Toshiba Satellite A355-S6931 16.0-Inch Laptop
Posted in Personal Computers on May 30th, 2009
Toshiba Satellite A355-S6931 16.0-Inch Laptop
Replace your desktop PC with the Toshiba Satellite A355-S6931 laptop, featuring all the power and hard drive space you expect from a top-of-the-line desktop but in an easily mobile package. Stylishly designed, this Toshiba Satellite features a large, bright 16-inch LCD (1366 x 768)–with a true 16:9 aspect ratio and 720p native high-definition resolution. Its also great for using as a media center, with Toshibas Express Media Player enabling you to bypass the system and access CDs and DVDs with a touch of button. The dual-layer DVD±RW drive also burns CDs and offers LabelFlash print functionality. A 1.3 megapixel digital web camera built into the LCDs bezel lets you quickly snap photos and participate in live video chats.
The integrated webcam does more than just video chats. It includes Toshiba Face Recognition capabilities–the ultimate hands-free, hassle-free way to log onto your laptop. Just show your face to the webcam–no keeping track of hard-to-remember passwords and no unnecessary typing. And if youre using one laptop for several users–say for the whole family or for a small business–Toshiba Face Recognition lets you switch profiles with one simple look.
Its powered by the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processor–with Centrino 2 technology–which boosts speed, reduces power requirements, and saves on battery life. The 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 includes a quick 1066 MHz front-side bus and 3 MB of L2 cache, providing an optimized, multithreaded architecture for improved multimedia and multitasking performance. It also includes Intels 5100AGN wireless LAN, which will connect to draft 802.11n routers and offers compatibility with 802.11a/b/g networks as well. Other features include a large 320 GB hard drive, 4 GB of RAM (maximum), 5-in-1 memory card reader, Draft-N Wi-Fi networking (802.11a/b/g/n), Intel GMA X4500MHD integrated graphics (with up to 1750 MB of dynamically shared video memory), and Toshibas Fusion finish with Constellation Black pattern.
This PC also comes preinstalled with the 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, which includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center. In addition to easily playing your DVD movies and managing your digital audio library, youll be able to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV). Vista also integrates new search tools throughout the operating system, includes new parental control features, and offers new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures.
This Toshiba notebook is Energy Star 4.0 certified and it is RoHS-compliant, effectively reducing the environmental impact by restricting the use of lead, mercury and certain other hazardous substances.
Toshibas stylish Fusion Finish. Brilliant Fusion Finish and Feather-Touch Multimedia Controls New Toshiba Satellite laptops do more than just make your life easier and more enjoyable. They make a real statement too–the moment you walk in, thanks to Fusion finish with finely striped Horizon design pattern. Run your fingertips across the smooth, shiny palm rest of the Satellite laptop and what do you encounter? Nary a bump. Thats because the touchpad is recessed to give your notebook a more streamlined look, and to give you more comfort when youre clicking or going crazy with that cursor.
Additionally, separate multimedia buttons let you launch your favorite entertainment right away. But with their unique feather-touch operation these controls do that and more–allowing you to effortlessly start, pause, fast-forward and rewind. .caption { font-family: Verdana, Helvetica neue, Arial, serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; } ul.indent { list-style: inside disc; text-indent: 20px; } table.callout { font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, serif; margin: 10px; width: 250; } td.callout { height: 100 percent; background: #9DC4D8 url(http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/detail-page/callout-bg.png) repeat-x; border-left: 1px solid #999999; border-right: 1px solid #999999; padding: 10px; width: 250px; } ul.callout { list-style: inside disc; text-indent: -12px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; } h5.callout { text-align: center; } Spec Check
The Basics
- Processor: Experience improved energy efficiency, expanded wireless connectivity, and amazing battery life with the 45nm Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 processor featuring Intel Centrino 2 technology. This processor has a 2.13 GHz processor speed, super-sized 1066 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and a extra-large 3 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your systems performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)
Formerly codenamed Montevina, Intel Centrino 2 processor technology improves upon every facet of a laptops main features, including performance and battery life via new processors and chipsets, faster draft 802.11n wireless, and new business-class manageability capabilities. The new hafnium-infused circuitry–which reduces electrical current leakage in transistors–conserves even more energy, giving you more time away from the wall outlet.
The Intel Core 2 Duo processor has two computational execution cores in a single processor, providing greater system response when running multi-threaded applications simultaneously with no significant increase in power consumption. Its optimized for multitasking and it can run multiple demanding applications–such as graphics-intensive games or serious number-crunching business productivity applications–while downloading music or running virus-scanning security programs in the background.
- Hard Drive: The large 320 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive (5400 RPM) offers a wealth of storage space, perfect for storing a vast multimedia collection or for editing digital video. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data–akin to Firewire and USB 2.0.
- Memory: The 4 GB of installed RAM (PC6400, 2 x 2 GB) maximizes the capacity of this notebook, and it also offers an ultra-fast
Features
- 16-inch screen for true 16:9 aspect ratio and native 720p high-def resolution. Intel GMA X4500MHD graphics (up to 1750 MB total available memory
- 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 processor (Centrino 2)
- 320 GB hard drive, Labelflash dual-layer DVD drive
- 4 GB RAM (max)
- Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1 (64-bit version)
Customer Reviews & Opinions
CORRECTION to DESCRIPTION
Again - this machine has no HDMI port. I suspect that the eSATA port is mistakenly identified as an HDMI port. No other source of this machines description seems to have an HDMI port listed.Big Beautiful Wonderful priced laptop
This is my second Toshiba laptop. Number one is around 4 years old and still works well.This review is more about the A355 chassis, than this exact spec laptop, and should apply to just about every one of the laptops in this series whether they run AMD or Intel chips.
The first view is that the materials are just plain flat out gorgeous. From the shiny exterior, to the semi rounded base, the two large chrome mouse buttons, the nicely integrated Harmon Kardon speakers, the illuminated touch areas, the big beautiful monitor, and those shiny keys. Yes this is one very pretty computer.
Under that pretty hood are some interesting specs. It used to be incredibly rare to see an eSATA port on any computer, let alone a laptop. Well this one has exactly that - an eSATA port that doubles as a USB port. Nice option to hook up external hard drives. It also includes an iLink, Firewire, or IEEE-1394 port - an incredible rarity (even Apple dropped this port). The audio ports and volume control are on the front, nicely placed. There’s absolutely no ports on the rear. There’s also an express card slot (not a PCMCIA slot, but EXPRESS card slot) and a multi flash memory card reader (they’ve dropped CF from the list). It does not include Bluetooth - a very strange omission since every single bluetooth adapter uses the Toshiba stack to run. Use either of these adapters, they work perfectly: IOGear GBU421 Bluetooth 2.0 USB Micro Adapter or Cirago BTA3210 Class 2 Micro Bluetooth Adapter (Black Tip) - both are outstanding miniscule adapters.
Toshiba stuffed 4Gb of RAM and a 320Gb hard drive into this big baby. Those are some pretty nice features in a laptop this inexpensive. Those Harmon Kardon speakers sound very nice.
You’ll either hate this or love it, and fortunately you can turn this off if you hate it. The Toshiba name, a little band above the scratchy navigation pad, and the media buttons all light up white (pretty bright at that). I think it looks pretty cool, but others have hated all those lights.
The monitor, oh that monitor is gorgeous. Movies pop, they look absolutely fantastic on this computer. It’s a nice big screen. Yes it is a gloss finish and you do get some reflections here or there, but generally it’s not bad.
The keys are all glossy and the fanatical among you might not like all the visible fingerprints, but I think most will get over that quickly. There is just a ton of room to put your hands to type and use the computer. That surface in front is sweet for a palm rest.
Function-wise, this computer is a decent performer. Nobody is buying this to run heavy games or render video - it won’t do those things. But for the occasional game, the occasional video edit, you’ll score well here.
Do note, this computer runs Windows Vista Premium 64-Bit. Please don’t be afraid of that operating system. I’m running 64 bit on two computers and it runs just beautifully. There is almost no new hardware that won’t run under 64 bit these days. It’s a rock solid platform. And that OS allows all 4Gb of memory to be seen and used (32 bit tops out at 3Gb). And if you don’t believe me, type this into google - pcmag 64 bit computing. Read the first article in that hit list.
This is no lightweight computer. It’s a big, pretty heavy laptop. Great for around the house. Not something you would travel everywhere with. But it is portable. Heat generation is nothing extreme. It does pull air in from below, so be careful about couches or beds plugging those holes.
It’s a good solid fast computer. There’s a bit of fan noise, nothing huge, but you will know the machine is running. I hate to comment on battery life, that’s so dependent on how bright you make the screen, processor speed settings and the like. I got a good solid 2 hours of hitting it very hard at max everything. You could probably get a good 3 hours, maybe 4 at more conservative settings.
Something to keep in mind, Toshiba ships all their laptops full of bloat-ware. It’s a really good idea to remove it all. Almost none of it is necessary. There are two websites that will clear all that garbage out of your computer. It’s explained in a great article at PCMag. Type this into google, PCMag make the most out of your new pc. The first hit will be a fantatstic article on how to remove the garbage.
Overall, this is a big, beautiful, good sounding, heavy, hard working, well priced laptop.
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