Toshiba KIRAbook Ultrabook Review
by Dustin Sklavos on May 9, 2013 12:01 AM ESTSystem Performance
The Toshiba KIRAbook may be using the current "entry level" low voltage Intel Core i7, but it's still an extremely fast processor. The Ivy Bridge-based i7-3537U features a nominal 2GHz clock speed and is able to turbo up to 2.9GHz on both cores or even 3.1GHz on a single core, power and thermals depending. The HD 4000 graphics are also able to jump to 1.2GHz, but that advantage is likely to be much more modest. Finally, the SSD in the KIRAbook is a very capable one and should help it out in PCMark.
PCMark 7's leanings towards SSDs are essentially correct; as a whole, the i7-3537U in the KIRAbook is faster than any of the other ultrabooks tested, and the SSD is definitely snappy. It's remarkable that the vastly more powerful CyberPower Fangbook (which includes a 256GB Samsung 840 Pro) doesn't bludgeon the KIRAbook harder.
CPU-centric benchmarks are also mostly in the KIRAbook's favor, but the first pass in x264 isn't as strong as it ought to be. The entry KIRAbook will be equipped with the same CPU as the Dell XPS 13 in these charts, so you're looking at a measurable decrease in CPU performance going that route. If the extra $400 for the upgrade to our review unit meant more than just Windows 8 Pro, a touchscreen, and the i7-3537U it might be easier to justify, but the i5-3337U is still a totally serviceable CPU.
3DMark performance of the KIRAbook is pretty much par for the course; any differences between the ultrabooks listed can probably be chalked up to thermal design differences between individual chassis rather than differences in the CPUs themselves.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
110 Comments
View All Comments
andrewaggb - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
I thought that as well. But I don't have a 2560x1440 panel to test scaling on so I'm not sure if it's really an issue.andrewaggb - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
though I could probably set a 2560x1600 monitor to that resolution temporarily to test it...jhoff80 - Friday, May 10, 2013 - link
Is the scaling actually set to 200%? I didn't see that anywhere in the review, but I'd tend to think it's more likely to be set to 150%Not that your complaint applies to Metro apps anyway, but even those are designed for 140% and 180%, so 200% isn't happening there either.
jhoff80 - Friday, May 10, 2013 - link
Set that way out of the box, I mean.PEJUman - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
Dustin, is that a DS9 homage? I took me a while to realize where I heard 'major Kira' before...my3rc - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - link
Haha Major Kira, I love it!deeps6x - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
Touch on a laptop is stupid. If you actually use it heavily, you destroy the hinge. Have one with it and hate it.Glossy screens suck as well. Just when it looked like we were finally putting that shit behind us, MS goes and tries to cram Win8 with touch down everyone's throat. It is enough to make you want to switch to Apple products.
B3an - Friday, May 10, 2013 - link
"Touch on a laptop is stupid. If you actually use it heavily, you destroy the hinge. Have one with it and hate it."Thats you're own fault for buying junk. Theres loads of Win 8 laptops that don't have this problem, and theres always things like the Lenovo Yoga, Asus Taichi, or hybrids with tablets + docks that wont have this issue. But i guess you're probably lying anyway to make a stupid incorrect point.
Conficio - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
"The essential ingredients to any PC computing experience are the keyboard, the mouse/touchpad, the display, and responsiveness." - Yeah sold - Notice this does not include super thin or super light.Anyhow, the price is not to be justified - MacBook 13.3" retina includes a longer lasting battery, an OS that supports the retina display well + thunderbold and costs less? Not even speaking about single band Wifi support.
P.S.: I'm not an Apple fanboy, just to old to spend my day with crappy tools.
The0ne - Thursday, May 9, 2013 - link
I had to laugh at the comments. I'm sorry, it's not meant to be rude. I'm just reading and thinking to myself that some of you will NEVER be happy regardless of any expectations. There will always be something that is or will never be to your liking. That's just how alot of people are.For me, the screen is a great addition and one that IS and SHOULD be a lot more important than whether or not you have your dual wifi band options. For that I can fix easily with a better router or dongle. The screen, good luck. Priorities I guess.
Haven't read the article yet but when I have the time I will. Just had to respond because these comments made me laugh.