Want an extra-large PC for performance like a Desktop computer major Multitasking and high-def entertainment? Toshiba affordable 17.3" Satellite L675 Notebook is a great choice - a grand showcase of Toshiba quality style and value. Driven by an Athlon II Processor from AMD and fast DDR3 memory your Toshiba L675 notebook is poised and ready to apply smart energy-efficient power to almost any task. Use today's popular Software for budgeting or finishing that presentation on the move. Juggle e-mails IMs and your Facebook update at the same time. This PC takes it all in stride. 17.3 diagonal widescreen HD+ TruBrite TFT display (1600 x 900) native resolution Webcam and Microphone ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 with 1917MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory SuperMulti DVD+-R/RW Double Layer Drive with Labelflash Wi-Fi Wireless 802.11b/g/n 10/100 Ethernet LAN Multi-Card Media Reader Ports - 3 x USB 2.0 (2 USB + 1 eSATA/USB) Headphone output Microphone input VGA RJ-45 Approximate Unit Dimensions - 16.2 (W) x 10.6 (D) x 1.10~1.49 (H) inches Approximate Unit Weight - 6.61 pounds

• Toshiba L655-S5112 Notebook PC 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery 65W AC Adapter Software Bundle -


• AMD AthlonTM II Dual-Core Mobile Processor P340


• 4GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM (8GB max)


• 500GB (5400 RPM) SATA Hard Drive


• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Microsoft Office Starter 2010 Norton Internet Security 2011 30-Day Trial 1-Year Limited Warranty

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You'll buy it for looks; definitely not worth the tag.

Maybe I got a fluke but Sony's so-called "full laptop" computer in an 8" form factor is like trying to run Vista on your mom's old P3. Seriously this thing absolutely crawls. All this would be acceptable were it not for the very mediocre battery life (forget 4 hours I couldn't even manage 2 with moderately heavy use) when any other netbook (that's right netbook) for well under half the price outperforms it in battery life AND performance. Ironic; the 1.33Ghz processor really is a step down from the 1.66Ghz Atoms in netbooks despite what I've been told to the contrary about the different "architecture."



But that's just on the hardware front. It powers on fast enough but right from the get-go you're slammed with loads of bloatware and tons of programs that are slow to load into memory one after the other (that's right it's not even a dual core). These can be uninstalled--though not cleanly as they leave some registry junk data behind. But there's little that can be done about yet another software-related problem: drivers. The video driver on here is one of the worst experiences I've had to date with video displays. HD video was an absolute disaster even though the chipset (google "Poulsbo" or GMA500) claims it to be able to decode 720p HD video. So when I tried to play a simple HQ youtube vid (not even HD) and met with stuttering far worse than my friend's Asus Eee PC which cost about 350 I was understandably upset. As for the faster disk drive with the SSD this may be true. But when you can't run even basic productivity apps at full speed any HD speed increase was unnoticeable. My Eee for instance has a conventional "slow" HD but gets the job done (except for copying files) much more quickly.



A lot of this might be Vista's fault. But before you think of downgrading to the faster lighter XP let me warn you--you'll have even more issues with Sony's drivers. Linux? Forget about it; Intel's Poulsbo drivers are in a pitiful state there too. When the most appealing attribute of the system--the hi-res screen mind you--is nearly unusable with any other options one can't help but feel a bit ripped off. The webcam's quality isn't very good (the Eee wins again) and the WWan (mobile broadband) is locked to Verizon so don't think about other companies unless you "unlock" the chip: more time and trouble. The wireless-N support is supposed to be great but it was dodgy on my home network (maybe it was just my unit or config...or vista but again my other devices worked fine). They keyboard and ergonomics are fine but again the only good words for this unit for this price are surface-deep.



Parting advice: the reviews on this "Lifestyle PC" are low for good reason. I really wish I'd seen Amazon's reviews earlier. (This unit wasn't from Amazon but from Sony themselves).More detail ...

Excellent Value

We have numerous laptops in our household. Our oldest daughter has an Apple laptop through school. I have a Dell Inspiron through work. I also have an ASUS 1000H netbook for myself an Acer 1410 with SU3500 processor for our younger daughter and an older 15" Toshiba Satellite for my wife. I purchased the 13.3" Lenovo Edge with SU7300 processor as a replacement for my wife's computer. She had been complaining about the poor battery life and poor WiFi signal of the Toshiba for months but did not like the small screen of either the 11.6" Acer or the 10.1" ASUS. She had also been complaining of wrist pain. This unit seemed to have the best of all worlds. Light weight long battery life very nice screen an incredible keyboard and a fairly reasonable price tag. We have not had the laptop very long but my wife seems to really like it especially the keyboard track point and multiple mouse buttons. Build quality appears to be much better than the Acer although there does appear to be a slight flex in the lid as you open and close it. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to perform the initial set-up. In about 30 minutes I had configured WiFi had the computer automatically find drivers for our all-in-one HP printer (a first usually need CD) and had downloaded and installed Open Office Panda Cloud Antivirus free PrevX3.0 McAfee SiteAdvisor and IOBit Advanced System Care (primarily for Smart DeFrag and SmartRAM). This probably has more to do with Windows 7 Professional than the Lenovo Edge. The only minor negatives that I can think of are: 1) the touch pad seems less responsive than that of my ASUS although I did not try to update drivers or change settings and 2) the 32-bit version of Windows 7 limits you to 3 GB RAM although 3 GB of DDR3 RAM is more than sufficient for my wife's needs. Very happy with purchase thus far. Still debating whether AMD version may be better value IF you do not mind less battery life. I have read some recent reviews of Lenovo laptops complaining about bloat-ware but personally did not notice anything egregious on the Lenovo Edge. Especially when compared to the HP laptop that I owned prior to my ASUS netbook OR to the Toshiba Satellite that the Edge is replacing.



UPDATE: Been using Edge for a couple of weeks and extremely happy with everything EXCEPT touch pad. Touch pad works fine as a normal mouse but virtually none of the multi-touch functionality is usable. Shame considering the utility of the multi-touch features on my ASUS 1000H netbook (toggle between windows zoom in & out rotate scroll vertically & horizontally page back & forth etc.) UPDATE2: Starting to get hang of touchpad. I am able to use more multi-touch features. Tapping gestures work fine. Scrolling and paging work OK but sometimes have to try a few times. Still have not gotten rotate to work very well. Multi-touch does appear to work but takes some time and effort.More detail ...