My Toshiba Protege AZ30-1FD keyboard is always malfunctioning and is very hard here in Lagos, Nigeria to get a replacement for the exact specs. Please any help or advice.

Just to add for anyone interested, the LCD does flicker at settings below 100%, and when adaptive brightness / Intel Display power saving technology is switched on.

stay away from Toshiba
my z30 fell from 30cm on a very thick carpet and fell in pieces !!! by word.
i did not want to believe what happened... screen splitted and broken, part of chasing fell out, charging port broken
next: warranty did not work at all...
simple reason: T. is bankrupt and looks like became a scam business to collect money   
i will never again buy a T. learned that expensive lesson...

Quote from: Killingbeans on August 24, 2014, 12:47:18
I have just ordered a Z30-A. In this review it is stated that: "Unfortunately, the notebook does not feature free slots", but when I look at the picture of the exposed motherboard I see something (beneath the WiFi card) that looks like an unused M.2 "M Key" connector?

Having a connctor with a theoretical bandwidth of nearly 4GB/s for a future SSD opgrade seems like an absolute treat.

But am I mistaken about this connctor?

I agree with this, It looks like there is an empty bay next to the USB ports. Killingbeans, did you open yours to check? I would like to know before buying the new version with a broadwell i7 inside :)

I have had a Z30 (i5) for about a year now and have to say it is excellent. I had reservations about the screen quality and the fan noise and neither have been a problem at all. The fan is mostly silent when running and the screen is perfectly fine for everyday use. What impresses most is the overall competence and neatness of the design plus the fact it is very light and very responsive with the SSD. The battery easily lasts all day if you turn the screen brightness down a bit.

I have just ordered a Z30-A. In this review it is stated that: "Unfortunately, the notebook does not feature free slots", but when I look at the picture of the exposed motherboard I see something (beneath the WiFi card) that looks like an unused M.2 "M Key" connector?

Having a connctor with a theoretical bandwidth of nearly 4GB/s for a future SSD opgrade seems like an absolute treat.

But am I mistaken about this connctor?

Z30 has a touch and FHD ips model now, here is the link http://www.toshiba.eu/laptops/portege/portege-z30-a/portege-z30t-a-11d/
can you review it?

 :)Very good review. Easy to understand and the verdict helps get one big picture at the end.  Thanks..

Thanks for a great review.
However, I wonder if it is possible to buy Z30t (with presumably a better and touch screen), because it is not listed on official Toshiba webpage? There is not much information on the web about Z30t, so I wonder if it has been manufactured at all?

FYI - The touch variant comes with full hd and a lot more. I only wonder why americsn writers hated japanese tech that much that they keep on ridiculing it, when everyone in the field knows japanese electronics are alwyas the epitome of build quality.

Toshiba does a good thing to introduce this to worldwide, almost nothing changed compared to its Japanese brother R634. But I appreciate the R644 model which only sold in Japan. The R644 is 14-inch of 1600x900 resolution and every other designs and specs are the same to R634(also Z30). Those who are not satisfied with Z30's poor display can buy a R644 from Japan instead.

At first sight Z30 seems to be quite a good chunk of a hardware. Thanks for that extensive review. What I see unpleasant is the limited aperture angle - may you specify in detail what max. angle is feasible at Z30?
I´d also appreciate to get more info on the keybord. PgDn, PgUp as well as Arrow keys look quite tiny. How comfortable is to use these keys without a sight control during typewriting?