Toshiba Satellite P755D: Nearing the End of the Road for Llano
by Dustin Sklavos on April 11, 2012 12:00 AM ESTYes, Another 1366x768 Screen
We've belabored this a thousand times, you've belabored it a thousand more; it's not worth getting into here. At least with the Toshiba Satellite P755D we can argue that the notebook is a budget machine, so asking for a fancy screen in it suggests end users may be barking up the wrong tree. Of course, adding a Blu-ray drive to a notebook with a 768p display seems like a mixed set of priorities; the same money spent getting a BRD in the P665D would buy a substantially better panel (e.g. AU Optronics B156HW01 v4 goes for around $95 online, where the LP156WH4-TLA1 costs $60). That said, the 768p screen in the P755D isn't actually the worst one we've seen (though it's close in several areas!), but the resolution remains too low for a notebook this size.
The panel in the Satellite P755D errs on the side of color gamut and accuracy instead of high brightness and contrast. I'm not necessarily certain the tradeoff is a worthwhile one, as the gains just don't seem great enough and contrast is quite poor even by TN panel standards. Heck, even matte LCDs that compromise on contrast in order to avoid glare frequently offer better contrast.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
34 Comments
View All Comments
jrocks84 - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
I was hoping you would consider including testing of the wifi speed in future laptop reviews.jjrudey - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
I have the Intel version with i7 2670QM. Pretty sure it's that. But anyway. They're really great for someone who doesn't want to spend over $1000.Bull Dog - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
I appreciate your rant about DRM on Batman AA. As a paying consumer, It really sucks when the pirated product is better than the legit one.teiglin - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
Always makes me think of one of my favorite comics: http://xkcd.com/488/Of course, Randall doesn't include the path the vendors hope you'll take: instead of attempting to recovery your DRM-locked files, they hope you'll simply buy the stuff again. I mean, why expect to be able to use your legitimately-purchased products indefinitely? Obviously you should be paying for the same thing every few years.
When I was a kid, I read 20- or 25-year-old copies of Dune and even older copies of The Hobbit and the trilogy. If Amazon's DRM weren't so easy to strip, I'd never buy anything electronically from them, because as much as I love my Kindle, I can't really see passing the exact device down to my son the way my parents introduced me to their old books.
duploxxx - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
toshiba satellite garbage, yet another example why you shouldn't be buying these entry level OEM HW platforms. Selling material is all they care about, not optimizing or finetuning anything at all. in the long run this is negative impression towards Toshiba users and as already mentioned in the review, typical on AMD system as if they don't care....cknobman - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
Exactly. Most of what toshiba pushes nowadays (especially the satellite series) is garbage exceeding the level of crapiness that even Dell stoops too on its budget consumer grade products.Scannall - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
I've had an entry level Toshiba for several years now, with the AMD P320 + 4250. And it has been a solid and reliable computer. With the switch to Trinity soon, maybe after those are out these will be at fire sale prices on their Toshiba Direct site on eBay. Might be time for an upgrade.lazymangaka - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
I would've loved to see what a decent overclock would've done for performance. K10STAT for the win, my friends.frozentundra123456 - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
I really dont see the point of blu ray on such a low end product with a lousy screen. I am sure the only way to use the blu ray capabillity would be to put it out to a big screen TV. I guess you can do that, but if I had a good entertainment system like that, I would have either an HTPC or a dedicated blu ray player.Also, I would have been interested in seeing results with the memory upgraded to faster dual channel mode, and/or overclocking as some else already mentioned.
Overall, to me who is not really interested in blu ray, too expensive for what you get.
frozentundra123456 - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link
Also, I agree with the article that Llano is close, but still not quite there overall. Worse CPU performance than intel, and still very borderline for gaming with modern titles.If trinity lives up to the claims made for it, it might offer gaming that is good enough for decent resolutions and quality settings.