Toshiba Satellite P745-S4320

The Toshiba Satellite P745-S4320 ($869.99 list at Best Buy), a mainstream laptop, recommends itself with plenty of must-have features: A Blu-ray player, USB 3.0 interface, fast Core i5 CPU, and WiMAX and WiDi 2.0 wireless features. But if you have no intention of taking advantage of the wireless options and Blu-ray player, then you're better off looking at cheaper laptops.

Design

Plastic enclosures have largely been retired by mainstream laptop manufacturers for sleeker aluminum chassis—but apparently Toshiba hasn't caught on to the trend. The P745-S4320 has a textured lid and wrist rest, with a "Fusion X2 Platinum" finish that isn't quite my style, but may be yours. The entire chassis weighs 4.85 pounds, qualifying it as a middle-weight in the 14-inch space; as you can see from the varying weights between the Sony VAIO VPC-EG27FM/W ($779.99, 3.5 stars) (5.1 pounds), Dell Inspiron 14z (Core i5) ($750 direct, 4 stars) (4.5 pounds), and Asus U46E-BAL6 ($899.99 list, 4 stars) (4.9 pounds).

Its 14 inch widescreen displays in the standard 1,366-by-768 resolution found on most 14-inch laptops, like the Sont VPC-EG27FM/W and Dell Inspiron 14z (Core i5). If you're looking to output 1080p video to an external device, the P745-S4320 gives you the option of using either the wired HDMI port or WiDi 2.0 technology, which allows you to connect to an HDTV wirelessly (provided you have the Netgear Push2TV receiver, a $99 extra).

The chiclet keys felt nice under finger, but were nothing compared to the scalloped keys on the Dell Inspiron 14z (Core i5). The touchpad on the P745-S4320 provided a pleasant navigating experience, praise I can't give the stiff mouse buttons.

Features

On top of WiDi 2.0, the Satellite P745-S4320 also provides integrated WiMAX 4G broadband and 802.11n Wi-Fi technologies to connect to the Web. Topping off the feature list is a USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0, VGA video output, Ethernet jack, Blu-ray player (DVD+-RW), and a multimedia card reader (SD/xD/MMC). The USB 2.0 ports also double as charging hubs for your USB devices, such as smartphones and MP3 players, while the computer is asleep.

The 640GB, 5,400rpm hard drive should be enough to store your digital life, only second in size to the 750GB hard drive in the Asus U46E-BAL6. Otherwise, most laptops of this size and price range sport smaller 640GB hard drives, such as the Dell Inspiron 14z (Core i5) and Sony VPC-EG27FM/W. On the hard drive, you'll find no signs of bloatware outside of Toshiba's included software utilities, like hard drive protection and power saver.

Best Buy also has an extended warranty program, which offers customers an extra year of protection beyond the one-year warranty of most system manufacturers. There are two plans in this extended warranty program. The standard plan ($119.99) covers the system against normal wear and tear, power surge damage, and includes a "No Lemon" guarantee in which Best Buy will simply replace the computer if it requires more than 4 repairs during the coverage period. Best Buy's advanced plan ($219.99) offers all this, and also covers the system against accidental damage from drops and spills. Other special offers can be found online or in stores, like discounts on printers, software, and tech support plans which are available with any new consumer PC purchased through Best Buy.

Performance

The P745-S4320's 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-2430 processor and 6GB of RAM (2,267) fell behind the Dell Inspiron 14z (Core i5)'s (2,308) slightly less powerful Core i5 CPU and Asus U46E-BAL6's (2,725) significantly more powerful Core i7 processor in PCMark 7. However, the P745-S4320 excelled in our suite of multimedia tests, like Handbrake video encoder (1 minute 49 seconds) and Photoshop CS5 (4:00), falling in between the Dell Inspiron 14z (Core i5) (1:58 in Handbrake, 4:10 in CS5) and Asus U46E-BAL6 (1:40 in Handbrake, 3:54 in CS5).

The P745-S4320's Intel integrated graphics won't get you far on the gaming grid, especially if you're planning to play anything outside of Team Fortress 2 or World of Warcraft. Its 20.5fps score in Crysis (DirectX 10) is unplayable and 18.5fps in Lost Planet 2 (DirectX 9) is, likewise, unplayable. If you're looking to do some gaming, you're better off choosing a rig with a discrete graphics chip, like the Dell XPS 15z (Microsoft) (52fps in Crysis, 36fps in Lost Planet 2) or Alienware M11xr3 (55fps in Crysis, 40fps in Lost Planet 2).

Its 48 Wh 6-cell battery lasted 5 hours 42 minutes in MobileMark 2007, which is over an hour behind the Asus U46E-BAL6's (7:16) larger 74Wh battery and two hours behind the Dell Inspiron 14z (Core i5)'s (8:38) 65Wh battery.

The Toshiba Satellite P745-S4320 is a solid laptop with a full feature set. But the Sony VAIO VPC-EG27FM/W will provide all but a USB 3.0 port, and makes up for it in battery life (8:48) and price ($90 less than the P745-S4320). If you have no real use for features like Blu-ray, USB 3.0, WiMAX, and WiDi 2.0, the Editors' Choice Dell Inspiron 14z (Core i5) might be the better option over the P745-S4320.

via pcmag