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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
A Solid Machine
By Kevin Seeley
It is important to note that I am reviewing the s6992 model ($899). The only real differences that I have noticed between this model and the more expensive model is the lack of a blu-ray drive and that there is no keyboard back-lighting. If these are important to you, then you should definitely get the most expensive model ($1099).I purchased this laptop about a week ago, through tiger direct, for college use after my ASUS had failed (major hardware issues). So far, I am very impressed. There are better lengthy reviews on this model already (see Mad B's for example), so I shall keep this brief.Pros: - Gaming: I am not an avid gamer, but it was important to me that my new rig could handle any new games that I would want to throw at it. To be clear, games on this machine run beautifully. The 230M is a true performer, and I had no problem playing Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 (demo) on this machine at max settings. I am confident that you would be able to play more demanding games with no problems. - Windows 7 : Loving it so far. I have had zero compatibility problems with my favorite programs, and if you are buying a new laptop, you may as well get one with the latest OS. - Full Keyboard : Just a nice feature to have, really. - Speakers : Great for just listening to music or watching a movie. These speakers are plenty loud and aren't tinny like most laptop speakers. (NOTE: There have been some reported problems with these speakers just not working suddenly. Before you assume it is a driver issue, turn off the laptop, take out the battery, and reinsert. This inexplicably seems to fix the problem. This has only happened to me once, but is a common issue with the A505 series.)Cons: - Battery Life : About 2 to 2.5 hours on a low power setting. If you are gaming, forget it. It is important to know this going in. If you don't like to have your laptop plugged into the wall most of the time, then you will want to look into some other options. If you are like me, and this is more of a desktop replacement, then no issue. - Finger Prints! : Don't get me wrong, this laptop is very attractive...just pre-use. I am constantly wiping this thing down with a micro-fiber cloth after use, to keep it shiny. Not really that big of a deal though.Overall, I'd give this a 9/10. If you can forgive the battery life and deal with the finger prints, you can enjoy a laptop that can handle itself pretty darn well.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
So far so good, with few drawbacks
By A. S. Hammad
I bought this machine last week to serve as my primary machine (desktop replacement)As a software developer, I usually care to have a powerful machine (at a suitable price), and I don't mind to play some network games from time to timeFirst of all, I got this machine from Amazon for only $850, so if it's out of Amazon's stock and you see it sold by another merchants at a higher price, you should wait till it's back to Amazon's stock, or go and buy it from Toshiba directly... You should never pay more than $900 anyway...PLEASE NOTE !!!! Another Toshiba machine with a higher screen resolution is available at the same price, it's only inconvenience is being bulky and heavy (model: P500-ST68X1), so if you really look for a desktop replacement and mobility is not so important for you, you should think about the P500-ST68X1Back to this machine, regarding to the pros, I think you can get most of it from the machine specs:1. 500GB HDD, 4GB DDR3... Should keep you running for at least 2 years2. 16" True Brite display... Pictures and movies Looks wonderful with TrueBrite3. Dedicated NVidia graphics memory rather that a shared memory Intel chipset... Should be very important for gamers. I havent tried it yet with gaming, but I think it will work great4. Windows 7 Home Premium: Haven t spent much yet testing it, but it looks more appealing that the stupid Vista... I was totally against the idea of migrating to Vista (after testing it with one of the workstations at work), however, Windows 7 looks much more mature to me than Vista... So, probably I'll keep it and wont downgrade the machine to XPOf course there are some cons, I agree with all described in other reviews, and I like to add the following:1. Be careful, screen resolution is only 1366x768... It looks great with movies and pictures, but if you like working at super high resolutions and you love to read tiny fonts (like me), this screen might be a bit disappointing for youMy other laptop is a Lenovo W500, offering a resolution of 1920x1200... So I miss the feeling of having this global view for my applicationsHowever to be honest, Truebrite still appears to be more vivid than Lenovo's2. Be careful, the 2 memory slots are already used, so you can only upgrade the laptop memory by replacing installed chips3. Be careful, 16" laptops will probably not fit in 15.4" cases, so you'll probably need to buy a new laptop case for this machine4. I totally agree that the machine comes loaded with lots of unnecessary software... I've already uninstalled lots of that5. I totally agree that the laptop finish although it appears very elegant, it's still very annoying when it comes to finger prints (they occur very easily, look very ugly, and you'll suffer to remove it)6. Socket loading CD-ROM, it looks fancy, but I feel it's somehow fragile (just a feeling)7. I still dont feel conformable with the touchpad (maybe it's a matter of time, but so far I cant have good control of it, even after changing its settings several times)Another important piece of info, according to Windows 7, this machine has an overall Windows Experience Index of 5.7, which is fair enoughConclusion:Good machine for all purposes, I don't regret buying it at all, it's just that you need to understand all cons very well and accept them, then probably you'll see that this is the best machine you can get within this price range if you look for mobility and power
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Toshiba Satellite A505-S6992 - good for consumers, 'OK' for the budget conscious technophile
By IT-Guru
I own this notebook for the past 4 weeks, and used it hard since then. I bought it at FRYS for 750 USD; at that price it's a good notebook, but at the MSRP of 900 USD it's merely average.The good:- 64bit edition of Windows 7- Bright LED Screen- ECOnomy mode- 4 GB of faster DDR3 RAM- 500 GB Harddrive- Nvidia Geforce GT230M videocard- Higher End Multimedia options & connectivity (Firewire, HDMI, eSATA)- sensitive WI-FI card with Draft N protocol- in-built Accelerometer that 'protects' the harddrive better versus data-loss when the netbook gets dropped or bumped- slot-loading DVD-burner - no accidentally breaking-off the DVD-tray- decent Audio-speaker that actually can be loud and do not loose their sound quality; to top it off, the Speakers are housed in their own vibration-padded casing.- OPTIONAL a 12-cell battery can be purchased separately at Toshiba, which becomes a necessity if you're on the go a lot.The bad- Battery Life - a standard 6-cell Battery- Battery Life (again - why? because the battery is dead after 1 hour when watching a movie, or playing a AAA-game)- slow harddrive (takes forever to boot-up from 'cold' state)- no Bluetooth- no inbuilt keyboard back light (so you can see and type in the 'dark')- comes pre-installed with a lot of "shovel-ware" (that is; installed software that's not needed because windows7 has them already integrated) that causes to prolong the boot-up process tremendously.- Toshiba deviating from the MXM-standard (Mobile PCI-Express Module) for mobile video-cards - that means, you cannot easily replace the 3D-video-card against a better/faster one, down the road, to prolong the value of your notebook- in-built Processor does NOT support Intel's VT - The ability to run hardware support for Virtual Machines (i.e. Windows XP Mode in Windows 7 Professional & Ultimate)Quintessence:It's a decent system, if you get it for cheaper (as I did) than the MSRP. the Video-card is, as of time of writing, considered a "high performance" model, compared what's currently out there for laptops. The lack of BluRay drive I consider not a problem, since the 16-inch screen-size does not really require Hi-Def resolution. Speakers have a good sound, compared to other notebooks out there. What bugs me most is the Battery-Life, it's okay for "web surfing & word processing" (about 2 hours, 2.5 hours with the ECO-mode active), but if you're watching movies or playing AAA-rated games, the battery is dead in ~1 hour or less. It's highly recommended to purchase the optional 12-cell battery. What i miss the most - other than the battery life - is integrated Bluetooth (for wireless stereo headsets) and the keyboard not being back-lit (for better typing in low-light/dark). It needs to be noted that the Laptop has eSATA and HDMI connectivity, for high data-rate transfers with external harddrives or other devices, and for Hi-Def audo/video connectivity. the eSATA-port is also an USB-port at the same time, which allows to charge external devices (cellphones, MP3 players and such) while the notebook is in "sleep mode", but that is only feasible when the optional 12-cell battery is used/installed.What upsets me the most is that Toshiba deviates from the MXM industry standard of mobile video cards, which would allow to replace the video-card against a newer one to make the Notebook last longer in value - especially if you're a avid computer gamer. But for 90% of all consumers out there this is usually not much of concern.According to a recent survey, Toshiba and ASUS notebooks are currently the longest lasting one, whereas DELL and Hewlett-Packard notebooks have the shortest life cycles; which is also a reason why i bought this notebook.It's worth four stars at my purchase price, but only three stars at MSRP.Verdict:Buy it, if you get it for cheaper than the MSRP
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Theoretically Great
