Toshiba Satellite L745-S4220-GR Review
Toshiba Satellite L745D-S4220GR Review
Screen
The L745D has a glossy screen with good horizontal viewing angles, but poor vertical viewing angles. The screen is not as reflective as other glossy screens, which means that reflections are not bad unless viewing the screen from an angle. This is an advantage for the notebook over the countless other models with glossy screens.
Keyboard & Touchpad
The keyboard and touchpad are the weakest parts of the notebook. For whatever reason, the notebook was designed so that the lid and palm rest do not pick up fingerprints, but the keyboard does! The keyboard should be the most fingerprint-resistant area of any computer, since that is the area which is designed to be touched. Keys must be fully depressed to register, and I missed quite a lot of strokes when typing this review, even when being careful. This makes typing a very uncomfortable and disconcerting experience. An update of the Toshiba utilities, which are some of the default programs installed on the notebook, fixed the worst of the keyboard problems regarding missed strokes. Still, the keyboard does not feel terribly comfortable when typing and it remains a fingerprint magnet.
The touchpad is also quite disappointing. It is covered with a tacky kind of material which I found uncomfortable and slightly sticky. I needed to perform gestures with a very light touch in order to avoid my finger getting stuck. The touchpad is multitouch-enabled, but these also must be done with a very light touch or fingers stick and nothing happens.
Connections
The notebook has a total of 3 USB 2.0 ports, with 2 on the left side and the remaining one on the right side. Joining the 2 USB ports on the left side are audio in and out ports, HDMI, and ethernet. Also on the left side is the fan exhaust area, Kensington lock port, and a covered port initially planned for a modem.
On the right side, in addition to the USB port, the DVD drive, a VGA port, and the power connection can be found.
There is a card reader in the front and the back is solely taken up by the battery.
Build Quality and Design
The machine is made of plastic and feels like it. When light pressure is applied to the lid, the screen bends, but does not warp. Moderate to heavy pressure on the back of the lid does cause screen warping.
The design is pretty basic. The notebook is on the thicker side, which allows the internal components lots of space for airflow. The RAM and hard drive are easily accessible through panels on the bottom of the unit. The lid and wrist rest do not easily pick up fingerprints, which helps the notebook to maintain its look without easily marring. Toshiba has chosen to use the modern hinge style that does not allow the lid to bend back a full 180 degrees, but it is very close, opening to roughly 150 degrees at maximum.
Performance
The dual-core AMD E350 processor with integrated Radeon HD 6310 graphics is part of the midrange of AMD's new Fusion series of notebook Advanced Processing Units, or APUs. The E series of APUs occupies the performance middle ground between the netbook-class C series and the higher-performing A series. As such, E series APUs attempt to compromise performance and power management with price.
In order to test performance, popular benchmarks by Futuremark were used. In these benchmarks, a score of 1000 is considered minimally acceptable performance for a computer system of a given year and a score of 5000 or higher is considered ideal. The 3DMark11 score of 281 and 3DMark06 score of 2235, concerning graphics performance, show that the notebook can play older or less demanding games, but should not be used for current, demanding games. Likewise, the PCMark 11 score of 963, indicating overall system performance, shows that the notebook has acceptable performance compared to other systems, but not stellar performance.
Battery Life
The notebook has a feature called "eco mode" that lowers the screen brightness and optimizesthe notebook so it consumes as little as 9 watts. So how long does it last when unplugged in this power-saving mode? 3 hours 45 minutes when doing basic web surfing, flash games, and word processing - which is the standard computer workload (minus instant messaging) during most college classes. The notebook is advertisede as a "back to school" model, so if you've got classes shorter than 4 hours, you should be able to get through them fine in Eco Mode. But what happens when you want to watch that DVD or Netflix video away from an outlet? Toshiba recommends taking the notebook out of Eco Mode for those type of things, so I did that and found out that at the default "balanced" setting, the notebook played DVDs for 3 hours and 23 minutes, enough time to get through two entire comedies or one longer epic. Considering how well the notebook does when using the Balanced power profile, the Eco profile seems unnecessary unless you really need the extra 20 minutes the Eco profile affords.
Sound Quality
The two speakers above the keyboard pump out sound at an adequate volume, although it definitely lacks low end and has a tendency to distort at higher volumes. Since most notebooks have small speakers that also have difficulty with lower sounds, this one rates about average.
Heat and Noise
If the keyboard and touchpad are the worst parts of the Satellite L745D, the control of heat and noise has got to be the best. The machine stays very cool under all circumstances and a soft fan hum is the only noise that it produces. While the fan is audible, it is not distracting and it stays at a fairly constant volume, which is a vast benefit over some other notebooks that cycle fans on and off and distracting from the task at hand.
Conclusion
For a budget model, the Toshiba L745D-S4220GR has sufficient power. The screen is also above average for this class of notebook. Battery life is sufficient to last through classes of 3 and a half hours. And the computer stays cool and quiet when operating. Unfortunately, the touchpad is so problematic that I cannot recommend using the notebook without an external mouse, and the keyboard would have to remain covered in order to avoid the need to clean it constantly. While the notebook is capable of performing well, its usability leaves something to be desired.
Get one if:
*you’re on a strict budget and like Toshiba
*you typically use an external keyboard and mouse
Let it pass if:
*you’re a power user
*you want a computer that looks and feels like quality
Screen
The L745D has a glossy screen with good horizontal viewing angles, but poor vertical viewing angles. The screen is not as reflective as other glossy screens, which means that reflections are not bad unless viewing the screen from an angle. This is an advantage for the notebook over the countless other models with glossy screens.
Keyboard & Touchpad
The keyboard and touchpad are the weakest parts of the notebook. For whatever reason, the notebook was designed so that the lid and palm rest do not pick up fingerprints, but the keyboard does! The keyboard should be the most fingerprint-resistant area of any computer, since that is the area which is designed to be touched. Keys must be fully depressed to register, and I missed quite a lot of strokes when typing this review, even when being careful. This makes typing a very uncomfortable and disconcerting experience. An update of the Toshiba utilities, which are some of the default programs installed on the notebook, fixed the worst of the keyboard problems regarding missed strokes. Still, the keyboard does not feel terribly comfortable when typing and it remains a fingerprint magnet.
The touchpad is also quite disappointing. It is covered with a tacky kind of material which I found uncomfortable and slightly sticky. I needed to perform gestures with a very light touch in order to avoid my finger getting stuck. The touchpad is multitouch-enabled, but these also must be done with a very light touch or fingers stick and nothing happens.
Connections
The notebook has a total of 3 USB 2.0 ports, with 2 on the left side and the remaining one on the right side. Joining the 2 USB ports on the left side are audio in and out ports, HDMI, and ethernet. Also on the left side is the fan exhaust area, Kensington lock port, and a covered port initially planned for a modem.
On the right side, in addition to the USB port, the DVD drive, a VGA port, and the power connection can be found.
There is a card reader in the front and the back is solely taken up by the battery.
Build Quality and Design
The machine is made of plastic and feels like it. When light pressure is applied to the lid, the screen bends, but does not warp. Moderate to heavy pressure on the back of the lid does cause screen warping.
The design is pretty basic. The notebook is on the thicker side, which allows the internal components lots of space for airflow. The RAM and hard drive are easily accessible through panels on the bottom of the unit. The lid and wrist rest do not easily pick up fingerprints, which helps the notebook to maintain its look without easily marring. Toshiba has chosen to use the modern hinge style that does not allow the lid to bend back a full 180 degrees, but it is very close, opening to roughly 150 degrees at maximum.
Performance
The dual-core AMD E350 processor with integrated Radeon HD 6310 graphics is part of the midrange of AMD's new Fusion series of notebook Advanced Processing Units, or APUs. The E series of APUs occupies the performance middle ground between the netbook-class C series and the higher-performing A series. As such, E series APUs attempt to compromise performance and power management with price.
In order to test performance, popular benchmarks by Futuremark were used. In these benchmarks, a score of 1000 is considered minimally acceptable performance for a computer system of a given year and a score of 5000 or higher is considered ideal. The 3DMark11 score of 281 and 3DMark06 score of 2235, concerning graphics performance, show that the notebook can play older or less demanding games, but should not be used for current, demanding games. Likewise, the PCMark 11 score of 963, indicating overall system performance, shows that the notebook has acceptable performance compared to other systems, but not stellar performance.
Battery Life
The notebook has a feature called "eco mode" that lowers the screen brightness and optimizesthe notebook so it consumes as little as 9 watts. So how long does it last when unplugged in this power-saving mode? 3 hours 45 minutes when doing basic web surfing, flash games, and word processing - which is the standard computer workload (minus instant messaging) during most college classes. The notebook is advertisede as a "back to school" model, so if you've got classes shorter than 4 hours, you should be able to get through them fine in Eco Mode. But what happens when you want to watch that DVD or Netflix video away from an outlet? Toshiba recommends taking the notebook out of Eco Mode for those type of things, so I did that and found out that at the default "balanced" setting, the notebook played DVDs for 3 hours and 23 minutes, enough time to get through two entire comedies or one longer epic. Considering how well the notebook does when using the Balanced power profile, the Eco profile seems unnecessary unless you really need the extra 20 minutes the Eco profile affords.
Sound Quality
The two speakers above the keyboard pump out sound at an adequate volume, although it definitely lacks low end and has a tendency to distort at higher volumes. Since most notebooks have small speakers that also have difficulty with lower sounds, this one rates about average.
Heat and Noise
If the keyboard and touchpad are the worst parts of the Satellite L745D, the control of heat and noise has got to be the best. The machine stays very cool under all circumstances and a soft fan hum is the only noise that it produces. While the fan is audible, it is not distracting and it stays at a fairly constant volume, which is a vast benefit over some other notebooks that cycle fans on and off and distracting from the task at hand.
Conclusion
For a budget model, the Toshiba L745D-S4220GR has sufficient power. The screen is also above average for this class of notebook. Battery life is sufficient to last through classes of 3 and a half hours. And the computer stays cool and quiet when operating. Unfortunately, the touchpad is so problematic that I cannot recommend using the notebook without an external mouse, and the keyboard would have to remain covered in order to avoid the need to clean it constantly. While the notebook is capable of performing well, its usability leaves something to be desired.
Get one if:
*you’re on a strict budget and like Toshiba
*you typically use an external keyboard and mouse
Let it pass if:
*you’re a power user
*you want a computer that looks and feels like quality
