The Toshiba Tecra A5-S416 is a widescreen machine that offers all of the features you need at a price and weight that won’t make you cringe. There’s not much here in the multimedia department, but if you’re looking for an all-purpose business laptop with an eye towards productivity, this notebook won’t disappoint.
At 5.3 pounds, the A5 is portable enough to easily take to class, on a cross-country flight, or back and forth to work. The silver lid of the A5 curves down at the front and back, giving the system its classy look, and the interior is no-nonsense black. The system’s ample width provides plenty of room for a full-sized keyboard, and even leaves a little space on either side. The keys themselves are responsive and easy to type on, but the mini Tab and Caps Lock keys are a disappointment, considering all of that empty space. The touchpad is smooth and wide, and below it are two tiny silver mouse keys. Overall, the A5 gets high marks for ergonomics.
On the left-hand side of the A5 near the fan door are the VGA, FireWire, and S-Video ports, along with the PC Card and memory card slots. Two of the USB ports are stacked on the back left side and the other two are on the right side next to the DVD/CD-RW drive. At this price, we wish Toshiba included a DVD burner. Up front there’s a convenient Volume dial and a Wireless On/Off switch for the Centrino 802.11b/g connection.
The most appealing aspect of the A5 is its wide screen. DVDs look bright and crisp when viewed on this 14-inch WXGA display, and can be enjoyed by multiple viewers, thanks to wide viewing angles. When working, the screen is ideal for having more than one Window open at a time.
Thanks to a 1.6-GHz Pentium M 730 processor and 512MB of RAM, the A5 provides more than enough horsepower for everyday tasks. Working on Word and Excel files, burning CDs using iTunes, and surfing the Web posed no problems at all. A solid MobileMark score of 201 backed up our hands-on experience of the A5’s processing prowess.
A glance at the integrated graphics and 128MB of shared graphics memory tell you that this is not a gaming machine. A 3DMark03 score of 855 confirms that your playtime will be limited to casual Web-based fare.
The A5’s endurance was a little below average compared to other thin-and-light notebooks that we’ve reviewed this year. With wireless off, you can expect a shade over three hours of runtime from the included six-cell battery, and with the radio on, nine minutes less. For $144 more, there’s a 12-cell battery available, which should double your endurance.
Toshiba’s patented Diversity Antenna design places the Wi-Fi antennas in the cover of the notebook. This is supposed to optimize your signal, but our throughput wasn’t exceptional. We got a respectable 12.6-Mbps data rate at five feet from our router and 9.7 Mbps from 50 feet.
The A5 packs in plenty of third-party software, including Microsoft Works, Sonic RecordNow!, and InterVideo WinDVD. Throw in Toshiba’s slew of helpful utilities and you have a pretty impressive package for less than $1,200. There aren’t many bells and whistles, but the A5 offers a good deal of power and a great view at a reasonable price.
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|
| Processor |
| Processor Type |
Intel Mobile Celeron Processor |
| Data Bus Speed |
400 MHz |
Cache Memory |
| Installed Size |
1 MB |
RAM |
| Installed Size |
256 MB |
| Technology |
DDR-SDRAM (DDRRAM) |
Storage |
| Hard Drive |
40 GB |
| Drive Controllers |
IDE (ATA/EIDE/ATAPI) |
Optical Storage |
| Type |
DVD/CD-RW Combo,
Hard Drive |
Display |
| Type |
Active Matrix LCD (TFT) |
| Aspect Ratio |
15:9 (Widescreen) |
| Graphics Processor / Vendor |
Intel GMA900 Graphics |
| Max. Resolution |
1280 x 768 |
Audio |
| Sound Support |
Realtek ALC250 AC '97 Compatible |
Networking |
| Data Link Protocol |
Ethernet (10/100 Mbps),
Wireless Ethernet - 11 Mbps IEEE802.11b,
Wireless Ethernet - 54 Mbps IEEE802.11g |
Expansion |
| Expansion |
Memory Stick PRO,
MultiMedia Card (MMC),
SD Card,
Sony Memory Stick,
Type II PC Card,
xD-Picture Card |
Miscellaneous |
| Chipset Type |
Intel 915GM Express |
| Input Devices |
Keyboard,
Touchpad |
| Included Devices |
Microphone,
Modem |
Operating System |
| Operating System |
Microsoft Windows XP Pro |
Battery |
| Average Run Time |
3.3 hour(s) |
Dimensions (W x D x H) |
| Unit |
13.5 in x 9.5 in x 1.5 in |
Weight |
| Unit |
5.31 lbs |
Warranty |
| Warranty |
1 Year Limited Warranty |
|
|
= Comment
= Outstanding
= Good
= Poor
= Bad
