sunlight, and doesn’t reflect your face back at you while you’re using it, it is a little dull, with colours washed out.

The R700 also doesn’t have dedicated graphics, so a gaming machine this is not — despite the powerful Core i5 processor. Audio is tinny, so don’t buy this computer if you want to use it to watch movies or listen to music. Our guess is Toshiba is aiming this machine at the price-conscious small and medium business market.

For security, there’s a fingerprint scanner — now a standard in many Windows-based laptops. The keyboard isn’t perfect. Response from the keys is nowhere nearly as good as on Apple’s MacBook Pro line, and the font used on the keys is, in our opinion, blocky and unattractive. And the “enter” key is too small.

We’d stump up the extra two grand for an entry level MacBook Pro, which also has a (slightly slower) Core i5 processor and the bonus of a bigger hard drive. But the Apple machines aren’t always appealing to a business audience. For a Windows-based ultra-portable, the Toshiba, with its good battery life and processor, is worth considering among the wide range of options available. But shop around. — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral