Portègè X30T: A True Hybrid?

http://www.toshiba.eu/laptops/portege/portege-x30t-e/portege-x30t-e-153/
- Up to Core™ i7-8650U (still Kaby Lake R)
- Up to 1 TB M.2 PCIe Solid-State Drive
- Up to 16GB LPDDR3 2,133 MHz RAM
- 13.3" 1920x1080p anti-glare touch display (400 nits)
- up to 15h 30min battery life
- Wacom AES with 4,000 pressure points
- Fingerprint reader on back of tablet
- Keyboard dock has 16x16 mm backlit keys with 1.4-1.5 mm travel. Keyboard cover probably has similar specs
- Keyboard dock has 2 x USB 3.0 Type-A , Ethernet, VGA, HDMI, USB Type-C
- Tablet has power button, volume rocker, SIM card slot, audio jack, another USB Type-C (one more is revealed if detached from keyboard)
- tablet kickstand up to 135 degrees
- Both keyboards have backlighting
- tablet is 800g, travel keyboard is 400g and hinge/docking keyboard is 600g
- can be used either as a traditional clamshell laptop or a Surface-like tablet wit ha kickstand and optional keyboard cover. This is basically a more powerful Z20t with an optional keyboard cover and kickstand.

Review: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Toshiba-Portege-X30T-E-i7-8550U-UHD620-Laptop-Review.391036.0.html

 

I had to study the video again and edit the post. The way the journalist opened the device looks like it might not have a traditional laptop hinge.

 

No hinge, no trackpoint = me sticking with the Z20t.

 

This photo is really throwing me off. Are we sure there isn't a hinge?

Also, this article says "it would appear that the in-keyboard trackpoint is now an optional extra (for business users that prefer it)".

https://www.anandtech.com/show/13351/toshibas-portege-x30t-an-uncanny-mix-of-clamshell-and-tablet

 

Yeah that article references a number of times using the clamshell without the separate kickstand. Hmm...we may need to see a few more reviews or one in the wild to figure out just how stiff that hinge is on the base keyboard.

 

Just a thought for anyone considering the purchase of a new Toshiba device. Toshiba is almost a defunct corporation and its customer support for computers has been slipping badly over the past year. They still have awesome designs and handily beat most competition in the device class and price point, but quality control has also slipped and without reliable support I would proceed with caution. Used Toshibas make good buys as they depreciate pretty rapidly and, at least through the Z20t, they can be opened and user-serviced as well as an old fashioned Thinkpad. I owned two Z20ts and still own one and have replaced batteries, RAM, SSDs with few issues. There is also a network of "authorized service centers" that are tied into what's left of the Toshiba proprietary parts network but beware of choosing one to trust your device to. I've had some good ones and some terrible ones.

End of commentary.

 

These sentences also can let us think that you can have the tablet without the keyboard :
"Inside the screen is an 8th generation U-series processor, a 13.3-inch FHD touchscreen display with active pen support, the built-in kickstand, both front-facing and rear-facing cameras, and Toshiba states that it is around 0.9 inches thick and weighs under 1kg. The base tablet mode should be good for eight hours of battery life, but the full-fat keyboard bumps that up to 14-15 hours."

 

I've updated the post with a better video show a very clear demonstration of both keyboards and added the notebookcheck review.

 

...except with the EMR swapped out for AES.

Sigh, Toshiba was one of the last EMR hold-outs among Japanese manufacturers: Panasonic, Fujitsu, and now Toshiba...they've all made the switch it seems. Ironically, it's the non-Japanese OEMs (HP, Dell and Samsung) that are carrying the EMR torch now.

(Looks longingly at his old Protege M200, those were the days...)

 

FHD without higher res display options, no trackpoint. I'd be very interested otherwise. )=