I would have posted my review earlier, but I got kinda lazy. But here it is.
EDIT: Okay, posted some pictures. I'll have to retake some because they turned out blurry.
EDIT2: I think that's all the pictures.
TOSHIBA TECRA A4-S111TD (USA version)
REASON FOR BUYING
I had my old Dell XPS-R350 (that's the original XPS) desktop for about 7 years. Over the years I upgraded it to suit the needs of new software. From a 350MHz PII to a 1.4GHz Celeron (Tualatin, PIII gen.), 64MB to 512MB, 8MB generic graphics to 64MB GeForce3 Ti200, along with additions of various add-on cards and drives. I invested a lot to extend its life, but it has gotten to the point that it can't be upgraded anymore. But why buy a notebook as a replacement? Why not a cheaper desktop? First, I'm tired of having no desk space. I have a very small desk. Second, although intended as a desktop replacement I thought it would be nice to be able to move my work to the living room or kitchen once in a while. And last, I just wanted to try something different.
SELECTION
I had a rough idea of what I wanted in my new computer. I wanted Intel's latest Centrino package (Sonoma), with a Pentium M 760, 915 chipset, DDR2 memory, and ExpressCard slot. In addition, discrete graphics, 15.4" display with some "BRITE" technology, wireless, and descently fast HDD.
The Toshiba Tecra A4 is one of Toshiba's new line of Sonoma notebooks. Other Sonoma notebooks in the running for my money were Dell's Inspiron 6000, Sony's FS500, and Acer's TM8100. The Dell lacked the ExpressCard slot and any sort of Brite technology display, and also the black-white-silver color turned me off. Minus 3 points. Sony was missing DDR2 memory, ExpressCard, a fast HDD, and I don't like that its graphics card is shared memory (GeForce 6200). Minus 4. Acer lacked the same things Dell lacked, and I've heard stories of dead pixels on arrival, so it got a minus 3. Toshiba's M45 received a minus 5: no Pentium M 760, DDR2, ExpressCard, fast HDD, or discrete graphics. The A4 won with minus-2 points; no DDR2, 4200rpm HDD. I can live with that.
I purchased the customizable Tecra A4, which is the A4-S111TD, via Toshiba Direct website (USA). The specs of my machine are as follows:
Pentium M 760
Windows XP Pro
512MB DDR333 (512x1)
15.4" WXGA TruBrite
GeForce 6600 128MB
60GB HDD 4200rpm
8x DVD burner, dual layer
WiFi Intel2200 BG
6-cell battery
Microsoft Works
1 yr warranty
I spent $1853 not including tax and shipping
Other features include:
1 PC Card slot (Type II Cardbus)
1 ExpressCard/54 slot (yes, it's really there! no dummy plastic!)
1 Bridge Media (takes SD, MemoryStick, SmartMedia, MMD, & xD flash cards)
V.92 modem
gigabit ethernet
ExpressCard slot held open with coffee stirer
DESIGN
The laptop is black with a metallic silver lid. All plastic construction. The lid flexes a bit, so that's a bit concerning. Other than that, the case feels solid. To the left of the keyboard is the power, Toshiba assist, and presentation (for projectors) buttons. Expansion card slots to the left, CD/DVD drive to the right. USB ports on both sides. Very nice layout design. I also like the very clean professional aesthetics, not gaudy like the XPS2.
rear ports/slots: ethernet, modem, S-video out, power, cable lock slot
left ports/slots: 1 USB, PC Card, ExpressCard, monitor, parallel
right ports/slots: 2 USB, 1 FireWire
front ports/slots: Bridege Media, microphone, headphone (also in front: volume control, WiFi on/off)
Just like the M45, the Insert and Delete keys traded places with the Windows Start and Menu keys. Also, the tilde (~) is beside the spacebar. This arrangement is rather strange. The keys are quiet and not clunky or cheap. Trackpad is not too difficult to use, the mouse buttons aren't clunky and has a very short travel so it's not hard pushing with the side of your thumb. I tend to accidentally double-click things (by pad taps, not button push) when I pick up and put down my finger to reposition it when I run out of room to move. Luckily the trackpad is customizable. You can turn on and off features such tap-on-pad clicking, edge-of-trackpad scrolling region, and other stuff. The pad can also be turned off completely.
THE DISPLAY AND SOUND
Awesome would be an understatement when describing this display. The TruBrite screen is the shiny bright-technology type equivalent to Sony's XBrite, and on this model comes with a native resolution of 1280x800. Colors are very vibrant, blacks deep, and whites bright. Text is suprisingly sharp. Viewable angles are very wide it's not even an issue. Dare I say, I like this better than my CRT!!
CRT and TruBrite LCD side-by-side
Speakers are typical notebook speakers. They play music okay, I would recommend earphones or external speakers if you're an audiophile. It would have been nice if they included the Harman/Kardon speakers found in the Satellite M45, but I guess you can't really expect that from a business notebook.
PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY
Windows XP starts up in 1 minute 2 seconds from pressing power to desktop showing with all icons (44 secs from power to "welcome" screen). Shut down takes 32 seconds.
The life of this 6-cell battery is 2 hours and 10 minutes with the WiFi turned on and 2 hours and 16 minutes with it off (empirical, software estimated 2:25). This is on the default battery power profile ('Normal'). At 2% remaining power the laptop automatically goes into hibernation mode. Performance/battery life can be adjusted in Toshiba's own power management utility. So you can lengthen battery life further by lowering CPU, fan, and display performance, or vice versa.
The laptop doesn't really get too hot. It stays cool when using low demand stuff like IE, MS Office, music, etc. When stuff like high-res video is on, the left side becomes warm (vent is on the left), but not hot enough to worry about. The fan adjusts its speed and turns on and off depending on demand, regardless of whether on AC or battery. Fan isn't that loud either.
3DMark05 gave me around the high-1900s. I got scores around 1960s and 1970s, my lowest score was 1943 when I had stuff opened. I've never used 3DMark so I don't really know what it means or how I got the different scores. I don't play that many games. I didn't do a clean reinstall of the OS like I heard some in the forums recommend (if it ain't broke I ain't messing with it).
Pros:
-TruBrite display (in US version)
-ExpressCard slot (in US version)
-well-thought out port locations
-trouble-free setup
Cons:
-back of screen flexes a little
-lots of pre-installed software
-odd keyboard layout
EDIT: Okay, posted some pictures. I'll have to retake some because they turned out blurry.
EDIT2: I think that's all the pictures.
TOSHIBA TECRA A4-S111TD (USA version)
REASON FOR BUYING
I had my old Dell XPS-R350 (that's the original XPS) desktop for about 7 years. Over the years I upgraded it to suit the needs of new software. From a 350MHz PII to a 1.4GHz Celeron (Tualatin, PIII gen.), 64MB to 512MB, 8MB generic graphics to 64MB GeForce3 Ti200, along with additions of various add-on cards and drives. I invested a lot to extend its life, but it has gotten to the point that it can't be upgraded anymore. But why buy a notebook as a replacement? Why not a cheaper desktop? First, I'm tired of having no desk space. I have a very small desk. Second, although intended as a desktop replacement I thought it would be nice to be able to move my work to the living room or kitchen once in a while. And last, I just wanted to try something different.
SELECTION
I had a rough idea of what I wanted in my new computer. I wanted Intel's latest Centrino package (Sonoma), with a Pentium M 760, 915 chipset, DDR2 memory, and ExpressCard slot. In addition, discrete graphics, 15.4" display with some "BRITE" technology, wireless, and descently fast HDD.
The Toshiba Tecra A4 is one of Toshiba's new line of Sonoma notebooks. Other Sonoma notebooks in the running for my money were Dell's Inspiron 6000, Sony's FS500, and Acer's TM8100. The Dell lacked the ExpressCard slot and any sort of Brite technology display, and also the black-white-silver color turned me off. Minus 3 points. Sony was missing DDR2 memory, ExpressCard, a fast HDD, and I don't like that its graphics card is shared memory (GeForce 6200). Minus 4. Acer lacked the same things Dell lacked, and I've heard stories of dead pixels on arrival, so it got a minus 3. Toshiba's M45 received a minus 5: no Pentium M 760, DDR2, ExpressCard, fast HDD, or discrete graphics. The A4 won with minus-2 points; no DDR2, 4200rpm HDD. I can live with that.
I purchased the customizable Tecra A4, which is the A4-S111TD, via Toshiba Direct website (USA). The specs of my machine are as follows:
Pentium M 760
Windows XP Pro
512MB DDR333 (512x1)
15.4" WXGA TruBrite
GeForce 6600 128MB
60GB HDD 4200rpm
8x DVD burner, dual layer
WiFi Intel2200 BG
6-cell battery
Microsoft Works
1 yr warranty
I spent $1853 not including tax and shipping
Other features include:
1 PC Card slot (Type II Cardbus)
1 ExpressCard/54 slot (yes, it's really there! no dummy plastic!)
1 Bridge Media (takes SD, MemoryStick, SmartMedia, MMD, & xD flash cards)
V.92 modem
gigabit ethernet
ExpressCard slot held open with coffee stirer
DESIGN
The laptop is black with a metallic silver lid. All plastic construction. The lid flexes a bit, so that's a bit concerning. Other than that, the case feels solid. To the left of the keyboard is the power, Toshiba assist, and presentation (for projectors) buttons. Expansion card slots to the left, CD/DVD drive to the right. USB ports on both sides. Very nice layout design. I also like the very clean professional aesthetics, not gaudy like the XPS2.
rear ports/slots: ethernet, modem, S-video out, power, cable lock slot
left ports/slots: 1 USB, PC Card, ExpressCard, monitor, parallel
right ports/slots: 2 USB, 1 FireWire
front ports/slots: Bridege Media, microphone, headphone (also in front: volume control, WiFi on/off)
Just like the M45, the Insert and Delete keys traded places with the Windows Start and Menu keys. Also, the tilde (~) is beside the spacebar. This arrangement is rather strange. The keys are quiet and not clunky or cheap. Trackpad is not too difficult to use, the mouse buttons aren't clunky and has a very short travel so it's not hard pushing with the side of your thumb. I tend to accidentally double-click things (by pad taps, not button push) when I pick up and put down my finger to reposition it when I run out of room to move. Luckily the trackpad is customizable. You can turn on and off features such tap-on-pad clicking, edge-of-trackpad scrolling region, and other stuff. The pad can also be turned off completely.
THE DISPLAY AND SOUND
Awesome would be an understatement when describing this display. The TruBrite screen is the shiny bright-technology type equivalent to Sony's XBrite, and on this model comes with a native resolution of 1280x800. Colors are very vibrant, blacks deep, and whites bright. Text is suprisingly sharp. Viewable angles are very wide it's not even an issue. Dare I say, I like this better than my CRT!!
CRT and TruBrite LCD side-by-side
Speakers are typical notebook speakers. They play music okay, I would recommend earphones or external speakers if you're an audiophile. It would have been nice if they included the Harman/Kardon speakers found in the Satellite M45, but I guess you can't really expect that from a business notebook.
PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY
Windows XP starts up in 1 minute 2 seconds from pressing power to desktop showing with all icons (44 secs from power to "welcome" screen). Shut down takes 32 seconds.
The life of this 6-cell battery is 2 hours and 10 minutes with the WiFi turned on and 2 hours and 16 minutes with it off (empirical, software estimated 2:25). This is on the default battery power profile ('Normal'). At 2% remaining power the laptop automatically goes into hibernation mode. Performance/battery life can be adjusted in Toshiba's own power management utility. So you can lengthen battery life further by lowering CPU, fan, and display performance, or vice versa.
The laptop doesn't really get too hot. It stays cool when using low demand stuff like IE, MS Office, music, etc. When stuff like high-res video is on, the left side becomes warm (vent is on the left), but not hot enough to worry about. The fan adjusts its speed and turns on and off depending on demand, regardless of whether on AC or battery. Fan isn't that loud either.
3DMark05 gave me around the high-1900s. I got scores around 1960s and 1970s, my lowest score was 1943 when I had stuff opened. I've never used 3DMark so I don't really know what it means or how I got the different scores. I don't play that many games. I didn't do a clean reinstall of the OS like I heard some in the forums recommend (if it ain't broke I ain't messing with it).
Pros:
-TruBrite display (in US version)
-ExpressCard slot (in US version)
-well-thought out port locations
-trouble-free setup
Cons:
-back of screen flexes a little
-lots of pre-installed software
-odd keyboard layout
