Toshiba has earned a reputation for producing feature-rich laptops at affordable prices. The $548 Toshiba Satellite L755D-S5204 continues that tradition. This 15-inch notebook offers a large keyboard, a roomy 640GB hard drive, and an AMD Quad-Core A6-3400M Fusion APU. Sounds pretty good for just $548. But how does this mainstream machine compare to other budget-friendly laptops?
Design
The Satellite L755D has a brushed aluminum blue lid that looks handsome but is far from flashy. A slightly raised, silver Toshiba logo adorns the cover as well. The lid does attract some fingerprints, but the matte finish does a fine job at hiding this (unless you tilt the machine towards the light). The underside of the notebook is a plain black matte plastic.Measuring 14.8 x 9.8 x .6 - 1.3 inches and weighing 5.2 pounds, the L755D was comfortable enough to lug along during a walk from the office to the transit station. This notebook is the same weight as the HP g6x (5.2 pounds) and lighter than the Gateway NV55S05u (5.6 pounds).
Keyboard and Touchpad
Open up the Toshiba Satellite L755D and youll find a recessed, black matte keyboard contained by a deck with the same chrome-like, deep blue color of the lid. We appreciated how generous Toshiba was with the big, flat-topped keys that made typing quite comfortable, not to mention the full-sized number pad. However, we found the space bar key to be too small. More than once, we completely missed it, instead hitting hitting one of the Alt keys.The touchpad and silver, rounded mouse buttons are centered below the G and H keys, which means youll be able to touch type without any problems. Initially, we questioned the smallish 3.25 x 1.6-inch touchpads ability to serve our needs, but its matte finish and satisfying roughness made it easy to move our finger around. We also found the pad large enough to execute such multitouch gestures as pinch-to-zoom.
The two mouse buttons are recessed into an oval-shaped space that exceeds the length of the touchpad, and were responsive.
Display and Audio
The L755D has a 15.6-inch widescreen display with a standard resolution of 1366 x 768. Videos played on it had accurate detail and came out quite bright, but colors and contrast did not pop as much as we would have liked. The well-lit band concert scenes in Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist displayed nicely, but the screen didnt do justice to the Citys tiny flitting streetlights during the films nocturnal scenes; they lost most of their ambient charm because the night didnt look black enough in comparison.
Tilting the display back as far as it would go caused some color distortion, and when three people sat beside each other to watch a movie, the two sitting on the outer edges said that the displays glossy finish created some distracting reflections.
The notebooks stereo speakers, located in two oval wells on the upper right and left corners of the deck, produced acceptable and accurate sound. The bass in the Black Eyed Peas "Lets Get It Started" was barely perceptible--while Fergies vocals, which should have rang out brightly, fell flat and sounded thin even with the volume maxed out. The sound could hardly fill the desk area where we tested the laptop, let alone an entire room.
Heat
The Satellite L755D is a truly cool portable. After playing a full-screen video on Hulu for 15 minutes, both the touchpad and the space between the G and H keys registered a manageable 86 degrees Fahrenheit, and the middle of the underside measured a harmless 88 degrees. However, we did notice that the fan tended to run a bit loud after the laptop had been turned on for some time--even if you didnt give it much to do.Ports and Webcam
The left side of the L755D contains mic and headphone jacks, HDMI, a combined eSATA and USB, VGA, Ethernet, and a Kensington lock slot. On the right are two more USB ports and a SuperMulti DVD burner with Labelflash support. Finally, youll see a 5-in-1 card reader if you look right below the right mouse button. As with its other notebooks, one USB port uses Toshibas Sleep and Charge technology, which lets you power mobile devices even when the system is asleep or off.
The Toshiba Satellite L755D features a 0.3-MP webcam. During a Skype video call, our friend noted that our image appeared dull and washed out, and the picture could have been much sharper. On the plus side, Toshibas built-in facial recognition software operated quite well. It took us a couple of tries to register, but it was smooth sailing after that. Upon booting, the computer recognized us on its first try and logged us on instantaneously.
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