Review Toshiba Satellite Pro L770-116 Notebook

Pragmatic. An office machine or a chunk of plastic?Sony VGP-BPS9/S battery The Satellite Pro fuses consumer graphics with Core i5 power and an 8 GB RAM. A matt, manageable WXGA++ screen tops it off. Is it the perfect combination of entertainment and work?Sony VGP-BPS9 battery

Two, overstrained looking hinges keep the lid in position. Sony VGP-BPS9A/B battery There is no latch. The heavy display teeters when it's shaken, which is a problem during rough car rides. The maximum opening angle of about 140 degrees is sufficient for use on the lap. The lid's surface yields over a large area, however only by a few millimeters.Sony VGP-BPS9A/S battery

The wireless and network connections are up to date.Sony VGP-BPS13A/B battery The Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (1000 MBit/s), the Atheros AR9002WB-1NG WLAN card and the Bluetooth module (3.0 +HS) are all capable of the fastest transmission.Sony VGP-BPS13 battery

The Satellite Pro L770 is subject to only a one year warranty. It includes a pickup service after registering via the Toshiba hotline in Germany and Austria.Sony VGP-BPS13A/Q battery The manufacturer also offers a warranty extension of up to 3 or 4 years (64, respectively 109 euros). Scope of service: spare parts and labor.Sony VGP-BPS13/B battery

The keys in chocolate style are placed very close to each other and have beveled edges.Sony VGP-BPS13B/B battery Unfortunately, we didn't notice a concave curve anymore (as in the Satellite Pro L670). Thus, typing is a bit inaccurate despite the clear pressure point and long key drop. In return,Sony VGP-BPS13B/Q battery the manufacturer has improved the weak point of the predecessor, L670. The keyboard no longer coils and now fits tight all over. Consequently, the keyboard has a firm stroke.Sony VGP-BPS13A/S battery

An exception for the firm stroke is the number pad that slightly coils. The numeric key field facilitates inputting numbers.Sony VGP-BPS13/Q battery The clear spatial separation of both keyboards by a crosspiece seems to be praiseworthy. The manufacturer has again thought about using separated arrow keys. Incorrect inputs hardly stand a chance even in hectic situations due to the small gap to the shift key.Sony VGP-BPS8 battery

The mouse replacement (multi-touchpad, Synaptics V7.2) is a part of the wrist-rest. Sony VGP-BPS8A battery The pad is rather small (9 cm diameter), but at least it's sensitive up to its edges. The surface has a vertical and horizontal scroll bar – although it's not visibly marked.Sony VGP-BPS10 battery

The round and upwardly curved keys have a high pressure point and attract attention with a loud,Sony VGP-BPS2 battery muffled click noise. This clattery feedback is soon irritating and lets you look for an external mouse. The cavity in which the two keys were installed didn't prove to be annoying.Sony VGP-BPS2A battery

Toshiba builds in a 17.3 inch WXGA++ display (LG-Philips: LP173WD1-TLP5) with a native resolution of 1600x900 pixels.Sony VGP-BPS2B battery The 16:9 screen has obviously been AR coated – there are no reflections. The contrast of 152:1 is very low and can be seen in the pale colors. The assessed black value is 1.47 cd/m2.Sony VGP-BPS2C battery The widescreen doesn't display dark sectors in deep black, but with a clear gray cast.Sony VGP-BPS22 battery

WXGA++ is an office suitable resolution for a 17 incher that has become the standard size here.Sony VGP-BPS22A battery The previously common and popular 4:3 format in the business field couldn't establish itself because the screens' manufacturing would have required standardization. Although the CPU and HDD would be fast enough,Sony VGP-BPS13AS battery the L770 isn't suitable for professional picture editors. The screen's color spectrum is narrow and clearly fails sRGB (t) and AdobeRGB (t).Sony VGP-BPS13S battery

PCMark Vantage assessed 6323 points.Sony VGP-BPS13/S battery A notable figure because the score is on a par with the MSI GX740 with an i7-720QM quad core CPU and Radeon HD 5870 (6225 points. i5-460M systems from 2010 achieved a maximum of up to 6000 points (Acer Aspire 3820TG-5464G75nks), unless they were equipped with an SSD.Sony VGP-BPS13B/S battery

You won't have to work with a lame duck right away if you want to spend less for the Satellite Pro L770-105 version Sony VGP-BPS10/B battery (starts at 600 euros) with an i3-2310M (500 GB HDD, 5400 rpm). However, 4600 points as in the equally configured Dell Inspiron 15R indicate a noticeably weaker performance (i3 = no Turbo Boost).Sony VGP-BPS10A battery

The 750 GB Toshiba hard disk contributes to PCMark Vantage's good HDD score of 3859 points (sub score)Sony VGP-BPS10A/B battery. The HDD (MK7575GSX) rotates with an increased speed (7200 rpm) and is superior to standard 5400 rpm HDDs in the access rates.Sony VGP-BPS10/S battery

The disk reads with 71 MB/s in sequential read (HDTune). Crystal Disk Mark, the second test,Sony VGP-BPS21A/B battery even records 93 MB/s (write 102 MB/s). Standard 5400 rpm hard disks achieve an average of 65/75 MB/s (HDTune/CDM). Nevertheless, Sony VGP-BPS21 batterythe hard disk solution doesn't come close to the high data throughputs and the resulting experienced fast speed of SSDs. Our test devices with an SSD achieved 14000 up to 20000 in the HDD score and about 145 MB/s in sequential read, e.g. XMG A501.Sony VGP-BPS21A battery

The Nvidia GeForce GT 525M (1024 MB DDR3)Sony VGP-BPS21/S battery is a dedicated midrange graphics card based on the GF108 core. It is superior to entry level GPUs (e.g. GT 520M, 64bit) due to the graphics memory's 128 bit bus. The DirectX 11 GPU is slightly inferior to a Radeon HD 6550 or a HD 6650 (+5% for the Radeon). Sony VGP-BPS21/B battery A few games, such as StarCraft 2, run up to 16% slower on the Radeon competition, though.dell vostro 1710 battery

Synthetic benchmarksdell vostro 1720 battery, like Unigine Heaven 2.1, show that the GT 525M has a similar performance as the HD 6550. 3DMark11 however prefers the HD 6550 (+33%). We checked what games make of these assumptions on the Satellite Pro L770 in two random tests. Dell Vostro 1310 battery

You shouldn't even consider a game of real-time strategy in the native resolutionDell Vostro 1510 battery (1600x900). The game first runs smoothly when we select a resolution of 1360x768 and medium details. The 34 fps don't leave room for increasing the resolution. The result is surprising because the same CPU/GPU combination achieves 42 fps (medium),Dell Inspiron 1545 battery respectively 31 fps (high) in the Inspiron 17R (N7110). The reason: Toshiba has set the core clock to 475 MHz and Dell to 600 MHz.dell xps m1530 battery

We again discover a performance decrease in Battlefield: Bad Company 2.Dell inspiron 1721 battery The equally configured Inspiron 17R achieves 27 fps in high and 38 in medium. Our L770 follows with 23, respectively 32 fps. Battlefield can thus only be played in medium settings. The Radeon HD 6550M laughs up its sleeve here because it is averagely faster by 33% in high (about 33%).dell vostro 1700 battery

The Geforce GT 525M is a typical midrange entry level GPU which fans of the latest games should disregard.dell latitude e4300 battery The manufacturer's set core rate of 475 MHz (rather than e.g. 600 MHz) also prevents gaming fun. Current games can usually only be played with disabled DirectX 11 details in medium details and resolutions. Older games,dell latitude e5500 battery such as Left 4 Dead, Trackmania Nations or World in Conflict, can however also be played in high details. Please see the Geforce GT 525M's spec sheet for more information.dell xps m1730 battery Ambitioned gamers with a tight budget should look around for a Radeon HD 6650M or GeForce GT 540M in the same price range.dell studio 1737 battery

A good office laptop should stand out with low waste heat and quiet noise.dell latitude e5400 batteryNo one needs to hold a little heater in their hands nowadays. The Satellite Pro L770 doesn't have to accept reproach in this regard. The fan is never disabled while surfing or writing emails, but it remains on a very low level with about 34 dB(A).dell inspiron e1505 battery The subtle whirr of the hard disk defines the lowest level with 32.5 dB(A) in idle. The fan is quieter than the HDD's whirring even when it's active.dell latitude e6500 battery

The fan turns up to 365. dB(A) in 3D benchmarks or games. Dell inspiron 1300 battery The L770 only reaches its maximum rate of 40 dB(A) in an unrealistic stress test. All four CPU threads are put under load (Prime95) and the Geforce GT 525M is processing (Furmark) in the stress test. Dell vostro 1400 battery The fan calms down extremely fast after the load is finished. It reduces its noise from 40 to 33 dB(A) within 15 seconds.Dell inspiron 1420 battery

Both built-in Onkyo stereo speakers are located above the keyboard's left and right.Dell inspiron 1521 battery Their treble-heavy sound, without even a hint of basses, is unsuitable for music rendering. We would recommend using external speakers or high quality headphones.dell studio 1535 battery

The lithium ion battery was fully recharged and ready for our battery tests after a charge time of about 99 minutes. Dell inspiron 1525 battery We determined 3:25 hours in WLAN surfing. This runtime can be considered as impressive for a 17.3 incher with dedicated graphics in view of the battery's low capacity of 48 Wh. Dell latitude e6400 battery The DVD test doesn't last quite as long. Lord of the Rings comes to an end after 2:10 hours. We watched it with a low brightness of 100 cd/m2. The predecessor, L670 (i3-350M, IGP) achieved 2:39,Dell latitude d620 battery respectively 2:30 hours in the same tests. It looks different when the processor is put under load. The battery is exhausted after 1:19 hours.Dell latitude d630 battery

The Satellite Pro L770's power consumption is low when the processor and/or the graphics aren't loaded.Dell inspiron 1526 battery The power consumption is 11.5 watts (idle, min.) when all energy savings options are enabled in idle (minimum brightness, wireless off). A bright display and enabled wireless modules take their toll. We measure 20 watts (idle, max.)Dell inspiron 6400 battery in high performance mode here. The maximum power consumption (without battery charging) is 59 watts (Prime95, solo). The 75 watt power adapter (306 grams) reached a maximum temperature of 50 degrees Celsius.Dell inspiron 1501 battery