Toshiba Satellite A660D-ST2G01: AMD's Quad-Core Phenom II P920 Joins the Mobile Party
by Jarred Walton on August 31, 2010 12:45 AM ESTToshiba A660D-ST2G01 LCD
The LCD is another run-of-the-mill offering, with the ubiquitous 1366x768 resolution. Given the 16" chassis/panel size, we'd really have liked an HD+ or 1080p panel (with a Blu-ray combo drive!), but Toshiba instead goes with the crowd. Like other TN panels, horizontal viewing angles are restricted, colors are average, and the contrast ratio is mediocre.
The A660D LCD is one of a variety of panels that scores roughly the same. In this case, we're looking at a Samsung 160AT06-U01, but AU Optronics, Chi Mei, and Hans Star all have similar displays available. This is a case of LCD panel makers cutting manufacturing costs and sacrificing quality; nothing more or less. We've praised the few panels that have bucked this trend, and we've complained vigorously about laptop LCD quality for over two years, but until the OEMs pony up for higher quality displays nothing will change.
We understand going with 1366x768 panels from the standpoint of keeping gaming performance up, but we'd still prefer better LCDs. Sure, a 5650 is going to struggle to run a 900p display at Medium detail, but while you can drop the resolution down if necessary, there's no way to increase resolution outside of games. From a productivity perspective, 768p is a lousy "compromise" that we're being forced to endure. 900p should come standard on any 15.6" or larger laptop, and 1080p options would be more than welcome. Or if you really want to make us happy, forget the 16:9 aspect ratio and go back to good old 16:10 displays! [Sheds a tear thinking about the glory days of WUXGA laptops….]
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bennyg - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
This quad core simply has no logical benefit to it. Who buys a quad core for price and battery life (given Intel's penchant for monopolistic behaviour, if this was a market segment worth worrying about we'd have a dedicated mobile i7 quad die not harvested desktop Lynnfields)Even in benches where it's sposed to benefit from highly multithreaded workloads - e.g. cinebench multi - it's beaten by a i3. Why would AMD even bother releasing something this poor is beyond me.
AMD notebooks like this don't sell because they don't make sense.
The Crying Man - Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - link
Wow... $950 for this? Amazon's selling the dv6-3050us with the Phenom II N930 for $890 and even cheaper on Newegg - better processor, driver support from AMD, and the GPU has normal clocks. Toshiba must put a premium for an ExpressCard slot or their cheap looking designs... What kinds of stupid thoughts go through the minds of that company's decision makers?I think it's time AMD started making their own special edition laptops with configurations OEMs aren't willing to put together. Why can't we get a MR HD5870 + Phenom II X920 BE?
Roland00 - Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - link
That specific model has even been cheaper before. One week on newegg it was 779, and if you did a 50 MIR it was 729 AR. Another week Frys.com had a similar promotion where it was 799 and if you did a 50 MIR it was 749 AR.The Crying Man - Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - link
Yep, bought mine way back in July on Amazon when it was $775.blackshard - Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - link
Hello. Just a suggestion: check the battery wear level on this notebook (hwmonitor does it well). I just bought an Toshiba L650-10H with an AMD P520 (2.3 Ghz part) and HD5650. The video chip was clocked to 450 Mhz, as far as I remember. Anyway the 48Wh battery came with a silly 20% wear level, leaving around 39Wh for a brand new laptop. I don't know if it is a faulty battery or a "feature" coming straight from the factory, but it is enough for me to drop away toshiba notebooks.Also the display was the worst thing I've ever seen: the Windows 7 loading logo is exposing a really huge dithering problem with colors fading to black.
JarredWalton - Thursday, September 2, 2010 - link
HWMonitor reports the wear level as 2%, which probably came from me going through 10-12 recharge cycles during testing. Now, I wish I could say as much for another laptop I just got, where the wear level is reporting at 30%. :-\larson0699 - Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - link
I'm on an A665 at work, P920, 4GB, 500GB, 16", $799. We've had this for a while now. But whenever I'm in early or need to get online during break, this is the machine I use. Absolutely brilliant on Toshiba's part. It's a shame we don't also sell Sony...hgd - Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - link
<quote>On the other hand, AMD specs the P920 for 25W compared to 35W on the 720QM,
</quote>
Doesn't 720QM have 45W TDP?
JarredWalton - Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - link
Correct. Fixed.Cal123 - Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - link
Acer has a P520 with 5650 in a 15.6" for only $599, I'd really like to see a review of that. It looks good to me, if Acer put it together well. I don't think Acer screws up the graphics like Toshiba does.Aspire 5551G-4591
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results....