Environmentally Friendly:  

To win the EPEAT Gold award, a laptop has to go through some pretty stringent tests. But the Toshiba Portege has that down pretty pat. The Gold status is the highest rating in environmental standards for laptops by EPEAT and a laptop has to meet all required criteria like reduction of hazardous substances, made from recycled material and designed to be recycled in the future among many others. It also has to meet at least 75% of EPEAT optional requirements. Currently only three other laptops fall into that category.

The Portege has other awards under its belt as well. It has also won the treehuggers.com, an environmentally conscious website, award for best green laptop out of its entire science and technology category. It’s also been named the greenest in its category by Greenpeace.

 

Energy Consumption:  

The Portege R500 has a battery designed to let you go an entire workday without charging it. That kind of technology makes a world of difference if you can spend the entire day on your laptop without having to plug it in or sit at a desktop that has to be plugged in and draining power all day.

The longer battery life is probably due to the LED-backlit display. Rather than the energy and batter draining LCD lights that you find on most computers, the LEDs provide better color and use far less energy to brighten up the screen.
 

Product Features:  

The Portege R500 has some just plain cool features like a biometric fingerprint reader so you don’t have to remember passwords. It’s also light and comes with a DVD optical drive and, on top of all that, the overall design of the chassis has a sleek and smooth look that will fit in wherever you take it. It does pretty well compared to other laptops.

Starting at $1,800 and getting as expensive as $2,600, the Portege is a pretty pricey little package. If you’re looking for an affordable get-the-job-done laptop the Portege probably shouldn’t be on your short list. But if you want a laptop that gives you ease – not having to charge it every 15 minutes; saves money on your energy bill; and also gets the job done well, then you’re looking at a pretty good laptop that is probably worth the higher price tag.
 

The Toshiba Portege R500 is a really good laptop. If you are in the market for a laptop and can afford to put down a little extra money upfront, you won’t go wrong with the Portege. If you need to get a laptop, go with the R500, it will go farther than just about any other laptop to reducing your carbon footprint.