Buying Toshiba Satellite A505-S6997 TruBrite 16.0-Inch Black/Silver Laptop – 4 Hours 40 Minutes Of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

My wife and I got this Toshiba laptop to replace an aging laptop at home, where the extent of our mobility requirement is that we occasionally move it from room to room. (If we simply wanted a computer for a fixed location, we probably would have purchased a desktop model for somewhat less money and/or better performance.) Beyond normal uses such as spreadsheets and publishing programs, the 2.2 GHz Intel Core Duo 2 T6600 processor is plenty powerful enough for typical household needs, including photography work and most games. If you are a serious gamer, however, you will want more processing power and a discrete graphics card, which this laptop doesn’t have. Unlike most netbooks or “ultra-thin” laptops (which slot between netbooks and traditional laptops), this unit comes with 4GB of memory, which should remain sufficient for several years, and a solid 400GB hard drive. That, along with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, should last you years.

The large (16 inch) display is bright, crisp and a joy to behold. I’ve read some complaints about the keyboard, but we like it. There is a numeric keypad, which really saves time if you frequently work with numbers. The touchpad is not located in the middle of the unit, which troubles some people (although it is easy to get used to). If you look carefully at an image of the keyboard, you will see that the touchpad is located roughly in the middle of what I would call the traditional keyboard area (from the left shift key to the right shift key), which is where you will normally find your hands when typing. The two internal speakers are simply great for a laptop, but don’t expect miracles from 1.5 inch speakers. The “fusion” finish looks sharp, but it attracts fingerprints like honey attracts bees.

This Toshiba Satellite A505 S6997 comes with a six-cell battery and an advertised 3 hours and 20 minute battery life, although we got closer to 2 hours and 30 minutes of battery use with normal settings. Regardless, we don’t run this on battery power that often, and if what you want is really long battery life, you should look at a netbook or ultra-thin. The Windows 7 software is 64-bit, which is where personal computing is headed, so that’s an advantage. However, you may find some compatibility problems with older software or hardware such as printers (many printer manufacturers will have compatible drivers available shortly).

Before you rule this laptop in for your situation, however, you should first rule out various alternatives. If mobility is a key concern for you, this isn’t the right choice. Yes, you can pick it up and carry it around, but at 15 inches in width and over seven pounds, I wouldn’t want to lug it around for long. For, say, a college student who wants to take notes in class every day (and who can accept the limited processing power of less capable machines), a smaller, lighter computer with much better battery life is a better choice. Get a netbook, or maybe an ultra-thin. If you are a serious gamer or video editor, then you need a high-end machine with a discrete graphics card and a more powerful processor. Just be prepared to pay up for it. And if you have no mobility requirement, consider a desktop.

However, if what you want is a desktop replacement laptop with plenty of memory, good processing power, speed, a large screen, a roomy hard drive, lots of ports, etc., then this laptop features an attractive combination of these features in a relatively economical package. It will be the right computer for many people.

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