Toshiba Satellite Laptop Computer - 15.6 Deals

By carole (Madison, AL, US) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Toshiba Satellite Laptop Computer - 15.6" LED Screen / Intel Core i7-3630QM Processor / 8GB Memory / 750GB Hard Drive / Windows 8 (Personal Computers)
Nice general-purpose laptop. Great for using around the house, office, dorm, and the occasional road trip - no bulky additional accessories needed.

- The keyboard - great feel, love it - even fat fingers can't miss the mark. Keys are readable, even in low light. The keyboard is not backlit - a fact, not a flaw. The primary purpose of the function keys (a space-hogging holdover from pre-Windows days) is as buttons for help, brightness, media controls, touchpad on/off, volume, wireless mode, and even switching between multiple monitors - no SHIFT, CTRL, or ALT required. Now, if they would only do that with the number pad, we non-accountants would get some practical use out of another large chunk of the keyboard. There is a caps-on light on the caps lock key, which is blocked by your hand if you are typing, but was omitted entirely on some other models I looked at. (If you are reading this, Toshiba person, move the light to the left corner of the caps lock key so it can be seen when hands are on the keyboard.)

by jonel (CA)

  The sound - loud enough for a hearing-challenged person (me) to easily hear a few feet away. The built-in mic is loud and clear for phone calls.

- The speed - fast! As another reviewer noticed, the computer is faster than the DSL speed, so I try to be patient and not blame the machine - my IP is throttling and it is just easier to notice now. To get all the speed and memory, Windows 8 64-bit is installed, which is the future but not backward compatible with older software, so expect to spend some time visiting software and vendor sites for updates and replacements.

- The touchpad - basic but easy to use. The manual says the touchpad will scroll, but mine doesn't. (Yes, I checked for updated drivers!) The touchpad is placed left of center, below the standard keyboard, so it falls between your hands when typing. This placement eliminates accidentally brushing the touchpad with thumb or wrist when typing - a problem of previous laptop generations with a center-placement touchpad.

- The CD/DVD-RW drive - I'm just not ready to give that up. The little bit of extra laptop weight is less than having to carry an external drive (and looking dorky in public). A built-in drive also doesn't take up extra desk space or use a scarce USB port.

by tony(USA)

- The webcam - ok for occasional use, but you may want something better if you do a lot of online face time.

- Battery - lightweight, but not user replaceable, so it will be expensive to have replaced when it no longer holds a charge. Personally, I like the resulting lighter weight and am gambling that the battery will last until I need a different configuration and then use this laptop with the power cord as a backup at home or office. Full battery charge is enough to watch a couple of full-length movies or half a season of your favorite TV series, but for continuous all day use, you will need the power cord for a recharge. It does recharge fast, though. You can extend the battery-only usage by putting the laptop in sleep mode when you are distracted or away - the laptop pops immediately out of sleep at the touch of the power button (my favorite feature). I tried the `battery power-saving' feature to extend the battery charge, but it made the screen so drab and dreary that it wasn't worth the resulting mental depression to gain a few extra minutes between charges. When attaching some external peripherals, the laptop is under-powered on battery power alone, so you will need the laptop power cord and/or separate device power when attaching some devices, including speakers. A mouse or flash drive is no problem, though.