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For music, videos, games and more, the upscale Satellite A505 laptop gives you style, advanced entertainment performance and desktop-like versatility across a 16-Inch diagonal HD TruBrite widescreen display. A great communications suite and advanced A/V ports keep you well connected, with plenty of freedom to expand and share. Toshiba “Smart” Features like a TouchPad with Multi-touch control, and USB Sleep and Charge, help you do more. While advancements like a power-saving Eco Button and an LED-backlit display keep you energy smart. And it’s all wrapped up in a stunning. Fusion Finish in Sonic Black—so it really stands out in a crowd.
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Technical Details
- 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 Processor- 4GB Memory
- 400GB Serial ATA Hard Drive
- 16.0" Diagonal HD TruBrite Widescreen Display
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, *3 Hours 20 Minutes of Battery Life
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By KatKav (Brooklyn, NY United States)
I bought the previous version of Amazon's configuration of Toshiba's A505 satellite (the S6973) which is almost identical to this. In less than 2 months, I received an update from Toshiba, a BIOS update, that completely crashed my computer. It was a complete hardware failure. Toshiba insisted I had to wait for them to send me a box (even though I still had the original box it came in) to send it to their repair center. After waiting a week and repeatedly calling and emailing tech support, they finally inform me that have to back-order the systemboard (for a brand new computer!!), which will take another week to arrive and goodness knows how long to install and ship. I had another problem, with the sound, before this and the tech support I spoke to was not very knowledgeable - one guy made the problem worse. So overall I've completely lost faith with this computer and Toshiba and would never buy another. I realize this looks like a good buy, but I strongly encourage you to look elsewhere!
By AdamSmythe (Colorado Springs, CO USA)
My wife and I got this Toshiba laptop to replace an aging laptop at home, where the extent of our mobility requirement is that we occasionally move it from room to room. (If we simply wanted a computer for a fixed location, we probably would have purchased a desktop model for somewhat less money and/or better performance.) Beyond normal uses such as spreadsheets and publishing programs, the 2.2 GHz Intel Core Duo 2 T6600 processor is plenty powerful enough for typical household needs, including photography work and most games. If you are a serious gamer, however, you will want more processing power and a discrete graphics card, which this laptop doesn't have. Unlike most netbooks or "ultra-thin" laptops (which slot between netbooks and traditional laptops), this unit comes with 4GB of memory, which should remain sufficient for several years, and a solid 400GB hard drive. That, along with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, should last you years.
The large (16 inch) display is bright, crisp and a joy to behold. I've read some complaints about the keyboard, but we like it. There is a numeric keypad, which really saves time if you frequently work with numbers. The touchpad is not located in the middle of the unit, which troubles some people (although it is easy to get used to). If you look carefully at an image of the keyboard, you will see that the touchpad is located roughly in the middle of what I would call the traditional keyboard area (from the left shift key to the right shift key), which is where you will normally find your hands when typing. The two internal speakers are simply great for a laptop, but don't expect miracles from 1.5 inch speakers. The "fusion" finish looks sharp, but it attracts fingerprints like honey attracts bees.
This Toshiba comes with a six-cell battery and an advertised 3 hours and 20 minute battery life, although we got closer to 2 hours and 30 minutes of battery use with normal settings. Regardless, we don't run this on battery power that often, and if what you want is really long battery life, you should look at a netbook or ultra-thin. The Windows 7 software is 64-bit, which is where personal computing is headed, so that's an advantage. However, you may find some compatibility problems with older software or hardware such as printers (many printer manufacturers will have compatible drivers available shortly).
Before you rule this laptop in for your situation, however, you should first rule out various alternatives. If mobility is a key concern for you, this isn't the right choice. Yes, you can pick it up and carry it around, but at 15 inches in width and over seven pounds, I wouldn't want to lug it around for long. For, say, a college student who wants to take notes in class every day (and who can accept the limited processing power of less capable machines), a smaller, lighter computer with much better battery life is a better choice. Get a netbook, or maybe an ultra-thin. If you are a serious gamer or video editor, then you need a high-end machine with a discrete graphics card and a more powerful processor. Just be prepared to pay up for it. And if you have no mobility requirement, consider a desktop.
However, if what you want is a desktop replacement laptop with plenty of memory, good processing power, speed, a large screen, a roomy hard drive, lots of ports, etc., then this laptop features an attractive combination of these features in a relatively economical package. It will be the right computer for many people.
By Mad B (California)
Before I go ahead with my review, I want to mention that I did not purchase this laptop from Amazon. I paid the same amount as Amazon.
I have a Desktop that I built about 2 years ago with, what were at the time, Top of the line components. This laptop comes Extremely close to my behemoth of a Desktop in performance. The Amazon description of the product covers it's specifications fairly well. As such i will not go into detail of what this product has or doesn't have. I will be reviewing it's capabilities and it's performance.
I noticed that the 2 reviewers before me mentioned a couple of things that they were unsure of. I will answer those questions.
1. This laptop does not have Bluetooth, nor does it have the built in Antennas for you to add a bluetooth card. That is not a big deal as many USB bluetooth adapters cost $10-$30.
2. The timing of the Backlighting for the keyboard can be controlled in the bios.
If you are wondering whether to choose this laptop over another one with the "T6600". I suggest you choose this one. I will explain why. Although the "T6600" is 2.2GHZ, it is usually running at a slower Clock rate of 800Mhz. This processor, specifically in this laptop, is running at 2.13Ghz at a clock rate of 1066MHZ which will throw out very close numbers in a benchmark. This Processor is also designed with a lower TDP wattage. Which in turn means a longer battery life.
Since the bus is running at 1066Mhz, the memory that is put into this laptop (DDR3) is running at a matched clock rate. This brings this to an 'almost' enthusiast level of computing. For the price, it is an amazing deal.
T6600 is cheaper than the P7450, and most average users will see higher clock rate for cheaper and go with T6600. Which is why i explained the difference above.
The onboard video chipset in this laptop is a Nvidia 230M, which is the bottom of their enthusiast level Graphics chipsets. I will put it this way, it is absolutely amazing how good this chipset is. I have two SLI 8800GTX Ultras in my desktop which cost me almost twice as much as this laptop's price 2 years ago. I still haven't run into a game that has brought them down to their SLI'd knees and honestly i wasn't expecting this laptop to even come close to their prowess. It hasn't, but It's right at their tails. I downloaded some of NVIDIAs tech demos. I ran the 8800Ultra graphics demo and it ran at full native resolution of this laptop without a hitch. I have to say i was pleasently surprised. I also downloaded the 200 series tech demo and it ran as well, at about 15 or so Frames Per Second. Which is Amazing because these tech demos are made to bring out the full potential of their top of the line cards and for the chipset to even run these demos at more than 15 Frames per second simply means that you will have NO problems playing any of today's games at their full graphical settings.
It comes with Windows 7 Home premium 64bit. You can easily upgrade that within the OS to any of the higher editions but for most regular users, the Home Premium is more than enough.
I do have to agree with the bloatware. Although the bloatware isn't quite as useless and cumbersome as some of the other laptop manufacturers it still hinders the experience; atleast that's my opinion.
The keyboard keys are, in my opinion a tad bit bigger than a regular full sized keyboard. Yet are not clicky like a regular desktop keyboard, which sometimes makes it a little bit harder to know or feel your way around the keys. Although it doesn't hinder in anyway from performing any regular internet related tasks. I would suspect that people would have trouble with the keyboard at first if they are doing a lot of word processing but it shouldn't be too hard to get used to.
My least favorite part of this laptop is the touch pad. The touchpad is off to the left a little bit instead of being in the center like in most normal laptops. Also it is flush with the bezel of the laptop for aesthetic reasons. The touch pad does have a different texture then the rest of the laptop so it's not hard to find it if you are not looking at it. The left and right click buttons are also extremely big, which is a turn off for me personally. But some people might like that. I believe the touchpad is also something that will take a bit of getting used to.
The speakers are fairly nice. I am not an audiophile and if you are buying a laptop for it's audio prowess then you should stop right now. A 1 inch speaker will never be as good as a full sized computer speaker or other Home Audio equipment. Although for being so tiny, they do sound very good. I am not disappointed with the speakers.
Overall this laptop is a steal for the price that it is going for right now, I would give this laptop a 8 out of 10.
Hopefully My review was helpful. If you have any questions, please comment and I will try to reply in a timely manner.
Thank you
By Ivan Yudhi (Hayward,CA United States)
I waited until Windows 7 launches before purchasing a laptop. Ordered on 22th, shipped the next day (even with FSSS), got it on the 26th. First impression was that it looks very slick with high glossy finish. If you want a decent desktop replacement to play movies, run memory intensive programs, and play games.. than this would be more than enough.
When I was looking for a laptop, I looked at 3 things:
- Processor: 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 processor -> benchmark tests comparable to 2.20 GHz P6600, but will save 10% power on maximum performance...
- Memory: 4 GB of RAM, DDR3; 1066 MHz -> I run photoshop and cakewalk heavily.. this would be more than sufficient
- Graphic cards: NVIDIA GeForce GT 230M graphics with 1 GB GDDR3 -> this is really good.. even for graphic intensive gaming like Crysis... let's just leave it at that..
I was playing with it the whole afternoon yesterday and found some stuff:
Pros / Cons
- Like another reviewer here mentioned, there's a lot of junk programs installed.. I'm thinking of removing them, buat maybe I'll just leave it there for a while
- For some reason performance can be sluggish at times... browsing with IE gives lags from keyboard to monitor... I switched to Chrome and it seems faster.. need to do further research
- Played music on itunes and it skips once in a while... again.. needs to do further testing.. maybe my configuration isn't optimal
- the touch pad is wayyy on the left side of the keyboard... since I'm used to the touchpad in the middle.. it's kinda ackward at times.. but I'm sure I'll adjust to it..
- full keyboard!! I love it!
- harman/kardon speakers.. not totally clean (you can here distortion at times at full volume) but VERY GOOD for laptop speakers..
- still trying to find out if this has bluetooth or not... the specs didn't say anything, but looking around I found programs installed for bluetooth.. needs to do more testing
- run windows 7 flawlessly
Suggestions:
Do not get the one with the blu-ray drive.. you won't notice the quality between normal DVDs and Blu Rays on small screen anyways... and it costs ~$250 more... of course you also get bigger battery that can lasts you ~5 hours.. but think about it, would you really need it?
I've been researching around and trust me this is the best option if you have the same needs as mine (see beginning of review)
By Skyler Morris
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RZHK7BV427WD I just got this computer on Saturday and all I can say is, if you are looking for a good desktop replacement/media/gaming laptop, im sure this is for you. The 16in TFT display is extremely bright and crisp, and even on its lowest brightness setting it can still be easily seen in bright lights with minimal glare. The lighted keyboard is really handy, although I can't seem to be able to change the amount of time that it stays on. The touchpad is nice and responsive, and multi-touch is really handy for photo editing, etc. It sometime gets in the way if you accidentally rest a finger on it while moving the cursor. /the touch controls on the top of the keyboard are realy nice, and along with the media/volume controls, it also has an 'eco-button' which lowers the power consumption of the laptop. The speakers are wonderful, not great bass but what are you to expect from 1in speakers? They aren't too tinny and sound great even at loud volumes, and i can tell you, for laptop speakers, these suckers are loud! Win7 pre-installed is a nice touch, but Toshiba also decided to install alot of Microsoft and it's own bloat ware, not a huge issue, but most of it isn't necessary.
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Buy Toshiba Satellite A505-S6981 TruBrite 16.0-Inch Black/Silver Laptop - 3 Hours 20 Minutes of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium) Now
