Toshiba Satellite U845: Ultrabooks Go Mainstream
by Vivek Gowri on October 8, 2012 5:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Intel
- Toshiba
- Ivy Bridge
- Ultrabook
Toshiba’s Satellite U845 is a bit of a mixed bag. They ended up with a pretty solid notebook from a design point of view, which is an encouraging step in the right direction for Toshiba. I’m very hopeful that the level of design and build quality found in their tablets and Ultrabooks will trickle down to the rest of Toshiba’s lineup, and having a well designed Satellite is the first sign of that happening.
But I do have some significant concerns here, though a lot of them aren’t isolated to the U845. The display panel quality is utterly mediocre, the bloatware is blatant nonsense in this day and age, and for a supposedly budget system, $749 is not that inexpensive (especially for the configuration that amount buys you). It’s not a bad system, but it doesn’t do enough to justify the price. I’d rather have something along the lines of Sony’s VAIO T13, a system that’s thinner, lighter, and better designed, with better battery life and a not quite as bad display.
I want to see this type of notebook, or something along the lines of this spec (say, the Samsung Series 5 NP530-U3C/U4C, the HP ENVY 4-1030us), end up around $600, instead of $800. And as fate would have it, that's exactly what we're seeing with the current price rebates. If those hold up, $600 for the U845-S406 is at least reasonable, and it goes a long way towards excusing the kind of display and other cost-related compromises found in the U845. It makes this a budget laptop that's actually priced like a budget system.
Initially, the U845 left me a bit disappointed. I wish that more companies would pay attention to the overall end user experience, the same way that manufacturers approach serious smartphone and tablet products, and the way ASUS is doing with their Zenbook systems. I'm not saying that every system needs to be super thin or supremely powerful; obviously, at certain price points it just isn't possible to create a mind-blowing system. But even at low to midrange price points, it's worth paying attention to the minor details that can affect the overall experience. Toshiba clearly knows this, as shown by their Excite line of tablets, which makes it all the more plexing why they can't do it with their portable PC products. It’s about time something legitimately shook up the notebook industry.
In the meantime, street pricing of the U845 is about $280 less than the MSRP, and that makes the product viable. If you're in the market for an Ultrabook but don't want to spend a lot, this is the sort of compromise you end up with. It won't win any awards, but after uninstalling all the bloatware you end up with a reasonable thin and light laptop.
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Bull Dog - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
While I understand where some of the other commenters are coming from with regards to seeing a 1366x768 display and not bothering to read further, I am disappointed by the apparent lack of appreciation for Vivek's hard work in actually reviewing the product.I too, abhor low-rez, low-quality panels as much as the next guy. These low quality LCD screens need to die, three years ago. And this notebook in particular is even worse than "normal'.
That all being said, I still enjoy reading through the review in it's entirety. My thanks to all the hard work that the Anandtech crew does to make these reviews happen.
KaarlisK - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
Basically, the idea is to replace the mSATA SSD with a 128/256gb SSD, disable SRT, and use it as a laptop with two drives. Is this possible (does the bios/Intel RST driver allow this option?)?nbgambler - Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - link
I second this... This, and a reasonably priced mSATA drive, would go a long way to un-mass market a lot of these laptops!StrangerGuy - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
We need to slap designers repeatedly in the face until they get the message of:NOBODY WANTS GLOSSY SURFACES OTHER THAN THE SCREEN...GET IT?
hybrid2d4x4 - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
That should say "NOBODY WANTS GLOSSY SURFACES." (emphasis on the period)Belard - Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - link
Only the power light can be glossy.Calista - Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - link
You guys seem to have such short memory, it was only a few years ago that glossy plastic was all the rage while dull matte plastics was considered low-end. And yes, I'm sure you bought those products as well, support the very same design you now moan at.Hrel - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
I agree with others. The whole idea of the "ultrabook" brand is to guarantee consumes a higher level of quality and refinement than most are used to; ie those cheap 300-500 dollar notebooks. Intel places requirements on ultrabooks, to use that brand, I cannot fathom why one of those requirements isn't AT LEAST a 1600x900 screen with a brightness of AT LEAST 300cd/2 and a contrast of at least 300:1, preferably 500:1.I don't really want to pay for an SSD. But use a Seagate Hybride 500GB or 750GB drive. They'll probably have a hybrid 1TB 2.5" drive out soon too. I have the 500GB one in my gaming laptop right now. Let me tell you, the difference between loading levels on my desktop (RAID 0) and on my laptop is night and day. I don't even want to play Mass Effect on my desktop anymore because the load times are literally 10 times longer. At the same time I couldn't possibly get by with anything below 500GB; even that is kind of a pain to have to manage. So having only an SSD in anything is out of the question, because 512GB SSD's are just too expensive.
nbgambler - Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - link
By no means blazing fast write speeds, but for the gamers among us, a sub $300 512GB SSD ($0.58 per GB) solves most storage problems I can think of!http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technology-2-5-Inch-Max-...
Belard - Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - link
OUCH!! $300.... we are getting there. But honestly, a hybrid setup still works pretty good. $150 80~160GB SSD + $100 1 or 2 TB HD.Yeah, the point of the "ultrabook" is a level of quality and specs... which this thing is not.
There is a reason Apple is selling a lot of $1000~2500 notebooks... as much as I hate Apple, their hardware is consistent.
Toshiba Satellite U845
Zenbook UX31E.
ACER M3-581TG... Notice something about these? The NAMES!
What the hell is a M3-581TG or UX31 or U845? "OMG!! I got the M3-581TG, I've been dreaming about this notebook for weeks" - doesn't happen. Who really knows those names?
Go to Apple: MacBook Air (11 or 13") , MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac, etc.
How about ThinkPad? They at least keep the model names for years. T400~T430...