Customer Reviews

Toshiba Satellite A665D-S6051 LED TruBrite 16-Inch Laptop (Black)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Edit- Be sure to read edit at bottom for updated review...

This laptop is really the perfect laptop for entertainment purposes. It has a ATI Radeon HD 4250 and the m880G chipset working with the processor for a decent GPU, but it would be certainly not ideal for any serious gaming or intensive 3d rendering.

As an entertainment laptop though, this computer has just about everything right about it. The 16" screen is beautiful; the 1.6ghz quad core Phenom II is a wonderful multi-tasker and great for media. The speakers are absolutely unbelievable for being internal laptop speakers; They actually sound good, at loud volumes! Unheard of in my experience with laptop speakers. The bass is amplified surprisingly well given the constraints, as are the tones in general. There is a very important program on the computer that allow you to control the audio your computer is putting out: It is called "Realtek HD Audio Manager", and can be found in your control panel. It will allow you to utilize an equalizer and Dolby enhancement.

Also great are the many ports that are found on this computer. There are 4 USB, one being a hybrid USB/eSATA. There is (importantly for entertainment purposes) an HDMI output, as well as a VGA output, just in case, I guess. The keyboard is back lit, as is the screen, so typing in low-lit conditions is a breeze. The keyboard and the touch pad that are on this computer are of truly excellent quality; I have had other Toshibas recently that had much worse touch pads and keyboards and so I feel really happy that I do not have this issue. This computer is not that heavy, but it is 16", so understand that it is not ultra portable.

The type of battery that is in this computer is very efficient with energy consumption and can last for well over 3 hours (nearly 4, actually) without really other than a little screen brightness sacrificed (pressing the "eco" utility button is all it takes to get close to 4 hours without really sacrificing much. This is a great balance for me, because most other laptops of this type have much more power-hungry processors in them that eat up the battery in closer to two hours, as opposed to the 3 to 4 I get with this computer. This is much easier to work with the approximately over 2 hours with most other computers of this type. Also helpful in this area of energy saving is the technology that allows you to listen to music, charge devices, or do pretty much anything you want through the computer's ports while the computer itself is in sleep mode.

As for the cons of this computer, they are really limited. It is a great computer, especially for the mid $600s, but I do wish that the hard drive speed was 7,200 RPM. I'm not sure if the 5,400 RPM hard drive will create a bottleneck with the computing ability of this laptop, but in my initial tests on this computer, there has been only slight lag versus what I would expect on a 7,200 RPM computer. I may try to put in a cool, power sipping 7,200 RPM internal SATA drive at the end of my 1 year warranty, as I could just take the SATA drive in here already and put into a casing and hook up through the eSATA port as a backup drive. Two benefits from one move! A related hardware gripe is that the M880G chipset/ ATI Radeon 4250 is a decent GPU for everyday applications, but it could stand to have been beefed up a bit...

Another con with this computer is that the USB ports are awkwardly placed near the outsides of the wrists when the fingers are on the home row keys, and plugging the USB mouse into a port located in this location makes you have move the mouse around the piece jutting out of the USB port. This is really only a problem when working with limited space, and since the touch pad is a great one, this isn't too big of a problem, really.

The last con would be the bloatware. There is really quite a bit of software loaded onto this computer, and with some of the programs, you will probably decide to uninstall, as I did. There are useful programs and there are useless ones; be prepared to remove some stuff that you don't need, though.

Bottom line, this computer is an awesome entertainment machine. The processor is a great choice for multi-tasking and energy efficiency. It is really a good processor for this computer. The other features like harman/kardon speakers are excellent, especially if you are going to use your computer primarily for media ass I am.


Edit- The price on this computer has fluctuated quite a bit recently. I want to note that this computer, despite having a quad-core processor, is certainly not worth as much as an i5 or similar processor. I love AMD, and believe that their new line of Turion II X2 processors seem to be the sweet spot with them and laptops. 2.3ghz, two cores, modern processor technologies... These Turions don't have the four cores like the P920 in this laptop, but since these cores can't be utilized completely in today's usage, I have found that the higher clock rate and only two cores seems to work better for most any application that I have tried. This laptop is not bad, with it's four cores and very low power consumption. However, compared to the Turion II X2 P520, a processor with higher clock speed, equal power consumption, and two fewer cores, I think it will show that the two, faster cores work better for most processes. It should be noted that both of these processors have 2mb L2 cache, but the four cores spreads it to 512k per core while it is 1mb per core on the dual-core.

Long review now with this edit... Whew. Well, I hope it helps some people!

I searched high and low for a laptop to replace both my outdated desktop and old, borrowed laptop. After intense question and answer sessions with techs and new laptop owners, I chose the Toshiba quad-core Satellite. This baby is PERFECT. So far I love everything about this laptop. I highly recommend it to anyone who is busy, creative, serious (meaning, not playing games but actually working), and looking for a TRUE bargain.

Likes: Screen (although a little too glossy), sound, HDMI, SATA, a USB that can power/charge items while laptop is off and unplugged, speakers will play from line in when laptop is off and unplugged, price, battery life.

Dislikes: mouse buttons sound and feel like I'm using the pop-o-matic dice roller on the board game "Trouble" (i.e. they're loud and hard to push). High pitched sound. Not a constant sound but turns on and off at a rate that makes me think it's the hard drive**. Noticed it few days after I first turned the laptop on and now its really annoying. Battery fits loose and the shell feels flimsy so that I'm afraid to hold to tight to the unit while caring it.

HATES: Space button does a terrible job picking up when I push it. Did some research and others are having the same problem. Have to get use to punching it**. It's bad enough that if this was the only thing I didn't like, I would still consider taking the laptop back (which I may do). Up to this point, I've had to correct the space bar by adding in over 25 spaces to this review.

Specs: A665 identical to the one pictured but with the i3 and other graphics card.

**Update: After more use I've noticed that I have to tap the top of the space for it to work, which is a difficult change for someone with larger hands who's thumbs are naturally at the bottom the space key. As for the high pitched sound, I've found that it has to do with the USB. If I unplug everything from the USBs, the sound will go away after about 2 seconds. Also, it doesn't seem to matter which USB is being used or what is plugged into it.

**Updated update: used a display model at a store and found the space bar to work perfectly so i purchased a new Toshiba (exact same model) and bamo, not only does the space bar work 100% of the time, but the mouse pad buttons are quieter and easy to push. Still have a loose battery and annoying USB ringing sound (only hear it if there are no other sounds in the room).

This new working computer I give 4 stars.

This is perfect, just what I wanted! I was a bit worried it would be too big, but I'm so glad I went for the bigger size, it's great for watching films and viewing pictures. I'm not particularly technical, but everything's working well and quickly, so I'm pleased!

The A665 is the second Toshiba I've bought this year (the other, an A505, was for my business). I chose Toshiba for the ergonomic aspects, especially the placement of the touchpad and layout of the keyboard. I also appreciate the touchpad on/off button, as I often switch between the touchpad and a wireless mouse. On that note, this model places the USB ports toward the near edge of the machine, putting the mouse transmitter in the way of the mouse, but that is a minor inconvenience. If I have any complaint, it is about the touchpad keys, which are at once loose and noisy. Overall, the A665 is a good value.

"This laptop is excellent. Bought this to replace a HP that I bought from QVC a few weeks ago. I needed a new laptop as my other one had an accident and busted, and I work fulltime from home and need my laptop. So I bought a HP which went back in 2 days and decided to go back to my first love of Toshiba's. My aunt has my very first toshiba laptop I bought 6 years ago and its still running great.

Now my review LOL... The speed on this is excellent. It is a QUAD core, people say that the 1.6ghz speed on this is not very fast but I disagree its fast enough to do whatever you throw at it. The graphics are great for ATI graphics. The keyboard is back-lit which is a great plus for night time usage. The screen is beautiful, crisp and bright. The sound in UNBELIEVABLE. Battery life is approx 4 hrs, but I leave it plugged in 99% of the time anyway.
This is a excellent machine for price, you can not go wrong with this buy.. believe me!!

I had always considered Toshiba's to be a solid brand so choosing this laptop was an easy choice for me. For the price ($598), it has a lot of unique and very useful features that most other laptops are lacking. As others have said, the sound system is surprisingly robust for a laptop. I just switched from an Acer and let me tell you, that laptop had nowhere near as good of sound quality as this one does. Other small but useful features such as the lighted keys, HDMI port, impact sensor, and other software features truly set this one apart from the crowd. Don't hesitate to buy!

Without a doubt the best computer purchase I've made in a while. Quality, style, and muscle all for a great price. I got this for just under 600.00. The price fluctuated a lot during it's listing on Amazon. The lighted keyboard and textured finish are things that set this laptop above the rest. I currently have a pre-paid USB modem with Virgin Mobile which is not as fast as regular service from places like Windstream or Time Warner, but the medium range internet is helped a little by the laptop's power. This is my first Toshiba purchase and so far it won't be my last. I threw a lot at this unit at the start transferring itunes and other files over from my 10 year old Gateway. It didn't blink or wince. Now I have a 500GB HD that will hold me and my itunes files for a while. Thanks Amazon for the great product, delivery, and price.

I mainly have/will be using this machine for entertainment and web surfing. It hasn't had an issues at all with anything I've asked of it. The screen is really nice too.

One added bonus is the amount of pre-loaded games. My mom got an emachines around the same time with the same specs almost, but very few included games. it was a nice surprise.

bought for $629.99. I like the way it's built. The monitor does not shake if you pick it up while it is open. The keyboard is backlit, attractive and easy on my hands. I am in love with the harmon/karmon speakers. Big difference in sound quality really nice. Other laptops with same price have faster processing speeds and longer battery life(this one is about 3 hours), but this one has lots of storage and memory.

I purchased my Satellite 15 months ago and have loved it until two weeks ago when the 2 USB ports on the right-hand side came loose and fell inside. I took the computer to a repair shop and was told this is a common issue with Toshiba laptops due to the weld Toshiba uses for the ports; they couldn't repair it but could send it in to Toshiba for repair -- at a cost of $400! I contacted Toshiba and was told that since I was 5 months out of warranty, they could repair it, but it would cost me ... $400! If you go online and search for Toshiba USB Port problems, you will find a slew of people that have experienced the same issue with their Toshiba laptops, even current year models. Save your money and purchase a different brand of laptop.