As your mother probably told you, it’s not good to judge a book by its cover.
A lot of laptop computers look fancy, and offer a gimmick or special feature to attract customers, but might disappoint in terms of performance. Others are more no-frills, not necessarily eye-catching, but inside are actually impressive, reliable models that get the job done well.
The Toshiba Satellite A665D-S6076, which runs the Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium operating system, is a laptop that falls into the second category, offering little flash and instead giving an overall impressive performance that you might not assume it had based on looks.
In terms of size, this is not an small computer, so it won’t be ultraportable. With a 15.6-inch screen and a weight of nearly 6 pounds, it will be seen as a desktop replacement by many, and may not see much travel. (though you can always take it with you sometimes, of course, if necessary … I just wouldn’t recommend it on a daily basis). The large screen size makes it a good option for people who want to watch movies and other media on their laptop and not stare at a tiny screen. Light video game play is an option, but I wouldn’t recommend it for heavy gamers – there are other models on the market from Toshiba and others that are targeted at them and will serve their graphics needs much better.
The screen is clear and bright, thanks to its HD TruBrite LED Backlit display. It features native support for 720p HD content, with a resolution of 1366×768 and a 16:9 aspect ratio. The harman/kardon stereo speakers are plenty loud and sound decent, but like most laptop speakers they don’t reproduce very well on the bass end.
As I said earlier, this isn’t a laptop with a design meant to stand out in a crowd. It’s got a basic black setup, plus a black keyboard, and is made of plastic materials that aren’t as fancy as some other laptops – something that was probably done to keep down the overall price of the laptop. This may turn off some potential customers, but if you’re more about what’s inside a computer than the outside, you probably won’t care.
The keyboard is full-size and easy to use, though the materials used on the keys – like the rest of the machine — feels a little cheaper than I’ve seen on other laptops. The separate number pad on the right is convenient for typing in numbers one-handed. There are accent lights on some icons and above the touchpad, but I would have liked to see the entire keyboard backlit to ease use in darker environments.
The touchpad is big enough that it doesn’t feel cramped, but not so big that it creates accidental cursor movement. There also is a convenient on/off switch for the touchpad if you want to disable it.
As always, the most important thing about any computer is how well it runs. And this is one area where the A665D-S6076 performs admirably, courtesy of its impressive AMD Phenom II Triple-Core Mobile processor.
The A665D-S6076 was very quick — whether I was browsing the Web or watching HD videos on YouTube and other sites. Be aware, though, that HD video will take a little while to load before you can watch it. The A665D-S6076 features 4GB of memory, and a 500GB hard drive, which in practical terms means you will be able to work on many programs at once without slowdowns, and you have more than enough storage space for all your music, movies, photos and more.
In terms of ports, the A665D-S6076 is well-stocked. It offers an ExpressCard slot, and a memory card reader which is conveniently placed in the front of the laptop. Other ports include 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 eSATA/USB combo port for faster data transfer, and an HDMI output port. It does not offer a SmartCard Reader or modem port.
Of note are the HDMI port, which will allow you to upscale games or movie viewing onto a big-screen TV, and the memory card reader, which allows you to transfer data easily to the computer from a camera, camcorder or other device. Also included are a microphone jack and a headphone jack, and a security lock slot. This model will access your wireless network, but is not Bluetooth-compatible.
There is an optical disc drive, but I was disappointed with how it worked. It seemed to be made pretty cheaply and got stuck a few times while I had the computer. Most of the time it worked fine for me, but there is a chance it will act up from time to time.
The built-in Webcam and microphone do their job and allow you to have video chats with family or take part in video conferences for work. To protect from damage, there is a Hard Drive Impact Sensor, which ‘parks’ the hard drive heads in the case of a drop or sudden movement.
One other helpful feature is USB Sleep-and-Charge, which lets you power up your smartphone via USB when the laptop is powered off.
I was not very impressed with the battery life, a problem typical of bigger laptops. If you use the computer a lot, you’re going to have to plug it in after a couple hours. Official battery time listed is just over 3 hours, but I didn’t come close to that. There is an Eco Utility on the machine, which you can use to adjust settings in an effort to increase battery life. This may help a little bit in the battery department.
Among the software that comes with the machine is Microsoft Office Starter 2010, which allows basic use of Word and Excel. You also get a 30-day trial of Norton Internet Security 2011, after which you must purchase more long-term security (annual subscriptions run about $50, and are a must-have). The machine comes with a standard warranty of 1 year.
The A665D-S6076 model is part of the Satellite A660 series lineup, which features many variations that start at prices as low as $699.99. The model I reviewed costs $729.99, but some of the models are more expensive.
The bottom line: Even though it doesn’t look as fancy as some of the competition in the laptop market, and has some flaws, the Satellite A665D-S6076 laptop runs well enough to serve most people’s needs very well, features a large and bright display for media consumption and comes at an affordable price in comparison with the rest of the laptop market. So while it’s not the flashiest laptop on the market, it will appeal to laptop buyers who aren’t as concerned with style points.
Matt Myftiu can be reached at matt.myftiu@oakpress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattMyftiu, and see all of his reviews at the Facebook page @OPTechTime.
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Article source: http://theoaklandpress.com/articles/2011/01/09/life/doc4d2a689594059154098838.txt
Category: Laptop Security