Toshiba Portege Z30-A-10P 13.3-inch i5-4300U 1.9 GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD

• Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit (pre-installed) and Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
• (on DVD only; upgrade to Windows 8 requires an external DVD player)
• 4th generation Intel® Core™ i5-4300U vPro™ processor with Intel®Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
• Toshiba HD non-reflective High Brightness eDP™ display with 16 : 9 aspect ratio and LED backlighting
• 128 GB
• Steel grey metallic, magnesium chassis, matt black keyboard
• 4,096 (1x) MB
• DDR3L RAM (1,600 MHz)
• Intel® HD Graphics 4400
• maximum life : up to 12h00min (Mobile Mark™ 2012)
• weight : starting at 1.20 kg
• W x D x H : 316.0 x 227.0 x 13.9 (front) / 17.9 (rear) mm

The Toshiba Portege Z30-A1301 ($1,279 direct) is the latest in Toshiba's long line of highly regarded business ultrabooks, distinguished by a lightweight yet strong magnesium-alloy chassis, and a plethora of features aimed squarely at the worker who needs to get things done wherever they are. The Portege Z30-A1301 doesn't drastically exceed expectations for performance, but the combination of a generous port selection and a battery that will carry you through a full workday and then some makes it an excellent choice for plenty of business users.

Design
The Portege Z30-A1301's design is lightweight and strong thanks to a magnesium-alloy chassis with an internal honeycomb support structure for greater rigidity with less weight. Measuring 0.82 by 12.5 by 9.0 inches (HWD), the slim and portable Z30-A1301 weighs only 2.6 pounds—considerably lighter than either the Editors' Choice Dell Latitude E7440 Touch (3.85 pounds) or the Lenovo ThinkPad T440s (3.5 pounds). The mag-alloy look is similar to the Toshiba Kirabook, but slimmer, sleeker, and toned down with a darker finish

The Portege Z30-A1301 is outfitted with three USB 3.0 ports (one with Sleep-and-Charge functionality), VGA and HDMI output, Gigabit Ethernet, and an SD card slot. Given that most competing business ultrabooks opt for smaller or combined versions of ports, which in turn require special cables or adapter dongles for use, it's refreshing to see such a complete selection of genuinely useful connections offered.

Our review unit came preinstalled with Windows 7 Professional, with the necessary software license and recovery media for Windows 8.1 Pro. This gives you the option of upgrading to the new OS whenever you or your IT department are ready to do so. It's an excellent feature for business users, and I wish more manufacturers offered something similar for consumers.

Toshiba equips the Portege Z30-A1301 with a 128GB solid-state drive (SSD), which offers all of the storage space necessary for either operating system, but may fill up quickly once you begin installing programs and saving files. It also comes with a handful of programs preinstalled. The usual 30-day trials of Microsoft Office and Norton's Internet Security and Anti-Theft are all included, along with a handful of diagnostic utilities and management tools, like PC Health Monitor, Password Utility, and Fingerprint Utility. Toshiba covers the Portege Z30-A1301 with a three-year warranty, so you'll get plenty of use out of this business ultrabook before upgrading to a new model further down the road.

Graphics performance followed the same tune, with the Portege Z30-A1301's integrated graphics processing offering solid graphics support for Web browsing and basic visual demands like viewing video and occasional basic photo editing, but for serious visual rendering, you'll want something equipped with a dedicated graphics processor.

While the overall performance of the Portege Z30-A1301 didn't exceed expectations, the battery life did. With a four-cell, 52Wh battery sealed into the chassis, the slim laptop lasted 10 hours 19 minutes in our battery rundown test. Given that the closest competitor, the Dell E7440 Touch, lasted only 7:44, the Portege Z30-A1301 is the hands-down winner in terms of true portability, letting you go through an entire workday without having to haul a charging cable around.