When the Toshiba Portégé R500 was first released, it weighed a measly 2.4 pounds, making it the lightest laptop in its class to integrate an optical drive. This time around, the newest configuration of the Portégé R500 is even lighter at 1.7 pounds. It comes in a magnesium frame which the reviewer likens to a dummy model absent of any parts. It has a 12-inch LED widescreen which isn't very bright and at times looked washed out, regardless of lighting conditions. It features a full-size keyboard for comfortable typing. The Portégé R500 has a bevy of ports, including an SD slot and a FireWire port. Instead of a regular hard drive, it comes with a 64GB SSD drive. When compared to the X300 and the Air in terms of performance scores, the X300's SYSmark 2007 Preview Overall score is more than 25 percent faster than that of the R500. Battery test showed that the three-cell battery of the R500 will power it for just over 3 hours. If weight is all that matters, the 1.7-pound Toshiba Portégé R500 (SSD) is more than capable of delivering.