Toshiba Satellite A210 review

The Toshiba, supplied by Morgan, was the most stylish laptop on our test bench.

Its light grey keyboard and silver surround are offset tastefully by the blue LED status indicators on the front, and the inside contrasts nicely with the black exterior. Our review sample was immaculate, with no sign that it was anything but brand new stock.

It was also the only portable in this group with a graphics card powerful enough to attempt our 3D tests - though that still doesn't mean this is a gaming machine. With a score of only 4% , few modern games would be playable, but at least you can be sure of having no trouble with Vista's pretty Aero effects and playing DVD movies. For general tasks, the 2GHz AMD processor made the Satellite the second fastest laptop, with a 2D score of 121%. Along with 2GB of RAM, this ensures it'll sail through everyday Vista applications.

The keyboard is spacious and extremely comfortable, and its low action makes a pleasing clacking sound reminiscent of proper old-school IBM keyboards that weighed more than this entire machine. The touchpad is also very comfortable, and the whole package has a pleasing feel of quality. The Satellite's battery life was acceptable, though not great. It lasted just under two hours of light use, and got through a whole film in our DVD playback test, lasting an hour and 43 minutes.

For just over £350 you get a fast dual core processor, plenty of RAM, and a good-sized 120GB hard disk that should accommodate enough files to satisfy all but the most prolific hoarders. If you do run out of space, you can always archive some of your work to DVD via the built-in DVD-RW drive. Of course, the reason why it's so affordable is that this is a refurbished machine, but if our experience is anything to go by you'd hardly know the difference, and a one year warranty from Toshiba - the same as you'd get if you bought this laptop brand new - provides peace of mind.