Toshiba Satellite A355-S6940 16.0-Inch Laptop

by Toshiba

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 15.1 x 1.4 inches ; 6.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001NEK30E
• Item model number: PSALWU-022013
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #980 in Computer & Accessories (See Top 100 in Computer & Accessories)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 4, 2009

Product Description

Model: PSALWU-022013

Amazon.com Product Description

Replace your desktop PC with the Toshiba Satellite A355-S6940 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. It's also great for using as a media center, with Toshiba's 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 LCD's 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 you're 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.

It's 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 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 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 Intel's 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 spacious 500 GB of storage (from dual 250 GB hard drives), 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 Toshiba's Fusion finish with Horizon 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, you'll 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.

Spec Check 16-inch LCD screen 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor 500 GB capacity (dual 250 GB hard drives) 4 GB RAM (maximum) Dual-layer DVD±R drive with LabelFlash Draft-N Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) Intel GMA X4500MHD graphics (up to 1750 MB shared) Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) Fusion finish with Horizon pattern Weighs 6.5 pounds

The Basics

• Processor: Experience improved energy efficiency, expanded wireless connectivity, and amazing battery life with the 45nm Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor featuring Intel Centrino 2 technology. This processor has a 2.4 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 system's 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 laptop's 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. It's 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: This laptop provides an extra-large 500 GB storage capacity from dual 250 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives (5400 RPM)--perfect for storing a vast multimedia collection or for editing digital video. These SATA hard drives also quicken 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 800 MHz speed.

• DVD/CD Drive: The dual-layer Labelflash DVD drive is compatible with a wide range of formats, including both DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs, CD-RW discs, and dual-layer (DL) DVD±R discs, which can hold up to 8.5 GB of data--great for backing up your MP3 collection or your most important documents. It features the following speeds: 6x for both DVD±R DL, 8x for both single-layer DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 5x DVD-RAM, and 24x/16x for CD-R/RW. It reads DVD-ROM discs at 8x and CD-ROMs at 24x.

  With the Labelflash functionality, you can burn high-resolution, high-contrast pictures on the label side of DVD discs using the same laser used for data recording. Enjoy transparency and high-quality not found in traditional printable media. All you need is a Labelflash DVD disc to start labeling without a printer.

• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a standard 86-key keyboard and electro-static two-button touchpad. It also offers a launch button for the Express CD/DVD media player and control buttons (play, stop, next, previous) as well as a volume control dial.

Screen, Video & Audio
The 16-inch WXGA LCD has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels--perfect for watching movies in their intended 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. It also provides TruBrite technology, which makes images brighter and more vivid thanks to its anti-glare feature. Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500MHD, which uses shared video memory (up to 1750 MB allocated from the system memory) and provides Windows Vista Aero interface support and enhanced 3D graphics performance--delivering over 2x scores on 3DMark 06. Intel Clear Video Technology provides outstanding video playback with sharper image quality, increased clarity, and customizable color controls. It also enables enhanced visual quality of interlaced content on progressive displays.

This notebook also features an integrated audio card and two Harman Kardon stereo speakers.

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
Be ready for the next platform in wireless connectivity with the integrated quad-mode Intel Wireless 5100AGN Wi-Fi chip. Based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, it offers up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range as existing 802.11g wireless. It's also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found in home routers and Wi-Fi hotspots) as well as 802.11a networks (which has a higher throughput, but more limited range--great for closed office environments).

It also includes a next-generation ExpressCard card slot (replacing the PCMCIA slot), which lets you take advantage of thinner, faster, and lighter expansion cards for even more advanced wireless, networking, storage, and security features. It comes with the following external connectors:

• 4 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players (including 1 eSATA/USB combo port)
• 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
• Video out: VGA
• 1 ExpressCard 54/34 slot
• 1 headphone jack (with SPDIF digital output for 5.1-channel surround sound)
• 1 microphone jack
• 5-in-1 memory card reader (Secure Digital, MultiMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, xD Picture Card)
• 10/100 Fast Ethernet networking
• 56K modem (V.90)

Operating System
The 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium (with SP1) is the operating system for users with advanced computer needs, and it includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center for watching DVD movies and accessing your digital audio library. You can also use Windows Media Center to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV) and to access new kinds of online entertainment content. Computers that include Windows Vista Home Premium and an auxiliary Windows SideShow display will also allow you to access key data even when your computer is off. It is also easier than ever to share files between other PCs in your household and to manage your laptop computer settings to more securely connect via Wi-Fi.

Every edition of Windows Vista provides the essential tools and technologies to help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. All editions of Windows Vista include new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. And, all Windows Vista editions include parental control features that allow you to manage and monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities.

Preloaded Software
Microsoft Works 9.0, Google Toolbar, Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5, Norton 360 All-in-One Security (30-day trial), and Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition (60-day trial).

Dimensions & Weight
This notebook measures 15.1 x 10.5 x 1.52 inches (WxDxH, and it weighs 6.5 pounds.

Power
It comes with a 4000 mAH lithium-ion battery pack for extra-long battery life.

What's in the Box
This package contains the Toshiba Satellite A355-S6940 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a one-year limited hardware warranty.

Product Description

For those who need a versatile, affordable lifestyle laptop equipped for excellent gaming and other entertainment too, Toshiba presents this new and highly enteraining Satellite A355/A355D Series. Topped by an attractive high-gloss Fusion Finish, this laptop still has the memory, storage, and processor power for great performance, helping people handle their busy lives. Yet when the day is done, it's also ready to play, offering integrated and discrete graphics for exciting gaming, a brilliant 16-inch display for more memorable movies and photo editing, together with features like a Webcam, Toshiba Face Recogition and a high-definition sound port for more fun and experience. The Toshiba A355-S6940 ships with Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 64 bit version), 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 Processor, 3MB L2 Cache, Mobile Intel GM45 Express Chipset, Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with 128MB-1759MB Dynamically Allocated Shared Graphics Memory, Configured with 4GB PC6400 DDR2 SDRAM, 500GB(using 2 250GB(5400 RPM) Hard Drive (SATA), DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) drive with LabelFlash supporting 11 formats, 16.0 in (Diagonal) Widescreen TruBrite TFT LCD Display at 1366 x 768 Resolution, webcam and microphone built into LCD bezel, Intel Wi Fi Link 5100AGN /802.11a/g/n. Dimensions: 15.1 " x 10.5" x 1.36" without feet, weight: Starting at 6.48 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

109 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous, Big, Well Priced Laptop, January 24, 2009

By	Daniel G. Lebryk - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite A355-S6925 16.0-Inch Laptop (Personal Computers)

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.

June 2009 Update - well my son managed to crack the screen. He has no idea how this happened, but it's certainly not Toshiba's fault. I will admit the top is somewhat flexible, but that's not how this broke. He probably fell asleep and rolled over on top of it and doesn't remember that. I am super happy I bought the 3 year no fault warranty. Just a word to the wise, displays in general have gotten more fragile. Use care or buy a warranty (just be sure it's backed by the right kind of company).

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fast Laptop for Work + Excellent Video and Audio Quality, February 10, 2009

By	Cindy Burke "Cindy Burke" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite A355-S6925 16.0-Inch Laptop (Personal Computers)

This Toshiba Satellite replaced a four-year-old Dell Inspiron. As a writer, I use my laptop every day and wanted a comfortable keyboard and touchpad. This Satellite delivers with a sturdy keyboard, enough space to rest your palms comfortably while typing and a textured touchpad.
The touchpad has touch scrolling on both the right side and bottom (handy for scrolling along large spreadsheets), so you don't have to hold down the left-click button to scroll--much easier on the hand. The touchpad scrolling settings are adjustable and can be removed.
The click buttons are large and placed so that your palms don't brush them while you type.
I also wanted a laptop with excellent video quality for watching DVDs and Play Now features from NetFlix. Videos are crisp and colorful on this 16-inch screen and it's easy to see from several angles (unlike my old LCD-screen where the screen had to be tilted just exactly right to avoid the black shadow effect).
If you like to watch movies in bed on the computer with your honey, this computer is great for that since both people can see the screen without black shadowing. The light-up DVD controls on the top of the keyboard are also a great feature for watching DVD's in bed.
The speakers are very good quality, with excellent range and can be turned up loud enough to enjoy music or watch a movie from another part of the room.
My most favorite feature of this computer is the volume control. Located on the front, next to the 5:1 memory card reader and headphone jack, is a small wheel that turns left and right, like the volume control on a radio.
It's so simple, it's brilliant! When you have music blasting and the phone rings with a call from a client, a quick flip of the dial and the sound is turned down or off. No more hunting on the keyboard for the Function Key + a picture of a muted speaker.
The Satellite has a built-in webcam that is easily activated with a click. The webcam controls appear whenever your mouse hovers near the left side of the screen.
Speaking of hovering controls, whenever you press the FN (Function) key, a large legend appears at the top of the screen with function controls, which is handy when you don't have your glasses.
All four USB ports are on the sides near the front, as is the network port. It is easier to plug and unplug components, but it's also easier to bump my USB drive when picking up something from my desk.
Did I mention that this computer is blazingly fast? Wow! Need to have five different programs running plus several web pages open? Not a problem for this zippy laptop.
I've been very happy with the Toshiba Satellite and would highly recommend it.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Happy, April 1, 2009

By	Martin O'sullivan (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite A355-S6925 16.0-Inch Laptop (Personal Computers)

I spent way tooooo long researching and reading and thinking about which laptop to buy and then bought the Toshiba. I'm sure other choices would have worked for me as well, but I'm VERY happy with the Toshiba.

It looks good, which, while not a big factor, is a nice bonus. It's fast. I've used a number of other PC's running Vista and they've all been pretty slow, so I think the 4GB of memory is a big help. This laptop has built-in DVD control buttons in the housing above the keyboard and while I wouldn't have bought it because of this feature, it turns out to be REALLY easy to use and helpful!

I've been surprised at how much I like it! I've used products from Dell, HP, Compaq, IBM, Lenovo, Apple and Sony and this Toshiba is, so far, better for me than anything I've used before.

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