Customer Reviews

Toshiba Satellite A505-S6030 TruBrite 16.0-Inch Laptop (Black/Silver)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This computer is an absolute great price for what it offers, and it delivers. I am a photographer who needed to upgrade to a computer with a faster processor and one that could handle the workload I put on it with CS4, and this one is great. Compared to my old laptop, this one zips right through loading enormous raw images and and processing in photoshop with ease. I spent a while looking to find a computer that offered everything this one does in a price range I could afford and also had a bigger screen size. My old laptop was a 17", so this one was a little bit of a downgrade in regards to screen size, but its still good enough and an acceptable trade off for the specs of the computer itself. I also do a bit of gaming, WOW particularly, and it runs better than my husband's computer in regards to graphics..which he isn't necessarily too happy with. :)

As for two other reviews about some negative aspects of the laptop:

One reviewer mentioned the DVD drive was extremely noisy. It is a little loud, I will attest to that, but I wouldn't say anywhere near as loud as I took from their review. I did not find it overly disturbing or distracting, and I could certainly hear the sound of the music or movie I was playing over it.

Another reviewer mentioned how he hated the computer because of the keyboard. I think the keyboard is great. I have no trouble feeling which key is which. Its bigger than normal though, or maybe, just the letter/numbers on each key are bigger than normal. I felt like I had ordered something designed for an older person or someone who may not be able to see well at first glance because of the size of the letters. The "L" is approx. 4-5cm long. So that was something I sort of laughed about at first, but now I don't notice it at all. I am picky about how my 'keyboard' feels, and normally would go to store and test out all the laptops, and if the keystroke didn't feel good to me, I would reconsider a purchase of any particular laptop. But I really like this keyboard, and I like the back-lighting, which I didn't have previously.

Overall, I think this computer is a steal what what you are getting.

I have had this laptop for over a month, and I absolutely love it. It is a replacement for my Dell Laptop that has decided to move onto greener pastures. This is my first Toshiba, and I use computers for work all day. This is a wonderful laptop it has plenty of power thanks to the i7 Intel Processor, which was the main selling point for me. I needed a laptop that would hold up and be able to handle the Adobe products (Dreamweaver and Photoshop) that I use regularly and so far no issues at all. The speakers are very good, considering this is a laptop and the speakers are built in. I LOVE Windows 7 it is SOOOOO much better than Vista! The Webcam is wonderful and does a very good job as well. Overall, considering this is a budget priced laptop, when you factor in the i7 chip, 500GB HD, and 4GB DDR3 RAM. I am very pleased and I without any reservation recommend this product and I would purchase it again if I had to do it over.

All right... this may take a while. Let me start by saying I have abstained from owning a laptop computer my entire life and have strictly been using and building desktop PCs. For the past year and a half I have been going to school for graphic design. Now I spend so much time in front of a computer that I just had to be able to separate myself from my desk. Granted, being a graphic designer, I get a lot of flak for not purchasing a MacBook, but I just couldn't fathom the inflated price for a machine with lower performance (why can't I get a MacBook with a Quad Core?). Don't get me wrong- Macs are great computers- but for those of us that actually know about computers, we don't fall into the scheme of "it must be better because it's more expensive", which most novice users are likely to do. I spent almost two months researching and testing laptops trying to find one that included as many of the features I was looking for. The first computer that drew me to laptops was a HP Pavilion Entertainment PC at Sam's Club. I was just playing around on their laptops one day and brought up a song on Media Player... and it sounded awesome (for a laptop). Sure enough, there is a mini subwoofer on the bottom of the laptop. Unfortunately, the HP didn't win the battle due to the lack of a backlit keyboard (come on, HP- this is the one thing almost ALL laptop owners and shoppers want in a laptop- WAKE UP!). Living in Duluth, MN, the only place with a decent selection of laptops on display is Best Buy. There, I was first introduced to a Toshiba Satellite which caught my eye because of the i7 Quad Core it had as opposed to the i5 of the HP... for the same price ($899). Audio is a big part of my decision making process since I listen to music 24-7. I specifically tried the audio on every laptop at Best Buy (which I had to set up their Media Player libraries for every computer myself- Best Buy actually sucks at making their displays useful- other than their stupid Best Buy demo, nothing else on any computer was set up) only to be disappointed by everything (Dell, Gateway, standard HP, Samsung, even Sony all have absolutely useless speakers) except the Toshiba with its harman/kardon stereo speakers. Now that I have one at home I turn the audio all the way up and it sounds awesome (for tiny laptop speakers, anyway). They have a decent amount of mid-range and moderate bass response and have yet to distort. They still have a little trouble with loud rock music with a loss of bass at maximum volume, but classical music is perfect as well as big band (my Swing Kids soundtrack at full volume is priceless). I spent a long time kicking around whether to buy a custom built unit from Toshiba Direct, which was pricing out between $1,500 and $1,800 with tax, or order a prebuilt model. I eventually decided on the Satellite A505-S6040 which had absolutely everything I wanted (minus 2GB of RAM, Bluetooth, and Windows 7 Professional instead of Home Premium) and I purchased it (from Buy on ebay) for $1,201 with free tax and shipping. Some minor features of this machine are: seamless trackpad with multi-touch (no border and blends with deck seamlessly, it's just textured, and multi-touch works like a touchscreen with pinch-zoom, etc.), responsive out-of-the way touch media controls, full numeric keypad (this is about the smallest laptop available with a full-size standard AND numerical keypad, all with nice, big buttons that are comfortable to type with), and hard drive impact sensor which can save your important information in the event of a drop or even just a bump.The major features that make this model perfect are as follows: Intel i7-720QM Quad Core processor at 1.6 GHz and up to 2.8 GHz with Turbo Boost (basically, it works at a lower speed for normal use to save energy, then seamlessly kicks into high gear when needed), 6GB DDR3 SDRAM, 500GB 7200rpm hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 1GB graphics, slot-loading DVD/CD drive with Labelflash (like Lightscribe direct disk labeling), Edge-to-Edge display (the glass covers pretty much the whole screen- still with a black bezel around it- but it's seamless and much nicer looking), LED BACKLIGHT KEYBOARD WITH NUMERICAL KEYPAD (this was awesome and definitely a selling point), HDMI port (connect right to a bigger monitor or TV easily- with Hi-Def audio as well- also has standard RGB out, too), integrated 1.3mp webcam with microphone, 802.11n wireless (which, once set up, finds and connects to wireless networks perfectly and quickly), wired LAN connection for extra speed, and enough USB ports an one eSATA/USB combo port to connect anything. The only very minor drawback to this or any laptop is battery life (but Toshiba's Eco Utility makes it easy to change to a minimal-power-consumption mode for when you're away from an outlet). And I really wish someone other than Apple would make an aluminum unibody- it just helps make it thinner, lighter, and better at dispersing heat. Final notes: the charger is a bit heavy and bulky- not very portable- get yourself a Targus APA6922US (it's smaller and more portable than a MacBook charger) which can charge your laptop and cell phone or other electronic device simultaneously; like all laptops, battery life is so-so, just buy another battery- you can switch it on-the-fly; portable mouse- I have a Microsoft Arc- super portable, full sized, and Laser responsiveness so it works on just about anything- no mouse pad or desk needed; this laptop is a little large- doesn't fit in two of the three messenger bags I own, and barely fits into my school backpack which is made for laptops, but it makes for a perfect combination of keyboard and screen size! As for speed and multitasking- I was running Pandora streaming music, Adobe Photoshop, had two internet windows open, and ripping a DVD to the hard drive at one time with no system lag at all! Oh, and for all you die-hard Mac users... I tested my Toshiba A505-S6040 laptop side-by-side with several Macs... I loaded Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, and Bridge simultaneously in less time than any Mac (laptop or desktop) took to load just Photoshop (but the Mac still boots up from power-on faster, darn that Microsoft). BUY THIS LAPTOP. I AM DEFINITELY GLAD I PURCHASED IT! INFINITELY USEFUL, POWERFUL, AND PORTABLE WITH A PLETHER OF FEATURES!

Hello everyone! This my first product review EVER, so here goes... something!

I'm the type of person that prefers to hold off on technology purchases, simply because something better is always just around the corner. Well, my old laptop finally died, and I was forced to make a purchasing decision; I chose the Toshiba A505-S6030.

I bought my laptop from a major electronics store in the San Francisco Bay Area, rather than online. This turned out to be a good decision, as upon opening the laptop and turning it on, I discovered a lit pixel right smack-dab in the middle of the screen. Since the store I bought it from had a 30-day satisfaction guarantee, exchanging it was no problem, and I had the second laptop within an hour. You can see how purchasing this online, would have made for a rather annoying buying experience. The laptop was on-sale for $849 (no rebates required).

The machine comes with Windows 7 Home Premium already installed, and I was pleased to see very little bloatware; mostly proprietary Toshiba software to utilize the custom Toshiba media buttons. Since I had a license for Windows 7 Professional through my college's MSDN academic alliance program, I did end up re-partitioning and formatting the drive for my own custom install. All the drivers and software needed for a custom install and readily available for download at Toshiba's website. After getting the laptop loaded with software, it was time to see what it could do.

Let me start off by saying that this machine is a great value for the cost. The Intel i7 720qm processor is great! 4 cores clocked at 1.6 ghz with 8 processing threads make for a very quick machine. This machine also has turbo boost technology, and can increase the speed of each core independently, up to 2.8 ghz. I should note, that you cannot have all 4 cores operating at 2.8 ghz, as there would be too much heat produced. You might get 2 cores at 2.4 or 2.2 ghz. The machine also has 4 gigs of RAM, which is definitely acceptable (although I plan on upgrading to 8 gigs around the end of the year), a decent on-board video card, the Nvidia 310m, and a 500 gig hard drive for plenty of storage space. Other nice additions are the built-in web cam with microphone, 3 USB ports, wireless N networking, dual-layer DVD writer with label-flash (similar to light-scribe), fire-wire, eSATA connection, 10/100/1000 RJ45 network connection, VGA, an SD/XD/MMC memory card reader, a touch-pad with multi-touch capabilities, a modem (who even uses one anymore), and HDMI output. Also, the harman/kardon speakers are the best I've ever heard on a laptop. Quite impressive.

Now, getting back to the Nvidia 310m... this laptop is NOT a gaming machine, nor did I purchase it for that reason... however, being a casual gamer, I had to try out a few games just to see how they would perform; and I was quite surprised. While you won't find me logged on to World of Warcraft, you might see me on Runes of Magic from time to time (a free 3d MMORPG). With most of the graphic settings on medium-high to high, it was running very smoothly! Amazing! Dragon Age: Origins also ran pretty smooth with graphics at medium settings. This graphics card is listed as an entry level, 3rd class mobile video card, so perhaps the i7 was doing the brunt of the work, but nevertheless, this machine can run 3D applications fairly well. Just remember, if you are primarily interested in a gaming laptop, this isn't the one for you. Also, don't plan on playing any games with the touch-pad, invest in a USB mouse.

Now, this machine has a lot of power under the hood, and its easy to see where Toshiba made some sacrifices to keep the price low. First, Toshiba opted for a DVD writer combo drive, rather than a Blue Ray reader/DVD writer combo. Also, while the keyboard does have a full numerical pad on the right, it also has a somewhat cheap plastic look and feel. The LCD display is bright and colorful, and overall looks nice, but is only 1366 by 768 resolution... so if you have any applications that require a window height of 800 pixels, you're out of luck (or you'll be moving the window up and down a lot). The battery is 6 cells instead of 9, so you will likely get 1 1/2 to 2 hours of battery life. Lack of Bluetooth was not a deal breaker for me, but still a minor inconvenience, and the 500 gig hard drive spins as 5400 RPM instead of 7200. Finally, while the appearance and design of the laptop is very nice, it will collect fingerprints and smudge marks quite effortlessly.

Overall, I think the A505-S6030 is a tremendous value! You get great processing power, good video capabilities, and overall awesome performance and portability, all for a great price. If you've been waiting for a laptop able to do bit of everything, this might be the one for you. I am pleased to say that I won't need a desktop machine for the next few years. For those of you who are in the graphic design business, a nice wide-screen LCD monitor and a USB mouse would be a great companion for this laptop.

The windows experience index rating for this laptop is as follows:

Processor: 6.9

Memory: 5.9

Graphics: 4.7

Gaming Graphics: 6.0

Primary Hard Disk: 5.8

Also, one final note. If you purchase this laptop, be sure to correctly break in the battery to get the best possible life. This would entail:

1. Charging the battery completely with the laptop off. The charge light will change from orange to white when charged.

2. Using the laptop until you drain the battery completely.

3. Removing the battery from the laptop for 30 minutes or more, then again charging to full while the laptop is off.

I recommend doing this the first 3 times you use the battery, and then at least once a month to keep the battery in good condition and increase longevity. By customizing the eco power-saving mode settings, I am getting about 2 1/2 hours per charge. Not bad for such a powerful laptop.

I bought this computer for speciallity Adobe aplications,website and internet tools and work without problems.

Is very beauty, glossy finish, shine black

- Have all the ports that I need (firewire-sata-hdmi)and memory card reader

- The screen is a little more big that 15.4 inches.( i am wait the new video carddriver)

- For see correctly you have that move angle screen

- The weight is light in relation with the screen and numpad keyboard, also is thin.

- The webcam is normal.

Bad Things

The sound is very good but Poor volume

- the power connector is to the right(could be better in the back position)

- The zone cooler is to the left position. (could be better in the back position)

I bought the next accesories for work correctly

- Keyboard silicone protector

- Screen protector (anti glossy)

- Stand with cooler

First time buying a Toshiba - run 15 Dell computers at work but the last laptop I got from them was a true lemon. Finally, after 2 years of crashes and such, I bought this laptop off of the reviews. It is a fast, solid, and reliable computer. The only small complaints I have are that the DVD player is loud and the finish shows lots of fingerprints - but this is small stuff as I use this computer for heavy graphics, website design, accounting programs and other business uses. It has not crashed in the week I have had it and it does every task much faster and smoother than before. The keyboard is very nice with a full number pad and ample typing room. The screen is beautiful. A great product for the price and in all honesty, with an i7 chip and 6GB of RAM, I don't think you can get a nicer computer for the money.

I am stationed overseas so I had to purchase mine through AAFES(military shopping). When my HP Pavillion TX2510 decided to become a doorstop, I did a lot of research with the S6009 which is sold exclusively to AAFES, 2 Sony Vaio models and the HP Pavillion DV-6. I owned a 17" Toshiba previously and in the end, the S6030 won. I am a true road warrior, constantly traveling. Moving from a 12" to a 16" was not as difficult as I thought it would be. The weight is about the same. Startup is a breeze compared to my old HP. Windows 7 is a blessing compared to Vista. The sound of the speakers and the quality of the video really sold me on the A6030. I listen to audiobooks and watch movies and videos, so I needed a laptop that had the best quality I could afford. The speakers are so good that I don't need to carry an extra set. I set up my Dolby and surround sound for the speakers and boosted the natural bass. The sound is great in a large hotel room. I tested my DVD drive with one of my favorite films, "Without A Clue" starring Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley. No Bluetooth is not an issue since I rarey use it. If I should change my mind, I can add a small adapter and software later. The position of the keyboard is normal because they included the numerical pad, so everything has to flush left-no problem for me. I loved my HP TX for as long as it lasted but Vista was too frustrating. I wanted to get another touchscreen slate computer, but brands like Fujitsu are so expensive and HP's TM series does not include the DVD drive. I want to carry one piece of equipment for all my needs. This Toshiba series fits the bill for all my needs.

The slot-loading DVD drive that comes with the S6040 model was so noisy and vibrated so much that I had to send the unit back. For comparison, I played the same audio CD's on a seven year old Asus laptop with a tray drive, and there was no detectable vibration or noise. Both the Toshiba and the older laptop were on the same, very stable coffee table.

The noise from the Toshiba drive was so loud it drowned out the music at normal playing volume. The vibration ran from my fingers/palms way up my arms; it was impossible to ignore.

---> Note that I went to a BigBox store and tried the S6033 model (same CPU, but slower GPU and only 4GB RAM). It has the TRAY-loading DVD drive and ran very smoothly and quietly.

This is a beautiful machine. The specifications are dynamite. (By the way, mine came with a 120W adapter, a good match for the Core i7 CPU.)

I can't say if the slot-loader was a lemon or typical. One thing that bothered me was that the laptop was delivered in its own box only; it was not packed within another insulated box. If audio-cables and paperbacks are well cushioned, shouldn't a laptop be too?

This labtop is very good, but there are some serious drawbacks making me very angry from Toshiba. These are:

1) Low screen resolution. This is the most serious drawback and this is why I'm very angry from Toshiba. This laptop is 16", nVidia video card and the true bright screen. All this sounds great and convinced me to buy this laptop although it is heavier than similar laptops from Lenovo and HP. But after that I discovered that the screen resolution is only 1366x768. This is less than my previous 15.6" laptop. My previous laptop was 900x1440 although it had less powerful Intel graphics card. This low resolution is annoying too much because of the low vertical 768 pixels. This is not enough even for simple applications like Skype. For a laptop with 16", nvidia graphics and Core i7 processor, this is completely unacceptable.

2) The second thing I disliked in my Satellite A505 laptop is the huge and heavy power adapter and big cables. They are 1Kg !!

Other than that, this laptop is excellent.

Many of my thoughts are covered in previous positive posts, so here's a summary:

Pros:

--Speed (processor/memory are great for the price)

--Start up/shut down is extremely fast compared to my XP desktop

--Backlit keyboard is great (and does not cause excessive heat). This feature is only on the A505-S6040 model. You pay extra for this and 2GB more RAM, and if you can afford it, do it.

--Laptop stays rather cool. I don't use a cooling fan when I use it; my work computer could fry an egg.

--I use the number keypad all the time, so I find that as a huge plus on a laptop.

--Lots of ports

Cons:

--Loves to collect fingerprints

--No Blu Ray Drive

--No Bluetooth (although I personally don't care, this is typically in comparable models)

Nice "Surprise":

--Speakers are especially clear for a laptop (but not as loud as I would like)

--Windows 7 has some features in it that save you some time/frustration, which I find more helpful for work-related purposes

--Mahjong...sweet sweet mahjong